Natural Antivirals

I forgot about Colloidal Silver. I have used it in the past to cure sinus infections and stomach problems when nothing else would work.

http://www.itmonline.org/ 

Here is a link to a Chinese Herbal Medicine site.  Check the article in the center of the page re Chinese Herbal Medicines response the Influenza. Antivirals and preventitive herbal protocols are listed. The Dr. that is the founder of "Seven Forests" brand of herbs uses TCM, Western herbs as well as other modalaties, such as ayurevedic herbs.  He is a chemist and has taken herbal analysis and treatment to a whole new level.  If your a TCM practioner and you want results, you carry this brand. He puts together formulas based on not only TCM theory and concepts but on through chemical analysis, does extensive laboratory testing on compounds, double blind studies etc. His formulas are second to none.  The website has sections for herbal study and further info. 

As an asside, my daughter got a nasty flu like bug last week. Yellow sticky cough, stuffy nose, fever, HA... (Obviously NOT H5N1) Usually this bug has been knocking people out chills fever, body aches, nasty cough w/ chest congestion, and hanging on for weeks. We used a Seven Forests formula spesific to her S&S and it was gone in four days. No cough, no congestion, nothing. Nope it wasn't just a cold.  This is what I'm stocking up on, will be giving to my kids and patients.  Check out the site.  It lists herbal formulas and treatments for Influenza. Although H5N1 is obviously different from the "normal" flu, the treatment theory still applies.  You can also buy the book called "Bag of Pearls" that have all the formulas listed with S&S that may make finding what you want easier.  I don't know if you can purchase the herbs on this site but you can google "Seven Forests Herbs" and find a seller. Hope this is of some help.  Peace.

Albert wrote: Here are some natural types of antivirals.  Does anyone know anything about these?   1.)     Curcumin (Need to take with Piperine, which is found in black pepper.)

You are one sharp guy!

FYI:

Black Elderberry (sambucus nigra)

"Being a complete pharmacy in itself"  Leaves are purgative, diuretic and diaphoretic.  It is a reliable home remedy for cold, flu, fever, skin eruptions......."

credits to:  The HErbal Medicine Makers Handbook by James Green.

I was concerned about sambucol too. Earlier in the forum it was discussed and there are some negs with H5N1.  

Topic: Elderberries fight BF

Welcome Trish!

Here's what I know about Samboucol.

Elderberry is a hemaggluttin inhibator.
Description: Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) is commonly used as a food product for wine, pie, and jelly. Its leaves were traditionally used for pain relief and applied to wounds to promote healing. Other traditional uses include treatment of infections, skin conditions, and coughing.
Elderberry contains many flavonoids, including Quercetin. Its therapeutic effects are found both in its berries and flowers.
Elderberry, taken several times daily, appears to cause flu patients to recover more rapidly.1 It may also be effective against herpes simplex (cold sores).2
The elderberry flowers may also be effective as an anti-inflammatory.3
Useful in treatment of: cold sores, influenza.

Recommended Dosage: 5 to 10 ml twice daily.

Contraindications: None.

Additional studies that demonstrated the effectiveness of Sambucol include:

Inhibition of Several Strains of Influenza Virus in Vitro and Reduction of Symptoms by an Elderberry Extract (Sambucus Nigra L.) During an Outbreak of Influenza B Panama

Zichria Zachay-Rones, Ph.D., Noemi Varsano, M.Sc., Moshe Zlotnik, M.D., Orly Manor, Ph.D., Liora Regev, Miriam Schlesinger and Madeleine Mumcuoglu, Ph.D. Department of Virology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel; Central Virology Laboratory, Public Health Laboratories, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; Ben Gurion University, Soroka Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel; Brown School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 1995: 1, 361-369

Standardized Elderberry Syrup Shortens the Severity and Duration of Influenza in Adults
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HerbalGram. 2004;63:16-17 © American Botanical Council (Buy This Issue)


by Donald J. Brown, N.D.

Reviewed: Zakay-Rones Z, Thom E, Wollan T, et al. Randomized study of the efficacy and safety of oral elderberry extract in the treatment of influenza A and B virus infections. J International Med Res. 2004;32:132–140.

