The data is now coming in to evaluate from all over the world that can help us make the best decisions moving forward. I wanted to share this great synopsis by a Swiss MD who goes through the global data, country by country with “just the facts, ma'am” archetypical Swiss orderliness to cut through so much of the media hype that continues to stir up fear.

While here in Vermont, Dr. Hemmett reviews what Vermont numbers can tell us.

I hope you find it useful to make the best decisions for the health, safety and well-being of your family.

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Benefits of Viruses in Shelburne

In my last post I discussed the impact of social distancing on both our mental and emotional health as well as our physical health.

As reports come in of the improvements in our natural environment with the decreased human impact, like the dolphins in Venice and the blue skies in Wuhan, we are not hearing about the impact on our internal environment from the hyper-hygiene and lack of human interaction at the skin level. Today I want to take a look at the potential deterioration in immunity caused by excessive hygiene and distancing. Again, I have been inspired by this article that if you haven’t had a chance to check out has useful and empowering perspectives in it. The Coronation by Charles Eisenstein

Eisenstein points out: “It is not only social contact that is necessary for health, but it is also contact with the microbial world. Generally speaking, microbes are not our enemies, they are our allies in health. A diverse gut biome, comprising bacteria, viruses, yeasts, and other organisms, is essential for a well-functioning immune system, and its diversity is maintained through contact with other people and with the world of life. Excessive hand-washing, overuse of antibiotics, aseptic cleanliness, and lack of human contact might do more harm than good. The resulting allergies and autoimmune disorders might be worse than the infectious disease they replace. Socially and biologically, health comes from the community. Life does not thrive in isolation.”

“Seeing the world in us-versus-them terms blinds us to the reality that life and health happen in community. To take the example of infectious diseases, we fail to look beyond the evil pathogen and ask, what is the role of viruses in the microbiome? (See also here.) What are the body conditions under which harmful viruses proliferate? Why do some people have mild symptoms and other severe ones (besides the catch-all non-explanation of “low resistance”)? What positive role might flus, colds, and other non-lethal diseases play in the maintenance of health?”

“War-on-germs thinking brings results akin to those of the War on Terror, War on Crime, War on Weeds, and the endless wars we fight politically and interpersonally. First, it generates endless war; second, it diverts attention from the ground conditions that breed illness, terrorism, crime, weeds, and the rest.”

“…regimes of antibiotics, vaccines, antivirals, and other medicines wreak havoc on body ecology, which is the foundation of strong immunity. Outside the body, the massive spraying campaigns sparked by Zika, Dengue Fever, and now COVID-19 will visit untold damage upon nature’s ecology. Has anyone considered what the effects on the ecosystem will be when we douse it with antiviral compounds? Such a policy (which has been implemented in various places in China and India) is only thinkable from the mindset of separation, which does not understand that viruses are integral to the web of life.”

“Even in diseases like COVID-19, in which we can name a pathogenic virus, matters are not so simple as a war between virus and victim. There is an alternative to the germ theory of disease that holds germs to be part of a larger process. When conditions are right, they multiply in the body, sometimes killing the host, but also, potentially, improving the conditions that accommodated them, to begin with, for example by cleaning out accumulated toxic debris via mucus discharge, or (metaphorically speaking) burning them up with fever. Sometimes called “terrain theory,” it says that germs are more symptom than cause of disease. As one meme explains it: “Your fish is sick. Germ theory: isolate the fish. Terrain theory: clean the tank.”

We are at a fork in the road as we move forward from here.

"The crisis could usher in totalitarianism or solidarity; medical martial law or a holistic renaissance; greater fear of the microbial world, or greater resiliency in participation in it.”

Eisenstein concludes by noting: “…one more dimension of the relationship between humans and viruses. Viruses are integral to evolution, not just of humans but of all eukaryotes. Viruses can transfer DNA from organism to organism, sometimes inserting it into the germline (where it becomes heritable). Known as horizontal gene transfer, this is a primary mechanism of evolution, allowing life to evolve together much faster than is possible through random mutation. As Lynn Margulis once put it, we are our viruses.”

“The phenomenon follows the template of initiation: separation from normality, followed by a dilemma, breakdown, or ordeal, followed (if it is to be complete) by reintegration and celebration.”

This is where all of our individual choices come into play as we together shape the future. We need to recognize that short term fixes may lead to dependency on the very same short term measures: like antibiotic resistance and stronger antibiotics needed coming from the overuse of antibiotics as a short term fix for an acute infection. The same holds true for thinking the vaccine will be the answer. We may have already created a state of vaccine dependency for other acute illnesses with a schedule that will simply explode if this is our only strategy now.

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So what can we do right NOW in the short term that will develop into useful long-term strategies?

• Exercise outside whenever possible. And do it before learning something so you will retain more. (hint, hint for the kiddos)
• Eat really healthy right now.
• Get your hands and feet into the dirt in your garden.
• Get extra sleep.
• Get the ergonomics right for you AND your kids.
• Get adjusted to protect your adaptability and avoid losing ground. Schedule a virtual visit with me if you are self-isolating for the time being.

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If you are finding yourself still in fear mode, please check out this ⦁ video of the famous cellular biologist, Bruce Lipton, author of The Biology of Fear.