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Avian Flu:
Bolstering the Individual!
'It is not a matter of IF but WHEN'
The World Health Organisation
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The background to our Avian Flu Initiative
Among the various and diverse efforts to reduce the risks associated with an infection as serious as that caused by H5N1, we believe that Dr Alex Concorde may have a unique contribution to put forward.
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This is because Dr Concorde is possibly uniquely qualified to generate new insights and approaches that may be of value in the event of an Avian Flu pandemic. More on this, for those who are interested, in 'A Whole New Approach'.
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 Above all else the most important thing to know is our highest intentions in creating an Avian Flu Initiative.
Our highest intentions are your safety and your well-being, and to minimise the 'consequential human losses' that may result from a pandemic in any way we can. Our focus is YOU.
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To emphasise this point, we are distributing 100% of profits generated from our Avian Flu Initiative to other research projects that we expect will also be of value to you in the future.
Like many other professionals who are working behind the scenes to galvanise a successful response to a possible pandemic, we also had had other plans for this year...
We believe that we can make a unique contribution.
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The role of the individual in infectious disease
It has always been a surprise to Dr Concorde that whenever we are faced with a challenge of the ilk of Avian Flu - like SARS or AIDS - very little attention has been paid to the individual.
A lot of attention is always paid to minimising the risk of transmission. Pharmaceutical approaches are generally focused on features to do with the virus itself.
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The virus and transmission are important… But hardly ever is there a focus on what we can do with the individual to make them 'more biologically robust', less at risk of serious disease, less at risk of fatality, indeed less at risk in fact of getting the infection in the first place…
It is as if the individual is a hapless bystander! This in itself leads to 'population stress' (which doesn't help the situation at all) because people don't feel they can help themselves. Not a great start!
Alex Concorde calls this 'Hapless Bystander Medicine'.
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A proposal many years in the making…
For 20 years now Dr Concorde has contemplated this issue. And she is certain that the key 'lever' in these infectious diseases is in fact the individual.
This is because there is much evidence that when there is spread of infectious disease within a population, many people get infected but never even know it. This is true also during seasonal epidemics with Influenza A (which is the type of virus that H5N1 is classed as).
Then there are many people who get infected and yet develop quite trivial symptoms (relative to others). And yet, conversely, the very same virus can infect other 'sorts' of people - and we know that when they get infected they have a high risk of serious disease, and even death.
Some do, some don't
'Who' these people are depends on the actual infectious disease but generally it includes the elderly, children, people who already have certain sorts of conditions, people with certain sorts of biological profile… in some cases it will even be healthy adults. It depends….
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But whatever those things are in any given infection, what we do know is that there are 'sorts' who are more at risk, and 'sorts' that are less at risk…
The question is 'why?' WHY 'are some' and why 'aren't others'?.
WHY IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?!
Let's look sideways a little…
Dr Concorde's assertion that we 'must now focus on the individual' is upheld by what we already know about the current medical strategies.
So let's just look at these very briefly.
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 Anti-viral medicines
Despite huge advancements in science, and vast research into Influenza A, our ability to counter a massive potential pandemic almost 100 years after the 1918 disaster has hardly advanced at all. Why not?
Anti-viral medicines have not generated the sure-fire advancements we would like. Thankfully we have at least one option - but there are already concerns about that.
Shouldn't we be a little further ahead with developments by now? Let's face it, so much research capital has gone into it…. And there is still promise, but just now, is that enough?
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Dr Concorde's 'Off-the-Mark Philosophy'
Dr Concorde has a key philosophy which dictates where she places most attention in her own research. Here it is:
'When investment is not matched by output, there is a great likelihood we are focusing too much on avenues that are the least productive'.
This creates what Alex calls 'The Mismatch Phenomenon'.
Otherwise put as: 'are we looking in the 'wrong direction'?
Or put even more simply: 'have we been backing the wrong horse?'
So is it possible that since 1918 we have focused a little too hard on viruses and not quite hard enough on individuals?
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In fact it is worse than that - because 1918 was the advent of 'hapless bystander medicine'. Before that medical doctors took great trouble to advise individuals on an individual by individual basis.
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Mutating viruses
Scientists in the field of generating anti-viral medicines will say 'but the problem is that viruses mutate'!
And Dr Concorde will say 'Precisely!' So why have we put all our energies into research that depends on them not doing so?!