Summary: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial, 60 male and female patients (18-54 years old; mean 30 years old) were recruited from four primary care sites in Norway to study the efficacy of a standardized elderberry syrup for the treatment of influenza. Patients were screened for participation between December and February, when influenza infection is most prevalent. All volunteers selected for the study had a fever ?38.00C (100.40F) and at least one respiratory influenza symptom. Influenza type A virus was isolated from 54 patients and influenza type B from 6 patients. Patients were randomized to receive either a standardized black elder (Sambucus nigra L., Caprifoliaceae) berry syrup preparation (containing 38% elderberry extract plus small amounts of raspberry extract, glucose, citric acid, and honey; Sambucol®, Razei Bar, Jerusalem, Israel) or a placebo syrup (same as above but with no elderberry). Patients were instructed to take 15 ml of elderberry or placebo 4 times per day. Study medication was started within 48 hours (mean 27.2 hours) of the onset of the influenza-like symptoms and continued for 5 days. Patients were also allowed to take a “rescue medication” (oral paracetamol and/or a dose-metered nasal spray [Otrivin®, Novartis, Basel, Switzerland]) if necessary during the study. The primary study outcomes included visual analogue scores (VAS) for aches and pains, frequency of coughing, quality of sleep, mucus discharge in the respiratory tract, and nasal congestion. The VAS used a 10-point rating scale with 0 = no improvement and 10 = pronounced improvement. A self-evaluation score measuring overall personal well-being was also completed. Patients scored their symptoms on diary cards at baseline, four times a day during treatment, and twice daily for 5 days after the treatment had finished. Baseline VAS scores did not differ significantly between the elderberry and placebo groups. There was a significant difference (p < 0.001) between the two groups in the development of mean VAS scores. By days 3-4 of treatment, most of the VAS scores in the elderberry group were close to 10 (pronounced improvement), while the placebo group reached this level after 7-8 days. A significant difference (p < 0.001) in the global evaluation scores for the two groups was noted after a mean of 3.1 ± 1.3 days, while a similar score was obtained after 7.1 ± 2.5 days in the placebo group. Mean VAS scores for aches and pains, quality of sleep, mucus discharge in the respiratory tract, and nasal congestion were all greater than 9.0 by day 4 in the elderberry group and were ? 1.0 in the placebo group. The mean VAS score for aches and pains was 10.0 at day 5 in the elderberry group and at day 8 in the placebo group. Taking rescue medication was significantly less (p < 0.001) in the elderberry group (7 used paracetamol and 5 the nasal spray) versus the placebo group (26 and 21, respectively). Patients from both groups were fully recovered after 8 days. None of the patients reported any adverse events during the study.
Comments/Opinions: Sponsored by the makers of Sambucol, this trial demonstrates the safety and efficacy of the standardized elderberry syrup for the treatment of influenza A in otherwise healthy adults. A previous Israeli trial with both adults and children showed similar efficacy in the treatment of influenza B/Panama.1 In that trial, 27 subjects were randomized to receive Sambucol for 3 days at the onset of flu symptoms. Adults were instructed to take 4 tablespoons per day and children (under 12 years; the youngest was 5 years old) 2 tablespoons per day. A significant improvement of symptoms, including fever, was seen in 93.3% of the elderberry group within 2 days, compared to 91.7% of the placebo group not showing improvement until day 6 (p <0.001). Complete resolution (“cure&#8221 was achieved within 2 to 3 days in approximately 90% of the elderberry group and within 6 days in the placebo group (p < 0.001).

