Updated on Sept 13, 2009:
I have been trying to see what’s the characteristics of H1N1 and how it behaves so far. It appears it thrives better with “dampess with heat”.
Current 4th Major Qi Period is dominated with Dampess and heat, in fact these two forces have been operating since Mar 23.
By 5th Major Qi Period (Sept 23 to Nov 22), Dryness and Coldness will prevail, dampness will disappear quite quickly.
This may eliminate the condition which seems favourable to H1N1, which has been there since Mar 23.
The 5th Major Qi Period will still put a load onto the Lung System, though H1N1 may be disappearing.
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Updated on Sept 1, 2009:
The best way to protect against H1N1 is the following advice from our ancestors :
“…食饮有节， 起居有常，不妄作劳 ….虚邪贼风，避之有时；恬澹虚无，真气从之，精神内守，病安从来？….”
Please refer to Posting “Health Pointers for Free”.
Additionally, for the dryer Autumn months, if you feel dryer throat and heaty, to strengthen the Lung systems, try :
1. 沙参、玉竹、南北杏煲猪瘦肉
北沙参10g，玉竹20g，南、北杏各5克，猪瘦肉250g，蜜枣2枚，姜 2片。将全部用料放入锅内，加清水适量，武火煮沸，文火煲2小时，加盐适量，可喝汤吃肉。
2. 麦门冬 18g，党参 9g， 炙甘草9g， 大枣5 pieces， 半夏9g， 粳米9g.
Boil with 3 bowls of water until 2 bowls, drink one bowl each time, twice daily. Drink alternate day for 3 weeks.
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Updated on Aug 29, 2009:
This H1N1 is stickier than I had first anticipated. This could be due to the main Damp Earth force of Ji Chou Year and an additioal Dampness sub-force in 4th Major Qi Period (July 23 to Sept 23).
Dampness is usually a more difficult force to deal with, as anything, whether it is heatiness or coldness, tends to get stuck to Dampness and difficult to get rid of.
We are entering the 5th Major Qi Period soon (Sept 23 to Nov 22), where it will be subjected to 2 additional Dryness sub-forces. This will put extra load on the lung system, so take great care.
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Update on April 30,2009:
Dear Friends,
image from www.chinesehomecooking.com
Tiny flu viruses are wrecking havoc and global fear again.
The number of cases seem small at the moment, but I think we will see an explosive growth over the next few days since early cases were not detected early enough and may have spread to wider commuity through travel.
This has been what I have feared. Please read postings :
-
Health Pointers in Ji-Chou Year (2009), (especially wrt to 2nd Major Qi Period) and
Judging from the reported characteristics, this is the warm-type epidemics, which developed very quickly and kills very quickly.
Strenghten your immune system, stay healthy, drink lots of warm water, vitamin C, sleep well and stay away from crowded places.
If you can get hold of star anise, boil them and drink the soup regularly over this period (twicely daily, half a cup each time, kids half portion. You may feel a bit dizzy for a few minutes, that’s ok). Star anise is the main ingredient of Tamiflu, which might be out-of-stock by the time you get to the clinic or cost you may times more than plain star anise. (note that star anise is of heaty herb with expelling characteristics, if you feel too heaty after consumption you should stop, especially if this creats discomfort to your throat).
Or simply get 玉屏風散 as per posting Flu season – Get Your Windscreen (13/3: HK closes All Kindergarten/Primary schools!!!)
Stay alert.
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Hey, xy2, thanks for the tip on Star Anise. I got plenty of them, just put one in my chinese cooking for dinner tonight.
But they are super cheap in Malaysia or Spore! Will be drinking plenty of it then. Will it have the same effect if I start throwing them into my chinese cooking?
But staying healthy and boosting your immune system is the only way. Scary world we live in. It is like a time bomb, never know when the next one is going to be exploding. And this is even worse than N.Korea and her nuclear missiles. You don’t know when or where it is going to come from.
Take care everyone.
ch,
you can cook it with your chinese cooking or boiling it alone, that’s ok.
yes, nothing replaces healthy and great immune system.
get your central Qi moving.
xy2, I forwarded your blog page to some friends and one question came back. If you were to boil it alone, how long should you boil it? Drink the water plain then?
