Taking Elderberry for Swine Flu,SARS or Bird Flu Could be Lethal

[cHeroKee]

There are many, many posts here where folks talk about getting elderberry for the swine flu. It is, however, one of the immune boosters that INCREASE CYTOKINE PRODUCTION. This is what doctors are telling us to avoid.

Here is a link to a scientific article on elderberry

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11399518

The key is:

Production of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL- 8 was significantly increased, mostly by the Sambucol Black Elderberry Extract (2-45 fold), as compared to LPS, a known monocyte activator (3.6-10.7 fold). The most striking increase was noted in TNF-alpha production (44.9 fold). We conclude from this study that, in addition to its antiviral properties, Sambucol Elderberry Extract and its formulations activate the healthy immune system by increasing inflammatory cytokine production.

Other items that have come to my attention as increasing cytokine production are

KimChee, Chorella, Echinacea, Chocolate (oh no!), and honey. Except for the Echinacea and the elderberry juice, (Sambucol), I haven't done cross-checking on all these items which were heard FOAF from a physician. They are correct on echinacea and elderberry so far.

Normally, these are great, as they boost the immune system. However, the Swine flu, like SARS and the bird flu, kills by flooding the system with a cytokine storm and drowning the patient in their own immune system fluids.

Please do your own checking and cross checking. This is important news.

[LarnaE]

What do you do to stop a cytokine storm?

[cHeroKee]

ACE inhibitors and Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs) have proven to be beneficial in treating the cytokine storm.

[CurtisG]

Heres a statement from sambuco. i dont know what to think....

http://www.sambucolusa.com/important-message-swine-flu.htm

[cHeroKee]

No clinical studies have been carried out on the use of Sambucol against Swine Flu.
Although elderberries have been shown to increase cytokine production to fight infections, there is no evidence in the literature to indicate that herbal remedies, including elderberry extract, are linked to, or cause, a cytokine storm.Cytokine storms are uncontrolled reactions of the immune system that can result in high fevers, organ damage, and difficulty breathing. For this reason, some immune-stimulating herbs may be dangerous due to their nature to stimulate the immune system.
Herbal treatments affect everyone differently. Am I condoning the use of? Not so. Since Sambucol is a general immune booster the doses may do more damage than good if not properly supervised. There are many variables that may effect the use of Sambucol i.e. age, baseline immunity strength, etc....

[Lucy]

My daughter had a horrible experience this week. She came home from Phoenix the first part of July with a cough, that's it, a cough. It hadn't gotten any better and last week started getting worse. By Friday, she went to the Instacare, who sent her to the ER and they admitted her. She was having a lot of trouble breathing. This is a girl who has never had asthma but does have an autoimmune disease. All of the tests they have run have come back negative. After breathing treatments and steroids(yuke)and oxygen, she came home 24 hrs. later. Nobody knows what she has. She's doing much better, but still has that **** cough. (she is breathing really well now) Any ideas?

[prairiemom]

So are you saying that H1N1 and bird flu cause a cytokine storm, but none of the other flus do?

[neuf08]

I have done a bit of reading on the issue of cytokine storms and H1N1, and have also talked to a close friend of mine who is a doctor. From what I have gotten from him, there is some concern that the H1N1 virus will mutate and will begin to cause cytokine storms. If that is the case, it will become important to really be careful about what you take when sick, as some things like echinacea can cause a cytokine storm and make you worse. However, this is not yet the cause with the cirus...there is not yet any danger of a cytokine storm. So for now we are keeping our elderberry extract (http://www.seacoastvitamins.com/topic.php?health=wellness+elderberry) on hand and taking it when we get sick. We're also keeping out ears open to listen to whether or not the virus changes or mutates.

[Seeker]

What about daily use of Pychnogenol and Astragalus? In the past, I have added these to my normal daily supplements when traveling on business and around many people that were complaining of terrible colds and flu and I have not even gotten a sniffle or an ache. This was recommended to me by my OB/GYN who is also my osteopath and has work very well for me for the past 4-5 years. I also take a multi-vit along with additional magnesium, CoQ10, chromium and fish oil daily.

Seeker

[NRA]

I heard just recently on the radio (from a doctor) that you can prevent the H1N1 (swine or as I like to call it, the pig flu) or "regular" flu by just gargling with salt water twice a day making sure you also get it into your nasal area as well. Somehow this "loosens" the flu germs and allows them to go to your stomach where they die. He said it is more effective than TamaFlu (which is taken after you get the flu). Where this prevents it.

Boy, if that was well known, that would save a LOT of money and put some money grubbing people out of business.