While the active constituents in this extract have not been clearly disclosed, it is thought that anthocyanins such as cyanidin 3-glucoside and cyanidin 3-sambuboside may be the key constituents in the extract.2 Both are detectable in the plasma after oral ingestion of the extract.3 Possible mechanisms of action suggested for the extract include immunomodulatory actions as well as possible inhibition of viral adhesion to cell receptors. One ex vivo study found that incubation of human monocytes with Sambucol increased cytokine production—most notably tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) but also various interleukins (IL-1?, IL-6, IL-8).4 An in vitro study found Sambucol inhibited the replication of common human and animal influenza A and B strains as well as prevention of viral adhesion to cell receptors.1

Practice Implications: The results of this clinical trial support the use of a standardized elderberry syrup extract for the treatment of symptoms associated with influenza in otherwise healthy adults. Although based on small clinical trials, the data suggests a 50% reduction in both the severity and duration of symptoms in persons (adults and children) using the extract for 3 to 5 days. Based on the cost effectiveness of elderberry extract, future trials should focus on its potential value in preventing influenza and also its safety and efficacy in high risk populations such as immunocompromised patients, young children and infants, as well as the elderly.
http://www.herbalgram.org/herbalgra...view.asp?a=2702

There are two sides to the story of using Sambucol in the fight against Bird flu. The first is that it has shown to be effective in limiting the virions ability to replicate. The second argument is based on the products ability to raise cytokines and hence possibly exacerbate a cytokine storm. Both arguments have merit.

In June of 2005 two doctors in Hong Kong published an article in the Hong Kong Journal of Medicine. They were two of the attending physicians in the first outbreaks of Avian flu in 1997. Within the article the two described the actions they had taken and why they took those actions to save their patients lives. Half of the patients died of A.R.D.S. or cytokine storms. In the conclusion they wrote the only way to limit the deaths of their patients was by somehow limiting the viral lode. Nothing else they tried worked. The doctors reached the same conclusion in their latest article. Limiting the viral lode is the only known way to better your chance of survival.
In the Oct. 6, 2005, issue of Nature, on page 794 is the Special Report on "The 1918 flu virus is resurrected" article. Dr. Taubenberger reproduced the virus that is responsible for the pandemic of 1918. Within the article they stated "The full sequence is strong evidence that the 1918 flu virus is derived wholly from an ancestor that originally infected birds. In contrast, the viruses that caused the flu pandemics of 1957 and 1968 arose when human and Avian flu viruses infected the same person at the same time, allowing their genes to mix. This explains why the pandemic of 1918 was so much more devastating than were the two subsequent pandemics.
All eight of the genome segments from the 1918 virus differ in important ways from other human flu sequences, suggesting that none of the genome came from a strain that had previously infected people. 'It is the most bird-like of all mammalian flu virus,' says Taubenberger."
They injected the reconstructed virus into mice. What happened to the mice is chilling. There were 50 times as many virus particles released from lung cells a day after infection than in a comparable strain of influenza called the Texas virus. After two days of infection of the 1918 strain the mice lost 13% of their body weight. The weight loss in the Texas flu group was only transient. After four days there were a whopping 39,000 more virus particles found in the lung tissue of the 1918 group than were found in the Texas group. And finally every mouse injected with the 1918 virus died while none of the Texas group succumbed. The mice never had a chance because the viral lode was too high.
Researchers suggest that this new flu threat acts in the same way. It both is brand new to the human race and therefore we have no defence against it, and it multiplies at a faster rate overwhelming the body.
Limiting the number of virus by stopping the replication is paramount to survival. For that reason I have chosen to use the elderberry extract which has shown both in test tubes, and in humans to disable the haemagglutonin thereby reducing it's ability to replicate.
I am concerned however about the possible boost in cytokine levels. To mitigate any possible serious inflammatory response we will be taking the curcumin/piperine combo to reduce any inflammation. In conjunction I feel they should both inhibit the viruses ability to replicate and reduce my chance of inciting a cytokine storm.
It is also of paramount importance that the extract has to be taken as soon as infection occurs. Or even better yet, prior to infection. Using the product prophylactically should prevent the flu from ever getting a foothold in the body. This would then limit the viral lode. And as all the experts agree, limiting the viral lode is the best way to survive a bout of the bird flu.  On a personal note, I have had MUCH better luck with taking it preventitivly that after I get signs and symptoms. Hope this helps!

Another antiviral:

COCONUT OIL

http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/coconut_oil_healt hy.htm

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe/daily/20000814/fco14018.h tml