I am sure many are interested. It is a therapy/preventive method that is economical and worth trying.
ch,
use 9 star anise, 6 cups of water, boil in earthern pot if possible or else avoid steel/metal pot.
boil for about 30-40 mins until about 4 cups left. Drink twicely daily over the flu period. Above volume good for 2 adults per day.
To add flavour, add couple of red dates (remove seed before boiling).
hope above helps.
do you mean everyone drinks it twice daily, during flu season, even for healthy adults and children? or do you mean only the suspected sickly patients drink this? Is the soup ok for kids and what’s the adequate portion for kids?
we have never drink this before – not sure if it’s spicy, sweet or tasteless
Thanks xy2, I have been sharing the recipe you posted around with friends. Hope you do not mind.
Roche and Glaxo said they would need 3-4 mths for the medicine production (Tamiflu and Relenza) and any vaccine would take 6 mths or more, so yes, definitely worth knowing an alternative treatment! Thanks.
Fen,
healthy person can drink the star anise soup during this flu season.
for kids, half the portion.
ntes that star anise is used in traditional chinese cooking, so any healthy person can take it, it helps to fight off the elements.
Additionally, the 2nd Major Qi Period ends in around May 21, so I think the flu should subside by around June 5 (i.e. one Minor Qi Period after 2nd Major Qi Period).
Hope above helps.
.
Oh, I hope you are right about the flu subsiding.
But between now and June 5, there is at least 5-6 weeks……and meanwhile the fear of its spread is already wrecking havoc in the stock market and causing panic in many places!
ch,
don’t worry, it will be over by June 5.
My line of combat against this flu is stocking up on fruits, drinking more fluids & resting more. Have advised my children to eat more fruits, drink honey, etc.. Off course we pray for strong immune system to ward off this virus attack.
In Jesus we live & have our being!
Fear not, for that is exactly what the enemy would need to invade us.
My elderly in-laws are scheduled to fly over to Singapore this weekend. Wary of the exposure of possible virus carriers in the busy airports, we are getting them N95 masks. Not sure how effective masks are to ward off virus but I guess it does have a psychological effect.
BTW xy, if one is already having flu, does taking the star anise concoction help to clear it ?
mf,
if one is already having flu, there are other Chinese medicine treatment, depending on the type of “flu”.
Of course if the symptoms developed very quickly, go to hospital right away for extra help.
N95 ?, you can hardly breath in it, no, not more than 30 mins.
.
Well, those masks will not be put to use at the airport this weekend, as my in-laws decided against travelling in the end. Somehow, the emotional health really affects physical health. The lack of confidence manifested into some cough and cold and so, father-in-law called it off.
Even for me, a fit person would rather not fly given a choice.
We’ll probably use the masks during haze !
mf, maybe your in-laws are wise in not getting on the plane after all. Unless ablsolutely necessary, plane travel is probably not highly recommended. If a person carrying the virus is on board, you can be sure the air he /she is breathing out is circulated to everyone else on board!
I remember the last time during SARS season, masks with LV and Gucci logos were much sought after in HK!! Don’t know if they will do a better job warding off any infection, though!
ch, yeah i probed a little deeper sensing some uneasiness and suggested that the trip be called off.
With old folks, usually they are too shy to voice out the true honest opinion afraid of offending their children.
ch, i have always been curious when it comes to masks … as u may be able to enlighten a bit as a medical professional. There are so many types of masks, surgical masks, etc and we often see dentists, doctors, nurses and surgeons on TV donning the typical square type ones in their line of work.
Are these able to filter out anything ? That is apart from bad breath ?! Also, I often admire the civic-mindedness of the Japanese wearing a mask in the public like second nature, when they are having flu.
mf,
The masks used by doctors/surgeons are so that we do not pass on any germs when we cough or sneeze. Also, personally I use it when I am working on a not so nice spot on my patient (like errr, the anus area or when working on a boil, to shut out the smell and also any germs that may come my way when the body fluids start to fly around and believe me they do!!).
The Japanese use the masks for two reasons, (1) to reduce inhaling pollens or any allergic antigens during the allergy season, and (2) to avoid the droplets from their own cough/sneeze from spreading to others.
