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Best & Simple Protection Against Illness

wdlove

wdlove

macrumors P6
Original poster
Oct 20, 2002
16,568
0
Now that we are in the Fall season, cold season is also here. The Flu season is not far behind. Now is the time to get your Flu Shot.

The easiest way to prevent illness is low cost and easy wash your hands. It is best not to use hot water because it can damage the skin. The skin is our largest organ and our 1st line of defense against infection. Hand washing just requires water and soap. It is the mechanical rubbbing causing friction that will remove bacteria and viruses. With the common cold, salmonella and Hepatitis A, hand-washing makes a difference.

"The majority of infections are spread by touching," said Dr. Elaine Larson of the Columbia University School of Nursing.

"Getting people to clean their hands as often as they should," Boyce said, "is a problem worldwide."


http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2003/11/04/to_kill_germs_its_simple_wash_your_hands/
 
Originally posted by mactastic
Thanks for the advice. I'm going to wash my hands right now.;)
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Thank you that is my purpose. It is such a simple answer to illness. Cost is only less than a minute of you time. The benefit is to be illness free.
 
Hey, what's your opinion about anti-bacterial stuff? I usually avoid it in my house so as not to help produce resistant-bacteria, but other people swear by it.
 
It's not do much "producing" resistant bacteria, as survival of the fittest. The bacteria that are already resistant will continue to reproduce, and the resulting bacteria will also be resistant, providing that the resistance is genetic.
 
Your health tips are appreciated, wdlove. On the topic, here are some exceprts from an article titled "Flu shot gave you the flu? It's a myth" in today's Los Angeles Times:
A sizable number of people — 38% in one group of older adults — still believe the influenza vaccine can give you the flu. It can't. Doctors are in widespread agreement on this. Influenza virus is made from dead virus, which means it is not capable of launching an infection in your body.
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...
The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the flu shot for people 65 and older; children 6 months to 23 months old; anyone with a chronic health condition; health-care workers; anyone near a child under the age of 2; and women more than three months' pregnant. The agency also urges all other healthy Americans to consider getting the vaccine.
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...
A study of 1,383 people, age 66 and older, found that 38% of unvaccinated people feared that they would get the flu from the vaccine. Among the vaccinated people in the study, published in January in the American Journal of Medicine, only 6% believed the myth.
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Originally posted by mactastic
Hey, what's your opinion about anti-bacterial stuff? I usually avoid it in my house so as not to help produce resistant-bacteria, but other people swear by it.
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The problem with over use of anti bacterial soap is that it can produce resistant bacteria as you mentioned. Antibacterial soap is very important to health care professional, my wife uses it as visiting nurse. In that case it's important to prevent the transmission of illness.

Thank you Doctor Q, you approval is of great value. Those are great quotes, thank you.
 
vitamins and lots of sleep help, too...

So what is the best way to get out of the restrooms once you washed your hands ? Use a corner of your jacket on the handle ? Use your left hand ? Just kick in the bloody door ? :p
 
I rarely get sick. I attribute it to regular hand washings and constantly drinking fluids.
 
I find that using the force works well... unless all you have are those crappy matrix powers. Then you have to pull the handle.:D

Just kidding all... I hope I don't need my flame-retardant suit!
 
Originally posted by etoiles
So what is the best way to get out of the restrooms once you washed your hands ? Use a corner of your jacket on the handle ? Use your left hand ? Just kick in the bloody door ? :p
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When I got my food handler's license, the training suggested using the paper towel to hold onto the door handle. Then hold the door open with your back against it and toss your paper towel into the garbage can.
 
Originally posted by etoiles
So what is the best way to get out of the restrooms once you washed your hands ? Use a corner of your jacket on the handle ? Use your left hand ? Just kick in the bloody door ?
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Bathroom doors usually swing in, so kicking won't help. Your best bet is to wait helplessly in the bathroom until somebody else comes in, finishes, and leaves. Then dart through after them before the door closes. If it takes a long time for the next person to arrive, you simply get a longer work break. See? Problem solved!
 
