Information on popular complementary and alternative medical topics

Now that you have the menial pictures and suggestions ready, you can begin creative imagery. Start by practicing the deep relaxation techniques described earlier until you have attained the deepest possible state of relaxation. Allot fifteen minutes to a creative imagery session and divide it into the following stages.

1. Visualize the cold or flu you want to get rid of. Make it appear weak and disoriented. Visualize thousands of spherical-shaped viruses trying to enter the cells in your nasal passages. (30 seconds).

2. Visualize any medical or herbal supplement, food, exercise or outer natural therapy that you are using and watch it boosting the numbers and aggressiveness of your white blood cells. Alternatively, visualize the medication or treatment soothing an afflicted area and reducing inflammation and discomfort (75 seconds).

3. Visualize your immune system massing in your nose and throat for an all-out attack on the viruses located there. For about a minute, visualize your macrophages and T and B cells replicating in huge numbers. Then see the B cells manufacturing antibodies. Spend thirty seconds visualizing white cells and antibodies from all over your upper body moving to your nose and throat and massing there for a huge attack.

Then imagine squadrons of B cells firing wave after wave of antibodies at the already reeling viruses. See the viruses frying apart as each antibody strikes home. Next, see hordes of rough, tough killer T cells charge the remaining viral invaders, chewing up and destroying all that remain. Finally, see the huge macrophages sail in and mop up the debris, chewing up the remains of millions of viruses. (8 minutes).

4. Visualize your nose, throat and other afflicted areas as already healed and restored to health. (90 seconds).

5. Visualize yourself in perfect health. (75 seconds).

6. Picture your life’s goals as fulfilled and visualize a good self-image. (75 seconds).

7. Congratulate yourself for having taken part in your own recovery. Tell yourself you are feeling terrific. The cold or flu is already gone. Maintain a strong positive feeling. (75 seconds).

If your visualization is finished before the allotted time is up, start over and visualize it again. Repeat the visualization as many times as necessary to fill the allotted time.

End the session by repeating the classic Coue suggestion: “Every day in every way I feel better and better.” As you say the words, feel yourself well, cheerful, optimistic and filled with new energy.

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Take care not to overeat during a respiratory infection. Overeating causes atrophy of the thymus gland, leading to premature weakening of the immune system.

All T cells are manufactured in the thymus gland which also secretes thymosin, a hormone which orchestrates the growth of the immune system in childhood. During early childhood, the human organism is exposed to a large number of unfamiliar diseases for which antibodies must be formed without delay. But as the teen years approach, antibodies have already been formed for most of the common diseases. Need for thymosin begins to decline and the thymus begins to gradually atrophy. By age sixty, it has declined to approximately one-tenth the size it was in youth. Yet it still plays a vital role in maintaining immunocompetence. All indications thus far are that a frugal diet helps to preserve the size and activity of the thymus gland.

Studies using lab animals at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and at Chase Institute for Cancer Research have all confirmed that frugal eating boosts immunocompetence and reduces incidence of all types of disease and infections. For example, by eating lightly, we can keep the lungs clear and healthy until well into our eighties and nineties. The lungs of heavy eaters, by contrast, gradually become filled with cysts and hemorrhaged areas that increase risk of a complication following a cold or flu.

The most recent and important discoveries in this field emanate from the work of Roy C. Walford, Ph. D., an immunologist at UCLA Medical School. Walford has discovered that when calorie intake is gradually reduced by one third while intake of all thirty-two essential vitamins and minerals is maintained, atrophy of the thymus gland is retarded, causing the immune system to remain younger and more active. Put another way, by eating lightly at all times we can, at say age sixty, have an immune system comparable to that of the average person of forty-five.

Thus sparse eating reduces risk of every type of disease including cancer and all respiratory tract infections. We can easily cut calories by reducing such undesirable foods as fats and oils, refined carbohydrates and excessive amounts of animal protein such as meat, whole milk dairy products, and cheeses, ice cream, pizza and eggs. We should also pass up all convenience and fried or fast foods; and all commercial sauces, mayonnaise, dressings and condiments containing fats, oils or sugar. In their place, we can use herbs, lemon juice or garlic to flavor foods.

Eating the 80-10-10 way literally forces us to reduce calorie intake while the fibrous bulk of these complex carbohydrate foods satisfies hunger mechanisms and keeps us feeling full. For instance, fat has 9 calories per gram while protein and refined carbohydrates each have 4. But most complex carbohydrates have only 2.75 calories per gram, less than one-third that of fats. When you consider that 40 percent of the Standard American Diet consists of fat, the high incidence of upper respiratory tract infections is hardly surprising.