The masks essentially prevent the droplets containing body fluids to reach others. Frankly, they cannot prevent viruses from getting into your body, they only reduce the chances of the virus doing so. It is justa physical barrier.
tx, ch. One really has to be strong to be a doctor, huh ! Can’t faint or cringe at unsightly or stinky stuff.
mf,
yes, doctors are bodhisattvas.
However, there are these bad horses in some places, see write up by an unfortunate mother in JB : (essetianlly a total lack of respect for life and profession) :
新山班兰医院HOSPITAL SULTAN ISMAL(大家努力转发吧!让全世界人类都知道马来西亚有这班人神共愤的禽兽医生和护士!)
新山班兰医院HOSPITAL SULTAN ISMAL
2009年1月1号，早上8点我进了HSI医院，（我是催生的，过了育产期）医生帮我检查，说子宫还没开，说第二天才放药催生。。。
2009年1月2号，早上七点，放了药催生，下午两点医生说开了2CM，到了晚上肚子就好痛好痛。。。一整晚没睡
2009年1月3号，早上凌晨四点，痛到好痛，护士就带我去检查，护士检查说只开了3CM，还不能生。。早上七点，医生检查说只开了3CM，不需要在放药了。。过了一小时，我躺在床上时，突然洋水破了，旁边的产妇就帮我去叫护士来。。护士就跟我说让它流吧。。到了中午十二点半，我老公来了，他看到我不对劲了，好像要生了，就去叫A护士来看下，没想到A护士竟说：现在才几点？哪里有医生，医生要两点才来，两点才能检查…我老公听了很生气，就去叫B护士来看，B护士检查了后，就说开了5CM了，可以进产房了。。。进了产房，护士就帮我掉水。。到了下午两点，一位马来婆医生就进来了，（这位医生应该是实习医生，她样子好像只有二十三四岁）医生进来就跟我挖到很大力，我就一直叫她轻点，但她故意越弄越大力。。过后来了两位护士和医生一起帮我接生，她们就去叫我老公进来帮助我，过后她们一直叫我出力，我一停下，医生就挖更大力，（其实我一进产房的时候，已经软软了，一整夜没睡没吃，又发烧），我老公一直也帮忙我，过了一会儿，又有四五个护士进来帮忙，我一直没力push，医生就说我女儿的心跳不好了，要快点push，医生还说了一句话：你到底要不要生的，要不要出力的，你再不出力，如果孩子出来有什么问题不管我们的事，是你自己没有力生，你再不出力，我们就出去了，你自己一个人在里面生。。结果她们就全部停下手在讲话。。过后她们就叫我老公出去等，过后。。一位护士打我的手，一位打我的脚另一位还更恐怖。。一直捏我，捏到我很痛很痛，另两位就一直大大力按我的肚子。。。过了一小时多，医生看到不对劲了，就去打电话问别的医生（刚好我老公在旁边听到），过后，护士就推了一架吸层机进来（吸婴儿用的），但拿进来后，医生反而没用还一直叫我出力，到了差不多四点，医生才用吸层机吸出来。。当宝宝吸出来的时候，医生就把她放在我肚上，可是宝宝已经不会哭了，整身都变蓝了，护士就马上把宝宝 拿走了。。。我就一直躺在那里。。过了半小时，医生就进里笑着跟我说：你的宝宝不会哭，也不会呼吸，现在送进婴儿加护病房了，SORRY，我已经尽力了。。。（当我听了过后，我已经要傻掉了）过了一会，几个护士走来和我说：SORRY，我们会打你，捏你，是要你出力生。。。
3月22号：：我昨天带我女儿去看中医了。。中医说我女儿可能以后会有很多后遗症。。。。可能比一般人慢发育，可能有颠型症，可能有多动症，最糟糕可能会说话慢，思想慢，动作慢，不会照顾自己。。。。。现在只能靠吃中药，西药，推拿。。要等她五个多月才可以针纠。。就算针纠也不能一百巴仙好，如果可以好五十巴仙已经算是幸运了。。。现在只好一直尽量去医治她了。。。
过了两个星期，我老公要求见院长。。。
当天就和院长，几位大医生，那位马来接生医生，和那天和我接生的六位护士一起开会。。。。
这是当天开会的情形：：：
院长：你们有什么不满？
老公：为什么我女儿会这样？
大医生：其实这种是个意外。。。
老公：为什么生不出还不开刀？
大医生：我们不会随便和别人开刀的，何况你的女儿又不会说很大。。。
老公：那这是谁的错？？如果开刀的话，我的女儿就不会缺氧，如果接生医生快点把她给吸出来，那她也不会缺氧，为什么那么迟才吸出来？？
大医生：其实怀孕是种风险，妈妈和宝宝也都有危险。。我们也不知道为什么有些宝宝一出来就会缺氧，在80个里就会有1个会这样，我们也不懂原因。。。
老公：你在接生时，有没有说过这些话？？（你到底要不要生的，要不要出力的，你再不出力，如果孩子出来有什么问题不管我们的事，是你自己没有力生，你再不出力，我们就出去了，你自己一个人在里面生）
接生医生（笑）：我没有说过这些话。。我是医生，怎么会说这些话。。。
老公：那你们有没有打我老婆的手脚，和捏她？？
护士：我们是按她的手脚，让她有力生，但我们没有捏她啊。。。
院长：这不是我们的错，也不是你们的错。。是个意外。。。
过后我们在婴儿加护病房里问儿科医生，为什么我女儿会这样？？医生说是因为她卡在里面太久了，而医生又迟把她吸出来，所以才会造成她缺氧，而且这也不是第一次了，时常发生，那里的接生医生应该检讨一下。。
我们到外面的小儿科，也是这样说，全说都是医生的错。。
如果开刀就不会发生这些事情了，但已经太迟了，都已经发生了。。。
医生说：别一般人的正常生产时间是一个小时。
而我生的时候就用了两个小时才生下来，你们说可笑吗？？
我一生都不会忘记的，我要让这里的人知道这一切。。。你们认为这是谁的错？？？我该怪自己没本事好好把她生下来，还是该怪医生的故意和疏忽？？
Wow….! What a lot of Chinese words! Will put on my translater later.
