Dear Patients,
Many of you have been asking for our opinions on how to prepare your immune systems for your upcoming Fall and Winter months. Our recommendations are meant for all patients regardless of where you live in the country. Our goal is to provide you with the information that you’ll need to help you make the best decision to keep you and your family healthy.
Cold and Flu season: Now that we’re all re-engaging in events outside of our homes, we may be more susceptible to getting exposed to the more common and still present upper respiratory infections like colds and flus. There has been some speculation that many have done such a good job of avoiding exposure to infections, that our immune system may be out of practice in addressing typical colds and flus. The WSJ has an interesting perspective on this, in this article.
Immune Defenders: Nutritional support for Prevention and Active Management has been very useful for our patients over the years and we do recommend having these supplements on hand in your medicine cabinet to be prepared for the season. Click here to see our recommendations.
Immune IV therapy with Vitamin C and minerals on a once or twice a month basis, to support immune function, we’ve seen become a useful way to get your immune system ready for fighting infections. Please contact our office to schedule an appointment by clicking the link here.
A bit on the Delta variant: COVID is clearly going to still be in our lives for this Fall and Winter season. The current COVID strain in the US is the Delta variant. Delta is considered more contagious and easily spread from person to person. Whether it is worse than the original strain or more fatal is still being studied.
Long Haulers and Vaccine reactions: We are finding most of our patients are recovering well from COVID and after they get one of the vaccines. However, some patients have come to us with persistent symptoms after having had COVID or the vaccine. Persistent COVID symptoms has been termed “COVID Long-Haulers” and can lead to symptoms of persistent fatigue, brain fog, headaches, dizziness and even shortness of breath. Interestingly, we’re also seeing some rare instances where patients develop similar symptoms after receiving the vaccine.
While there is no universally agreed upon management for these symptoms, we have found some strategies that have been helpful. We have found our greatest successes by taking a mutli-dimensional approach to address Immune regulation, Histamine management, underlying infection treatments and detoxification support. These cases do require an individualized approach and we recommend patients make an appointment to discuss the nuances of each individual’s case with one of our practitioners.
As always, remember the basics of immune health. It’s important to stay well hydrated with water, about 1 to 2 liters per day. Follow a low carbohydrate meal plan, limit dairy, especially when having cold symptoms, exercise 4 times a week, obtain at least 8 hours of sleep per night and make sure you’re managing your stress.
Whether you’re following a healthy diet and exercise program, taking additional Immune Defenders and occasional Immune IV therapy, try to do the best you can with these recommendations and call us if you’d like any additional support.
Let’s all stay healthy together and get through this Fall and Winter season in good health.
Warmly,
Dr. Morrison and The Morrison Center Team
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to treat or cure any disease.
JEFFREY A. MORRISON, MD
Dr. Jeffrey Morrison is an award-winning medical doctor, a leader in the field of Integrative Medicine, and champion of a nutritional approach to healthcare.