Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.
June 2009
If you find yourself a little confused about the swine flu/Mexican flu/H1N1 flu that has generated so much anxiety around the world you're in good company. A general state of unease has prevailed. School closures, cruise ship diversions and canceled flights are a costly by-product of this anxiety. Yet on average, as many U.S. citizens die every day from common strains of influenza as succumbed in all of Mexico during the first month from this latest version.
Year after year, influenza and pneumonia (government statisticians lump them together) rank about number 7 as a cause of death in this country. Articles about the flu occasionally mention that the very young, the very old and those with poor immune systems are the most likely to die from the infection. Recent and past experience should encourage all of us to maintain a strong immune system so that we can survive this infection as well as many others.
There is no vaccine available that could protect us from this new variant of influenza but we can all take steps — literally — to boost our immune system. Would it surprise you to know that exercise is one such means? Persons who engage in regular, moderately intense physical activity are more resistant to respiratory infections. The reasons are obscure but it could be because they are less likely to be obese and less likely to have type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. Those two related conditions, especially diabetes, are associated with an increased risk of infection.
Two nutrients play a large role in immunity. Protein is critical for the formation of healthy white blood cells, the first line of defense, and antibodies, the second. (This is an oversimplification; the human body has evolved with remarkably redundant immune responses, some very primitive, others quite complex.) Omega-3 fat, arguably the most important nutrient that is lacking in American diets, is another.
The susceptibility of the elderly to influenza is thus not just the result of the aging process. Most of our senior citizens are overweight and have type 2 diabetes or its precursor. Their diet is often low in protein and few of them eat enough fish — about 4 servings a week — to provide even the minimum amount of omega-3 fats. Throw lack of exercise into the mix and it's obvious why they are so susceptible to influenza and the secondary infections that often follow close behind.
Philip J. Goscienski, M.D. is the author of Health Secrets of the Stone Age, Better Life Publishers 2005. Contact him at drphil@stoneagedoc.com.