Hi All! Good news! This morning, I finally sold my last shares- UOB & reaped in 7.3% profit after deducting charges. What a relief! Just last month was still battling with losses & thinking about cutting loss but just waiting for the dividend. This morning, the profit was twice the dividend amount & thus I decided it’s enough for me to cash out. Phew! Thank God!
Now, I’m stock free! Also cured of this Stock fever. Will just wait out for STI to drop below 1,500 again. It was an exciting shares game & very glad to come out profiting!
if the texts are real, it is terrible! I had an experience written an appeal letter for my late grandfather to a popular melaka private hospital, but ended with nothing after their internal review. I don’t think there is a convenient consumer protection mechanism back there. I wish the couple good luck.
I hv heard similar childbirth encounters in private hospital where medical consultations are supposed to be more professional and reliable. A decision whether to wait, or to go for the caesar especially in the event of a not-so-smooth induced delivery can be critical. One friend’s baby turned out blue and died, another friend was lucky to have the child survived it and growing up well. The case of a healthy baby girl losing her arm due to medical personnel’s mistakes happened not so long ago. Scarry … when our life depended on other people, and they are not so professional / qualified !
Based on xiaoyao2’s estimation from the Chinese lunar calendar, we have more or less 10 days to battle with the spread of the H1N1 flu.
Despite the big scare, it appeared as if the virus is less deathly than first thought. Nevertheless, the weak and old may still be susceptible, so caution is still necessary.
First it was the financial crisis that took up our attention and energy for the whole of last year, and just as it was about subsiding, here comes the flu. What may come next?
Just read the story above in Chinese with the aid of a translater. Wah….so sad but I believe thats the attitude of the sub standard doctors. They are lazy, no desire to excel, not initiative, will bully the weak & needy, whenever there is an opportunity and probably got their degree without much studying. Maybe even kopi money degree!
On the other hand, maybe they are also disadvantaged people, abused, unloved, undernourished, that’s why brain not working properly & lethargic to do work. Maybe that’s how they are treated by people around them too.
This reminds me of my last child who had her umblical cord tightly entwined around her abdomen after 7 hrs of labour. Her heartbeat became irregular & immediately I was asked to go for ceasarean. Got to sign for the anaesthetic jab & then half hr later went blank. Woke up to find my tummy flat. During the sleep, I was actually in another world going through lots of experiences & environments, some even scary. Was really glad to wake up to the real world as the dream got more intense.