Thus the 80-10-10 way of eating not only provides a disease-resistant diet but it will also restore weight to normal.

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Vitamin A plays a key role in maintaining the integrity of epithelial cells lining the mucosal tissues of respiratory passages. A deficiency of A causes these cells to dry out and become increasingly susceptible to viral penetration.

Vitamin A is also essential for optimal functioning of the adrenal, thyroid and thymus glands, each vital to immunocompetence. Vitamin A stimulates the thymus to produce more T cells. A healthy thyroid gland is essential for converting beta-carotene in food into additional vitamin A for use by the body. And without an adequate supply of vitamin A, the adrenal glands may secrete cortisol which directly suppresses the immune system. Subjects with the highest vitamin A content in blood plasma had the highest immunocompetence. Several studies on lab animals have confirmed that in animals deprived of vitamin A, the immune system is suppressed while supplementation with vitamin A bolstered immunocompetence in the test animals.

While the RDA for vitamin A is 5,000 IU daily, or 8,000 IU for pregnant women, many nutritionists believe that an intake of 10 to 15,000 IU would be more appropriate during a cold.

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Because the respiratory tract is a series of cavities (sinuses, lungs etc.), connected by air passages, viruses can spread from the nose to the sinuses and throat and into the middle ear trachea, larynx, bronchial tubes and lungs. Secondary infections spreading to these locations can cause complications, some quite serious.

Bronchitis is inflammation of the mucous membranes that line the bronchial tubes, which carry air to the lungs. It is often caused by the common cold virus itself, in which case no medical cure is possible. However, a secondary bacterial infection is common. Symptoms often include a mild back or chest pain exacerbated by a deep, dry cough which brings up gray or yellow phlegm from the lungs. Bronchitis is also often accompanied by a fever which may last for as long as five days. Breathlessness and wheezing are other common symptoms.

Since bronchitis is not a lung infection, it is usually serious only if it becomes chronic. The usual treatment is to remain home in a warm room with humidified air and to bolster immunocompetence by practicing the same therapies recommended for a cold. If bronchitis does not begin to improve in forty-eight hours, or if you cough up blood, experience breathlessness or have a fever higher than 101°F, a physician should be consulted.

Lingering bronchitis symptoms often persist for two to three weeks after a cold or flu has ended.

Ear Infection. Each ear is connected to the throat by the Eustachian tube, a passage lined by mucosal tissue. During a cold or flu infection, the Eustachian tubes may become infected by bacteria. Due in part to their constant sniffling, ear infections are more common in children. A sharp pain in the ears caused by pressure build-up is the usual symptom.

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People whose lives are filled with deadlines and pressures commonly suffer from tension or migraine headaches. Most of us can slow the pace of our lives by letting go of nonessential activities such as volunteer work, and by turning down all demands on our time that create added pressure.

Almost all of us are able to put the brakes on a busy helter-skelter lifestyle so that we have more time to work, play, eat and relax at a leisurely pace. With careful planning, we can usually rearrange our lives to take time out each day for fun, games and socializing.

Build up a week’s income in reserve so that you don’t have to stand and wait in line at the bank or supermarket during the Friday afternoon crush. Go on Tuesday instead. Shop early in the morning or after 7 P.M., when supermarkets are often empty. Plan activities well in advance so that you start out in plenty of time, especially for work. Find the location of new places you must visit on a street map before you leave home. And prevent rush by doing only one thing at a time.

Although Americans tend to glorify the automobile, and a car is essential in most locations, driving under today’s high-speed conditions is far from pleasant. Several studies have concluded that car ownership actually powers the quality of most peoples’ lives. It places a severe strain on our finances, while driving and maintaining a car can be one of the most stressful aspects of modern living. Among other things, it can entrap us into becoming a chauffeur for our children. If

Try to minimize driving on freeways or in congested traffic. For short trips, use a bicycle or walk instead. And you can help reduce automobile stress by keeping your older car instead of buying a new one, and by spending as little time in the car as you can.

Try to avoid a sudden letdown from stress as you end a hectic week on Friday afternoon and find yourself in an inertia vacuum on Saturday morning. This situation can frequently provoke a migraine, especially if your job entails long days of listening, talking, telephoning and making decisions.

The answer is to even out your work week, and to try and spread your tasks and work load evenly over each day. Most of us could gradually phase out a crowded schedule by pacing ourselves differently. Many migraineurs create unnecessary stress by their inability to live with an uncompleted task. The solution, of course, is to never be afraid to postpone completion of a nonessential task.

Above all, we need to learn to live life for today and to enjoy every moment for what it’s worth.

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