Avian Flu - A Selenium Deficiency Disease

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26 Mar 2006 11:30:03 -0000

Health Supreme Update: Avian Flu - A Selenium Deficiency Disease

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Health Supreme Update: Avian Flu - A Selenium Deficiency Disease

 

 

 

March 26, 2006

 

 

Avian Flu - A Selenium Deficiency Disease

 

 

The way we raise chickens in factory farms has been named as

the cause for the spread of avian flu or 'bird flu'. Wendy Orent, the

author of " Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the

World's Most Dangerous Disease " writes in an editorial titled " Blame

Big Chicken " in PittsburghLive:

 

According to University of Ottawa flu virologist Earl Brown,

lethal bird flu is entirely man-made, first evolving in commercially

produced poultry in Italy in 1878. The highly pathogenic H5N1 is

descended from a strain that first appeared in Scotland in 1959.

 

People have been living with backyard flocks of poultry since

the dawn of civilization. But it wasn't until poultry production

became modernized and birds were raised in much larger numbers and

concentrations that a virulent bird flu evolved. Somehow, the virus

that arose in Scotland found its way to China, where, as H5N1, it has

been raging for more than a decade.

 

Industrial poultry-raising moved from the West to Asia in the

last few decades and has begun to supplant backyard flocks there.

 

Chinese researchers Qu Yuan, Qu Lai and Qu Shaozhong have come to

a similar conclusion, but they go further. In recent history, China

has experienced a human epidemic of keshan disease, which manifests as

cough, difficult breathing, pulmonary edema, and eventually death by

heart failure. There was some controversy over whether the disease was

caused by Coxsackie virus - which normally is quite benign - or by a

deficiency of selenium. It turned out that, when selenium was

supplied, the disease practically vanished. The virus seems to have

been an innocent bystander, rather than the cause.

 

Yuan, Lai and Shaozhong point to this experience and to the fact

that bird flu presents a very similar set of symptoms. They also

explain that China has very low selenium content in much of its soil,

and consequently in the feed that birds are raised with. They point

out that factory-farm treatment of chickens further depletes the birds

of this vital mineral, since eggs have a high selenium content. When

chickens are made to lay eggs 24/7/365 by hormones and constant

lighting, the selenium depletion becomes extreme, leaving them

susceptible to what superficially appears to be an infection.

 

- - -

 

Infection or deficiency?

 

Whether we should speak about infection or about a simple

deficiency of a vital mineral is a question that must be resolved in

time, but I shall let that rest for now - the whole edifice of viral

causation of diseases might come crashing down.

Anyone interested to follow that particular string of thought

might start with an interview of Stephan Lanka, a German virologist,

who believes that a virus is not the cause of bird flu.

 

Pub Med lists 22 studies that show selenium has preventive and

protective properties against a number of viral agents. Again, whether

a virus becomes more virulent in the absence of selenium, or whether

it is the primary mineral deficiency that does the damage which we

then attribute to a virus is not the immediate question. Fact is, when

selenium is given, the organism can more effectively cope with infections.

 

Health authorities are groping for a pharmaceutical solution to

what they say is an inevitable epidemic or even pandemic in the wings.

Tamiflu is being stockpiled by governments the world over. The drug

has been shown to be effective in increasing pharmaceutical revenues

but to be rather useless in protecting people from avian flu. A

vaccine for humans is not available yet and won't be until several

months after the virus takes on a form that allows it to transfer

between humans.

 

A controversy has recently erupted over whether selenium could

indeed protect people from the pandemic. Nutraingredients.com reports

about it.

 

No preventive strategy

 

It appears that the World Health Organization, the pharmaceutical

industry and practically every last one of our national health

authorities have no other preventive strategy in mind than stockpiling

tamiflu and waiting for a vaccine. They are issuing dire warnings -

" don't say we didn't tell you " - prepare to die! Research is largely

done in secret, it is exclusively directed at the viral causation

angle. Prevention is centered on quarantine, if needed with the help

of the military, and on " killing the virus " .

 

Obviously, we are unlikely to see any real preventive strategy

coming from government health authorities, so we better get ready for

whatever is in store. Here are my suggestions:

 

Protect yourself

 

1. observing normal, basic hygiene rules (wash your hands, as

your mother said).

 

2. get sufficient rest and avoid stress. If you do get

stressed out, remember to get back into balance.

 

3. Eat well and regularly. Eat proper food that is nutritious.

If you don't know what nutrients your body needs, find out!

 

4. Be sure to include selenium and vitamin C in your daily

food intake.

 

5. Stock up on your preferred herbal anti-virals, colloidal

silver and other protective goodies, just in case.

 

6. When someone offers you an experimental vaccine, tell them

to stick that needle you-know-where...

 

7. Oh yes, remember the birds! Start agitating for a change

from factory farming practices to keeping chickens in a humane way.

Biodynamic and biological agriculture is the trend of the future.

 

- - -

 

Links to further information...

 

 

Global Poultry Industry is the Root of the Bird Flu Crisis

 

Industry caused the flu; why blame wild birds?

 

The supplements - bird flu debate: selenium

2/27/2006 - Following last week's claims and counter claims that

dietary supplements may offer protection from avian flu, Stephen

Daniells looks into statements that selenium supplements may offer

protection. Many novel virus have been found in selenium deficient

populations, with experts suggesting that relatively harmless viruses

can mutate into deadly versions on passing through a selenium

deficient host.

 

Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Selenium

provided by the Office of Dietary Supplements • NIH Clinical

Center • National Institutes of Health

 

Prepare for Avian Flu!

A Natural Therapy for self-protection and treating Avian Influenza

 

Dr. F. Cathcart's page on

AVIAN (BIRD) FLU

 

8 Ways To Avoid The Flu Naturally

 

Bird flu vaccination could lead to new strains

19:00 24 March 2004

New Scientist Print Edition

Vaccinating chickens may be the only way out of the bird flu

nightmare in Asia. But it could also lead to the evolution of new

strains, the latest research shows, increasing the risk of a human

pandemic.

 

U.S. Team Will Test Live-Virus Bird Flu Vaccine

Researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health will soon

recruit 30 human volunteers to test the effectiveness of a vaccine

containing a live but weakened form of the H5N1 bird flu virus.

 

Bird Flu Hype

by Dr Sherry Tenpenny

 

Jon Rappoport on the Bird Flu and testing

 

 

 

posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Sunday March 26 2006