She could have been lost few weeks after conception, due to blood clots flowng out but was saved by a prescription of hormone pills. In the final stages, I also almost lost her if not for the fast action of the doctor in Spore. Thank God!
YL, thanks for sharing your experience.
I am like you, can only figure out part of the chinese….but I think I got the gist of the story.
Put it this way, gynecology can be a very difficult field, and that is why these days gynes prefer to do caesarians. About three quarters of all C-sections performed are quite unnecesaary:
1) gynes do not want to be woken up at weird hours of the night to deliver babies, so they prefer to schedule a C-section at 10 in the morning and on top of that the surgical charges are higher too compared with a vaginal delivery in most countries. Many women do not mind the C-section because they intend to have no more than 2-3 babies at most.
2) Gynecologists/doctors are so afraid of being sued when an accident happens. In the olden times, when an accident happens, the mother says, well, hard luck, try again. In today’s world, the doctors get sued!
It is a difficult choice sometimes.
Let me tell you some stories from my side. One day a client told me that our charges are so reasonable compared with the doctors in his home country. He wanted to know why. He also wanted to know why I ordered a lot less tests on him than his home doctors. I said I did not do them because I did not think they were necessary at that point and I did not want to incur extra medical costs for him.
But you want to know why his doctors at home did all the tests? First, it costs a bomb for a medical doctor in some country to insure himself against being sued (so he has bills to pay, which goes back to the patients eventually) and second he wants to cover every damn aspect so that if something goes wrong, he can say, ah we did all the tests and they were all negative/OK.
When something goes wrong , the doctors will lose the case if they did NOT do the test, even though it was not indicated at that time? How much money you saved for the client no longer is irrelevant.
So doctors are sometimes left with no choice but to do many unecessary procedures and tests to cover themselves. Is this good for the patient? No, but what choice do doctors have?
Gone are the days doctors trust their patients and patients trust their doctors.
Thanks CH for the clarifications on doctors’ work. Those doctors mentioned in the Chinese writings certainly didn’t fit these descriptions of caution & cost.
In posting “Health Pointers in Ji-chou Year”, I have listed some of the more likely expressions throughout the various Major Qi Periods. Check current Period and next, which begins on May 21.
Damp Heat will dominate with wetness.
Have fun.
Malaysia has reported 2 confirmed cases as these students came back from NY and a handful of quarantined ones plus some being tracked down for sharing the same flights with the infected.
Japan seemed to see an increase of cases among schoolchildren and clearly none had been traveling from overseas.
Is this going to end by May 21 ? Certainly hope so.
USA flu cases certainly increased. Swine flu or not probably people care less now due to official advisory of swine flu itself is not that scary. Nonetheless, regular flu certainly increases unusually late at this season. 3 of my 4 in family got flu of some sort. 20% of my office mates don’t seem too well… All healthy probably except the nose.
We finally got yupingfongsan, but they only has loose pack here, no label, no instructions. We got one ‘liang’. Was told to make one cup of water with one tea spoon. Not sure if that’s right… Not sure how many times per day. Xy2?
There is a sudden increase in swine flu cases in Kobe to 130 people as of today.
The outbreak seemed to have occurred among a group of high school kids who were on a group camp. Well, high school kids on their won are not exactly the most hygienic group of people, so you can imagine!
Schools in Kobe are now closed for a week!
But in Japan, the experience is, closing schools do not really help. Why? they found out that during the measles outbreak a couple of years ago in Tokyo, college students were given a week off from lectures, but they all ended up doing part time jobs or having fun in town, so they eventually spread the virus to a larger population!
I think the sudden increas in new cases is more a situaiton where the authorities have started to do proper tests on suspicious cases whereas before this , they did not test the suspected cases for influenza.
Jun school holidays, was planning to bring child to KL to visit mum & relatives for a few days. Now wondering whether save to travel or not. Just in case got 1 Swine Flu victim in the plane & we will be hunted down like animals to be quarantined in M’sia! The airports are closely monitored, so chances of being ‘captured’ may be there.
