In the News

As published in the New Haven Register, October 24, 2004.

How to Stay Healthy

By Abram Katz

You’ve got an influenza option: Wait to be vaccinated with dead viruses grown in chicken eggs or find a bottle of herbal who-knows-what in a nutrition store.

Since the U.S. flu vaccine supply was cut in half early this month, shots are scarce, lines long and some people are certain to miss out.

So interest is growing in unconventional alternative therapies, including diet, herbs, vitamins, supplements, teas, tinctures and triturates.

Mainstream medicine and many people who believe in it have trouble swallowing "snake oil."

But certain alternative therapies and principles are gaining greater acceptance and could help ameliorate the coming flu season, doctors, dieticians and other specialists said.

For example, a University of Connecticut physician and researcher has found that a compound derived from ginseng reduced the chances of flu in an elderly population by 89 percent. Results were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Strengthening and shielding the immune system ultimately underpins all approaches, from molecular biochemistry to the ancient Indian health system of Ayurveda.

Caregivers also emphasize that alternative therapies are not an innocuous do-it-yourself proposition.

You must acquire expert advice before gulping any capsules and make sure your provider knows your medical history and what other drugs you’re taking, they said.

Certain herbs are touted for their beneficial effect on the immune system.

Now Dr. Janet E. McElhaney of the Center for Immunotherapy of Cancer and Infectious Diseases at the University of Connecticut Health Center, is finding out why.

McElhaney and colleagues gave a Canadian ginseng product to residents in three nursing homes during two flu seasons.

Participants age 60 and older were given either ginseng extract or a placebo (indistinguishable sugar pill) for peak flu periods in 2000 and 2001.

Most were vaccinated against influenza.

Volunteers taking the Cold-FX ginseng product were 89 percent less likely to develop a cold or flu than the placebo group, McElhaney found.

Certain compounds in ginseng activate receptors on immune cells, she said. The chemicals bind to monocytes, which present viruses to T-cells, which signal B-cells to produce antibodies.

Ginseng may also act directly on T-cells, she said.

Ginseng compounds may help the body switch from the broadly aimed innate immune system to the targeted adaptive immune system, McElhaney said.

"Anything that jazzes up the immune response would improve the vaccine, but it may also work on its own," she said.

Cold-FX is a proprietary extract from American ginseng, Panax quinquefolium. The active components are poly-furanosyl-pyranosyl-saccharides.

Ginseng can inhibit clotting and interfere with other medications, McElhaney said.

"The public is going to hear ‘Ginseng is good for the flu’ and they’ll buy any ginseng product.

Talk to your doctor before taking any herbal stuff," McElhaney said.

Kimberly Davis, a naturopathic doctor and co-director of the Integrative Medicine Center at Griffin Hospital in Derby, said, "The big issue is building up the immune system."

Eat fruit and vegetables, drink plenty of water and sleep eight hours a night, Davis said.

Buffered vitamin C strengthens the immune system by improving the effectiveness of natural killer cells, she said.

Garlic helps the immune system in a similar way, as does echinacea, Davis said.

Lomation dissectum works as an anti-viral and is especially effective in combination with Echinacea, she said.

Hyssopus officinalis is another anti-viral and works on the respiratory tract, Davis said.

Davis said homeopathic medicines may also be useful. Ingredients are extremely diluted to parts per million, billion or trillion. How they work is not clear, she said.

McElhaney said, "At the very least the placebo effect is pretty powerful. That’s real. The mind influences the immune system."

Davis said patients should find a holistic doctor who understands herbal and homeopathic medicines.

"Just because herbal medicines are natural does not mean they’re safe," she said. "There are definitely other options for people. Get a vaccine if you can find it and you’re at risk."

People averse to botanicals can help themselves by eating defensively.

"The immune system is affected by nutrition," said Rosa A. Mo, professor of nutrition at the University of New Haven.

Protein is important to build cells, antibodies and enzymes, and omega-3 fatty acids make immune receptors more sensitive, she said.

Lymphocytes need vitamin A to engulf foreign microbes and vitamin C also helps the immune system.

Mo recommends oranges, bananas, strawberries, grapefruit, apricots, peaches, papayas, mangoes and other colorful fruit.

Sweet potatoes and acorn squash also contain beta carotene, a precursor to vitamin A.

Eating a banana once in a while is insufficient to help the body, said Amala Guha, assistant professor of medicine and program director of Complementary and Alternative Supportive Care at the UConn Health Center.

Guha is also an expert in ayurvedic medicine, a 6,000-year-old system developed in India. She is also a trained immunologist.

"We live in a society of quick fixes. Even the vaccine is not a quick fix because it’s not totally effective," she said.

Ayurvedic health requires a complete change in lifestyle rather than a change in diet over the flu season, she said.

Meanwhile, dress warmly, wash your hands, avoid crowds and drink plenty of black or green teas, which contain antioxidants. Eat dry fruits, almonds and other nuts to boost the immune system, she said.

"Nothing is foolproof," Guha said.

Ellen Liskov, registered dietitian at Yale-New Haven Hospital, said that much more research has to be done to separate effective alternative therapies from useless ones.

"It’s premature to say that echinacea, ginseng or vitamin C will protect against viruses," she said.

"Supplements sound appealing, but many products aren’t that helpful. Many people are looking for alternative therapies. Very little is spent on research," Liskov said.

"Supplements should be studies. They may have benefits. But more research is necessary," she said.