Yesterday again on our news, the swine flu. And what were the recommendations like they gave us! Improve your hygienic conditions, avoid the virus … this approach to the problem is reaching extremes like declining another person’s handshake! How come? Since years we know that exposure is better than avoidance. Our immune system has to be taught to interact with its environment without overreacting, it needs training a life long as everything else. Otherwise it is not capable of keeping our body in a balance that goes along with healthiness and well-being. This is one aspect why the avoidance approach (=lack of training) leads to illness, not only to allergies but infections too. Immunity is a consequence of exposure, not massive antigen exposure, but continuous exposure to relatively small doses of so-called antigens.
credit: http://www.immunize.org/images/ca.d/ipcd1861/img0024.htm
Even though, we are confronted now with an obviously quite tricky virus capable of undermining our system, we still have the option to get our immunity in perfect shape. We shall never ever succeed to avoid the culprit, as it is everywhere, we don’t see the viruses, we only feel them if they are overwhelming our body and the symptoms occur.
credit: http://www.imr.gov.my/org/electron/influenza%20virus.jpg
Perfect hygiene makes us sick, it gives way to the most dangerous infections, even with bugs that are usually harmless. We know this from hospitals where disinfectants can pave the way to life-threatening antibiotic resistant infections.
It is definitely the better choice to choose good immunity as protection. Biestmilch, even though you may assume that I am biased, is one of the best option you have got.
By the way, we already pay the price for our super hygienic way of life. Allergies are spreading in a pandemic way, and this is at least in parts due to our hygienic conditions and lack of exposure to the harmless bugs that help us to build up a strong immunity.
What a paranoid world! The one and only option is a strong immune system. Otherwise we have to rest lifelong in a sterile box!
Great blog Susann. Living down here in Australia with all this going on, I keep trying to preach that immune system health is the key to everything. This swine flu is the next virus to attack those with imbalances in immunity. We are all exposed but immune system health is our first barrier to defence.