Tune Up Tuesday by Sally Lippert
How do you handle life when you get an infection or injury?
Do you run to the doctor?
Or do you Google your symptoms?
I have learned first hand about keeping the immune system in check. My husband received a heart transplant almost 19 years ago after his heart failed due to a rare birth defect. The transplanted organ looks like a foreign body to the immune system causing an immediate inflammatory response. As soon as the person receives the transplant, they are hit with a ton of antirejection medications to stop the inflammatory response. These medications are adjusted but must continue the rest of their life.
Most people, who do not have a chronic illness e.g. asthma, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome or lupus, can handle illness with minimal intervention. Healthy immune systems respond with fever, pain, redness or swelling. This is our bodies way of telling us that something is wrong, either inside or out. Interventions may be needed for acute inflammatory illness or injury but doctors are recognizing that less is more when it comes to treatment. Superbugs are on the rise as antibiotics become less effective. Prescription medications are causing more side effects that the diseases themselves.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe medications have their place. More studies are showing that alternative therapies in conjunction with traditional are quite helpful to people.
One example I will give is the use of Turmeric for arthritis pain relief. After thorough research, I tried it on the recommendation of my doctor with great success in easing my arthritis discomfort.
My husband has been blessed with the “Gift of Life” and strives to be the longest, living transplant by doing everything he can to keep his inflammation under control.
Books that I can recommend are “The Anti-Inflammatory Diet and Recipes” by Jessica K. Black and “Forks over Knives” by Gene Stone.
I would love to hear how you handle illness or injury.