If we don’t travel anywhere, even if we develop flu, we won’t be under scrutiny for Swine Flu & would just recover as normal.
If somebody were to die of this flu in M’sia, then that’s it, we who travel there will definitely be quarantined. That would be really troublesome & messy. Now is the usual flu season. Many staff also get flu & recovered, passing on the virus to next person as usual.
What do you doctors advise? Travel or don’t travel?
swine flu will tail off by Jun 5.
CT :
for “玉屏风散“， drink twice daily, half for kids per portion.
It is strengthening plus expelling, so you can take it daily until this flu season is over. Drink plenty of warm water, reduce meat intake and do those deep breathing exercises in one of my past comments early i the morning in the open.
Keep hygiene, wash hands regularly and rest well. Avoid heavy drinking (alcohol).
Don’t worry, it will be over soon.
There is a dinstict change in weather after May 21.
Swine flu cases should be fully expressed by now and anticipating a tailing off by June 5, which is 芒种.
2 more weeks to go.
Take care.
Over here, we are as hot as ever. Any change? Maybe the rain was eratic; sky darkens & thought heavy downpour coming but only had short showers, after that sky clears. Very humid & body perspires as soon as gone outdoors. Clothes soaked wet easily & hair becomes wet constantly in outddors.
Weather is heating up, same as our company business. Now actively recruiting in Sgp & Png. Thank God we had set up a manufacturing plant in Penang. Its timely!
Interview & hire almost instantly due to facing labour shortage as orders continue to roll in. My CEO is dropping manna from heaven to feed the needy.
YL, congrats on your business, not many people can say the same.
Yes, weather over here in Tokyo just like YL described for Spore, humid and hot! Today suddenly rainy and thunderstorm out there, so maybe that would drive the H1N1 virus underground. Seems like the spread has cooled off a bit. All masks sold out in town!
Despite the big huh hahs about the swine flu, people have practically forgotten about the illness.
So xy2 is right after all.
But we need to be always on the alert for the next pandemic, and the next time it may not be so “tame”!
Yeah, 4 of my staff are travelling to New York, next week. I chickened out, instead will be going KL/Genting, to spend time with Mom & sisters.
Am having some running /stuck nose & small cough. Body felt weak for past few days but now much better. Never take medicine or see doctor. Could I have just recovered from the swine flu without knowing???
YL, Theoretically, yes. You could have had the swine flu !! (gasp!)
The swine flu could present with symptoms similar to the common cold or what you perceive as the common cold. I believe many patients in Mexico actually had the swine flu before the media and the rest of the world was aware of the existence of a swine flu pandemic; but because their symptoms were mild and they were not tested, it was propbably considered the common cold and treated as such or perhaps even left untreated.
Don’t forget, the common cold is usually caused by the adenovirus, another virus.
hmmm, June 5 was just behind us, what is swine flu hanging around for ? It is not good for the flu !
whichever, seems people are have taken it part of life now, like wearing our shirts everyday.
maybe that’s the tail-end referring to, ie tail-end of anxiety or the killing power.
Don’t think we can really contain it from spreading. Spore has 15 cases now but no deaths. We are preparing for the worst. Have bought more thermometers & masks. No more fears of it but taking it as it comes, like any other flu. Maybe we already have gotten it during this last bout of flu. Hehe..
Going to KL tomorrow by coach & the next day, going up Genting for some cool air with siblings’ family & mum.
Hi…have read the remedy.. ^^ will sure try it but wish 2 noe whether its work for us…coz we nose sensitive…my 2 children oso sensitive…so early morning they will sneeze non-stop….is dat work wid children age 5 & 9…pls advise whether beside red dates can i put honey after boiling the star anise…
I have been trying to see what’s the characteristics of H1N1 and how it behaves so far. It appears it thrives better with “dampess with heat”.
Current 4th Major Qi Period is dominated with Dampess and heat, in fact these two forces have been operating since Mar 23.
By 5th Major Qi Period (Sept 23 to Nov 22), Dryness and Coldness will prevail, dampness will disappear quite quickly.
This may eliminate the condition which seems favourable to H1N1, which has been there since Mar 23.
The 5th Major Qi Period will still put a load onto the Lung System, though H1N1 may be disappearing.