As a community, Juneau is becoming proficient with medical grade hand-washing techniques, social distancing and home isolation. Alaskans are no strangers to isolation and are demonstrating that we are at home and at ease cultivating these new habits.
The conversation does not stop there, however.
So let's talk about our immune system. The first line of defense against germs is your skin, the single largest organ of the body. It provides a physical barrier that keeps most bacteria and virus from entering the body. Viruses cannot get through normal, healthy, unbroken skin. They can, however, get into the body through unbroken mucous membranes, which are the moist membranes of the mouth, nasal passages, lungs and the cornea and sclera of the eyes.
That is why masks, glasses and oral and hand hygiene are so important. So let's kick it up a notch.
It is important to be informed as a community and to openly share resources and information that may prove to be useful if not vital to someone.
Overview:
Understanding how our physiology choreographs our amazing immune system to eliminate the bacteria and the viral load that invade the barriers of the skin and manage to get inside the body. We all know white blood cells defend the body from invaders. We might also know that these highly versatile cells begin their lives as bone marrow, but understanding how to support your bone marrow health and how to boost monocytes production may not be something you have thought about.
There is evidence-based research that verifies that boosting your monocyte production is the key to boosting your immunity against coronavirus infection.
The life cycle of monocytes begins in the bone marrow, once mature they travel to the lymph nodes through out the body, where they await cytokine instructions to fight infection. Monocytes are the first ones called to protect the skin and the lungs. Once on location they transform into tissue macrophages as the body's first line of defense against viral infections of the lungs.
Are you interested to learn more? I hope this interested you as much as it does me! My aim is to provide evidence-based research and knowledge that helps you understand how to take care of you and your loved ones, and ultimately our community. You will be surprised that the solutions may not be complicated at all and that we may have the ingredients we need right here at home.
There are mountains of information to sift through to find straight forward, concise answers. Below are two easy to follow, yet comprehensive videos for you to see on:
A. ) How our immune system builds its defenses, specifically for a corona-virus, by Dr Abazar Habibina, MD, DFN, Director of the Canadian Academy of Sports Nutrition youtube.com/watch?v=u7YefBaeub4
B. ) What we can do to boost and provide the necessary building blocks our immune system needs to withstand a corona-virus infection - a video publication from MedSimplified - a medical and biology lecture series.
ps. I have already taken notes from these videos for you and have posted them below so you can easily copy/print them and start compiling your own info & food resources.
Below the BLOG tab are three resource links: 1. The first two tabs provide the notes for the videos if you are interested. 2. The last button is a list of 10 super foods and their amazing nutritional benefit - understanding why these are listed as super foods and how they help is the first step in being informed and developing your strategy for protecting your family's health. I personally have already been experimenting with making candied ginger for less money, elderberry and ginger cough syrups in bulk, fresh papaya boats & smoothies, raw red pepper soups and more. I have given away my first set of 20 masks and have teamed up with other concerned residents to fabricate PPE for hospital and emergency personnel. I am still busy working on building an inventory for an apothecary curbside store for locally sourced soaps, body scrubs, and migraine ointments, which I hope to launch in May.
Keep experimenting and conducting your own research on what it takes to remain fit & healthy! Let me know your ideas, thoughts and how you are coping! I would love to hear from you. Thank you.
BryAnne Rounds
These complementary online resources will be made available a couple times each month.
*medical disclaimer - the information provided in this blog/email post or website is designed to provide helpful supplementary information on the subjects discussed. This information is not intended to be used to treat or diagnose any existing medical condition, including covid-19. For any specific treatment or diagnosis please consult your physician. References are provided for informational purposes only.
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