Originally posted by Doctor Q
Problem solved!
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You are a genius !
:D

just don't tell the solution to anybody else, or the bathroom might get a bit crowded:

guy 1: after you.
guy 2: No, no, sir, please.
guy 3: Hey, don't push
guy 1: get out NOW !
...
guy10 (entering) : excuse me, coming through...
...
Daveman comes in, pees, gets out. 20 men stare at each other in silent.
 
Originally posted by etoiles
just don't tell the solution to anybody else, or the bathroom might get a bit crowded
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We can solve that problem too. Eventually, the cleaning crew will be in.
 
When I was a college TA, I taught plant tissue culture to undergrads. Bacteria and fungus just love to grow on the agar media. I really had a hard time getting through the kids heads that you don't touch ANYTHING once you wash your hands. As careful as those kids thought they were, we still had 96% contamination. The best one was the kid who sneezed into the laminar flow hood.
 
Originally posted by etoiles
vitamins and lots of sleep help, too...

So what is the best way to get out of the restrooms once you washed your hands ? Use a corner of your jacket on the handle ? Use your left hand ? Just kick in the bloody door ? :p
Click to expand...

I always have the same thoughts myself etoiles. I use a paper towel to open the door. Then I put my shoulder against the door and discard the towel. If there are no towels then I try to use my little finger on my left hand to open the door. Then use my shoulder.

Not really sure how much vitamins help, personally don't take any. I had an A&P professor that said Americans have the richest urine in the world. If you eat a healthy diet you get most of what you need. I think that sleep is the most important to help build up the immune system.
 
I just got my Flu Shot on Saturday November 15th. Has anyone else got the vaccine. I would be interested to know if anyone has tried the new Flu Mist via the nose. Have seen advertisements on TV.

I was thinking with the washing hands at a public place and having to open the door. It dawned on me while I was attending the Primary Medicine East Conference November 6 - 9. Just like the airport they had no door on the men's or women's bathrooms. Just a partitioning for privacy. So with a design technique it eliminated the problem of recontmaination.
 
I got my flu shot yesterday. The vaccine is in good supply, unlike some previous years. I read in Newsweek that they are reformulating the vaccine so, in the future (and even now if you can find the new version) the vaccine won't have even a trace of mercury. Currently, the vaccine most of us get can have a very small amount of mercury, less than a can of tuna contains, and there is no actual evidence of risk from that. But, given how people worry over the slightest thing, they are wisely eliminating even the concern that there is any unnecessary risk to flu shots. I know one person who says "I can't get the flu shot because it gives me the flu", despite the fact that it's not a live virus (and I tell her this every year). If people happen to get a cold the same week or mistake a temporary fever from the vaccine as a sign of flu, they often make this incorrect assumption.

I advise everyone to listen to wdlove. Play the odds, which are overwhelming that a flu shot will increase your chances for good health and lack of one will decrease your chances.

===

Medical joke:
Doctor: Drink plenty of fluids.
Patient: That's all I ever drink!
 
Originally posted by wdlove
Doctor thinks that this Flu season could be worse, is encouraging all to get vaccinated. Read the article below it will dispel some of your myths. I want to see us have healthy forum members.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/2642514/detail.html?treets=bos&tml=bos_health&ts=T&tmi=bos_health_1_12150011182003
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Ah yes, but the NYTimes said that the latest Flu is not covered by the vaccinations... I suppose a new strain (don't quote me)...

They said it was resistant... ah well.

I got mine... :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by wdlove
Doctor thinks that this Flu season could be worse, is encouraging all to get vaccinated.
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It is too bad that the vaccine doesn't protect against one of the more active strains of virus going around. As the article says, it is still worth getting vaccinated since it will protect you against the other active strains. I'm surprised they can predict at all which strains will be active considering the flow of people around the globe these days.
 
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