A mysterious form of highly infectious and deadly pneumonia has been spreading rapidly across Asia and has been spotted in Canada, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue an unusual global alert.
The disease triggers flu-like symptoms such as high fever, coughing and shortness of breath, but it hasn't been responding to either antibiotics or antivirals.
Experts say that it could take weeks to determine the cause of the outbreak, which they speculate is an exotic virus that has mutated into a new, more potent form or--in the worst-case scenario--a new form of influenza. However, medical experts said that the spread of the disease is not as aggressive as most forms of influenza.
Nonetheless, according to one report, the severe form of the disease is "unbelievably scary" as evidenced by a message from a Hong Kong hospital.
One doctor reported that the pneumonia, named severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), is unresponsive to various combinations of cefotaxime, chlarithromycin, levofloxacin, doxyclycline and Tamiflu.
Older patients who are already suffering from chronic disease have been most severely affected, while medical staff who are younger and healthier have been able to better withstand the disease. However, radiological findings have deteriorated in all cases but one.
The hospital receives two to three new admissions of people suffering from the mystery pneumonia every day, and no one has shown any improvement.
They have closed their intensive care unit for all but atypical pneumonias, as well as cancelled elective surgeries and closed and evacuated other wards. Health care workers are wearing masks and are not going home to their children. According to reports, 90 percent of the most recent cases have been in health care workers.
The doctor advised that the warning be taken seriously and noted that people have been becoming ill with even minimal contact with an infected person.
So far 167 cases have been reported, including nine fatalities. Another 300 people had what appeared to be the same illness in an outbreak in China that began last November.
The incubation period for SARS appears to be three to seven days. Symptoms of the pneumonia include fever, respiratory symptoms, headache, muscular stiffness, loss of appetite, malaise, confusion, rash and diarrhea. Death results from respiratory failure.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned physicians to be alert for symptoms in people who have recently traveled to Hong Kong or Guangdong Province in the People's Republic of China or Hanoi, Vietnam. They also advise that people planning nonessential travel to areas affected by the outbreak may wish to postpone their trips until further notice.
WHO is not currently recommending travel restrictions, however it has issued guidelines to help airlines identify passengers who might be carrying the contagious disease. The WHO is heading up a major international effort to find the cause, with 11 laboratories working on the project in 10 different countries.
CDC March 15, 2003
Interesting People March 2003
Time Online Edition March 17, 2003
Yet one more example of problems that will result when you are not providing your body with the resources it needs to maintain high-level health.
SARS, HIV, Lyme's, Herpes, many others and as yet undiscovered infections--these are NOT the problem. They are only the triggers that highlight the weaknesses in our immune armor.
I am personally convinced that the solution does not involve an expensive drug or nutritional supplement but merely application of the basics that involve eating for your Metabolic Type, addressing unresolved emotional conflicts with tools like EFT, and staying away from toxic poisons like sugar, mercury and for most people grains.
If you apply these basics your body has no choice but to stay healthy and get better. It is my strong clinical belief and frequent observation in my clinical practice that each of us has been provided with an enormous array of biochemical mechanisms that are designed to generate health. Most of us have to regularly violate these principles for many years before we reap the fruits of our unhealthy choices.
Fortunately, the repair mechanisms work quite well for most of us and are activated once we apply these health basics.
So you don't need to live in fear of these frightening infections any more. Just apply the program.
I say this with a great degree of confidence because I see the miracles that it generates every day in my office. I am writing this comment on Monday after a busy day in the office and one of my last patients was in for a four-month follow-up appointment.
He had lost 50 pounds in the last four months and was able to stop both of his diabetic drugs that had not controlled his diabetes previously. He also stopped his high blood pressure drug and his blood sugar and pressures were perfectly normal. I stopped his thyroid hormone and suspect he will do fine with that as well.
How many supplements was he on to achieve this impressive recovery? None, zero, nada, zilch. Although he did take some good bacteria and fish oil, I really don't consider these supplements but merely types of foods. He achieved this with emotional work, Metabolic Typing, avoiding all grains and sugars and regular exercise.
Are his results atypical in our clinic? Absolutely not as we see similar improvements nearly every day. Is there anything special healing in our clinic? Absolutely not. All we do is teach people to apply the healing tools God gave each and every one of us to use. Our clinic does have an absolutely impressive array of nearly 40 full-time employees who are absolutely committed to providing outstanding care to our patients and helping them understand and apply these principles. Do you need to come to our clinic to achieve these results? Absolutely not. That is why I provide the newsletter, to provide each and every one of you with the tools you can use to implement this healing for yourself. There are many people who want to accelerate the process and visit our clinic to do so, and we are glad to help them. Ultimately, it is my goal to share many of the practical aspects of how we help people get their health back with other practitioners. There are many practical considerations that are difficult to describe on the Web site, but believe me the bulk of what we do for people is just applying the basics of the nutrition plan and helping them resolve their emotional challenges with tools like EFT. Metabolic Typing has become a profoundly important tool we use for all of our patients now, and we do eventually hope to make that available to non-patients later this year. However, I respectfully ask that you don't contact my office for any information, as the staff will not know any details about this program until it is announced in the newsletter, and my office and Web site are two separate entities.