N1H1 or swine flue

A friend asked what others were doing to prepare for the peak of the swine flue which is coming up in about 2 months time and the government is predicting up to 90,000 deaths related to it as compared to 40,000 from the regular flue.  All that I can do is be sure to wash my hands more regularly and keep my distance from those who may be infected or potentially infected as much as possible but given the work I do that will be very hard as I work in the retail environment though thankfully its during midnight hours.  One of the things he brought up was the N95 masks which you see most often on video or pictures from Japan and on medical drama's on tv.  The ones you see on doctors and nurses are the better type but what most people don't realize is that these masks are designed too do one thing which is prevent the wearer from expelling bodily fluids such as saliva mucous or flem into the air which could infect those around the wear, the masks do not prevent the wearer from getting any airborne infections because the mask does not - let me say this more clearly, THE MASK IS NOT AIR TIGHT meaning it has gaps that allows air to flow between the fabric and the skin surface freely.

 

Ok so now your wondering what should you do then to prevent coming down with this infection?  Well you could barricade yourself in your home for 6 months or you could move to a commune and go hippiefide but for the rest of us there are some simple things you can do. 

 

The first thing you should do is eat well, a proper diet has always been one of the keys to good health and that still holds true today.  If your the type that lives off of fast food such as McDonalds or Wendy's then your most likely a beach ball with legs or one in the making.  Fruit and vegetables along with grains and roots and fish are all important just as is dairy and red meats and fowl ( chicken and turkey for the rest of us ) all of which should be cleaned and cooked properly before consumption. 

 

The second thing is making sure you drink enough water.  Ok look our bodies are heavily made up of water which comprises all of our bodily fluids as a base or medium and if your lacking in water then this has an impact on your bodily systems and some of these fluids move slower.  Take your kidneys for instance, they filter the toxins from your blood and your urine carries these toxins out of the body to the tune of about two quarts a day for those who have optimal fluid intake ( no this does not mean beer ).  For those who don't drink enough water lets say 4 glasses a day then the filtering process is slower and the length of time that toxins and other fowl stuff sits in your bladder and kidneys for that matter is lengthened.  Basically as long as you have enough water coming into your body it works as a systems flush forcing your body to stay hydrated and getting rid of contaminates more readily.

 

The third thing you can do is get enough sleep, your body requires sleep to recharge your batteries along with eating properly and if you don't get enough sleep then you're operating at deminished energy levels which you may not notice at first but you eventually will.  7 - 9 hours of sleep a day will allow you to be more rested and refreshed so long as you have uninterrupted sleep during the course of this time and your sleeping on a comfortable sleep surface and you dont have any sleep disorders such as sleep apnia.  Some people function differently and may only need  5 - 6 hours of sleep but the rest of us require 7 - 9 hours of rest.

 

The last thing you can do is minimize your daily stress as much as possible.  This can be as simple as changing your routine at work and at school or meditating, I've known people to get a new job because the old one created to much stress and knew someone who actually changed schools because the one he was going to was not serious enough for him due to it being more of a party school than an educational one and in both instances these people became more relaxed and happier.  In my instance I am working at a job that creates a great deal of stress for me and as such I have had to make some changes at work to handle the stress until I can finish school and go into my chosen field or get into it before school ends.

 

Do you need a better mask to protect yourself from H1N1?  Only if your working in the healthcare field or there is a true pandemic going on like what you see in the movies but if you still feel the need then google biological respirator's and crack open the piggy bank.