Having been wholly immersed in the fields of viral mutations and the impact of mutations on the development of anti-viral medicines, Dr Concorde has of course thought about all this. A great deal…
And her question has always been: 'so why do they mutate'? And the answer is 'biological pressures'. Where do these come from? The individual 'hosting' the virus….
Back to the individual, then!
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Vaccines
At this time the only other standard medical strategy is vaccination.
Now we all know that there are widespread concerns about vaccination of different sorts. Dr Concorde does want to be clear that, in her opinion, vaccines are absolutely pivotal in our fight against many infections…. including this one.
BUT she also thinks that in time we may find that certain less-than-totally-desirable effects of vaccines come about, if and when they do, because there is not enough attention paid to the individual they are 'going in'.
The Individual's Immune System
Attention on, for example, where an individual's own immune system 'is at' at the time of vaccination. And whether putting loads of vaccines in at once 'confounds' ('stresses out') the immune systems of some people, sometimes, for certain reasons.
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But, overall, this doesn't mean we should not have them. It means that there is a whole angle here which really does suggest that we look at individuals more closely as individuals because there are clearly individual variations.
Meanwhile the key angle in Avian Flu is that, at the end of the day, vaccines may save the day.
And we ask, why is it that now we have reached the 21st Century, we are still really quite reliant on vaccines in viral disease?
And the answer is……? Because they work to stimulate the individual's immune system.
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Vaccines are one of the very few pharmaceutical developments which do work on something individual - the individual's immunity.
The point is that after nearly 100 years of research, we have not really come up with any other 'almost fool-proof' solution (theoretically) in a Bird Flu pandemic - than vaccines. And we believe that this is because it is the only pharmaceutical angle that does in fact focus at all on the individual.
We are also certain that vaccines may work even faster or more reliably if more attention was paid to certain other key factors to do with individuals, on an individual-by-individual basis.
But just now what we want to focus on is the fact that - in our minds, in the quest to overcome the challenge of viral infections the individual is everything.
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The key question
When thinking about the individual the key question is always 'why?'.
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 The question that pharmaceutical companies usually ask is 'what?' and so this is different… But that's good because different questions yield different strategies that can help us in many different ways in the event of a serious infectious disease.
And that is very helpful, because if we use all these together we have a good chance of getting through this pandemic relatively well.
Meanwhile we might currently be a little short of the mark in our strategic readiness on an individual level.
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So time to ask some more 'whys?'!
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A new way of thinking
Alex Concorde thought to herself that if she were to create a really powerful new approach it would be to look at the 'sorts that do' and the 'sorts that don't' and:
- work out why some people are 'resistant' to a certain infection
- work out why some people get really trivial infections
- work out why some people get really serious infections
- why some people die of the immediate effects of a virus infection
- why some people get really sick, and sometimes die, from the
after-effects of the infection
And of course all of this thinking has to be related directly back to the virus itself because the reasons will be totally different for different viruses.
The Challenge
So in this case the challenge has been to look at H5N1 in every which way - its genetic structure, the damage it does to infected people, the animals it can infect - and ask all these 'whys?.
In order to do this you have to totally understand what differs between different viruses, what biological pathways they affect, how they 'get in' and how they cause serious disease.
And then you have to relate all that 'virus-related' science and understanding back to The Individual Conundrum.
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An Individual-By-Individual Approach
Given all of these considerations, Dr Alex Concorde is keen to offer any insights that she has into how we might work with individuals to:
- minimise the risk of serious disease in the event of infection with virulent H5N1 and
- work with an individual's biology to ensure that they are optimally placed to resist infection with H5N1.
She is delighted to now be able to use the wealth of available science that had not, to date, really helped to move us towards any new pragmatic proposals in the face of the current threat of an Avian Flu pandemic.
An Excellent Report
There is already an excellent report (www.anhcampaign.org) detailing the potential use of natural products in the event of an Avian Flu pandemic. Dr Alex Concorde's work is NOT a substitute for the Avian Flu Expert Committee's Report - because she is looking at the challenge from a completely different perspective.
Alex Concorde is basing her proposals to Avian Flu on her pioneering Constitutional Approach which is founded in the complex science of Constitutional Medicine.
If you want to know more about this pioneering approach as it applies to Avian Flu, please click here….
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WHAT WE ARE OFFERING YOU
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- HIGH RISK GROUPS
We are devising programmes for people who are in high risk groups to help them get prepared for Avian Flu.
- TREATMENT PROTOCOLS:
We have developed a system for providing individual-by-individual (IBI) treatment protocols for people who have already contracted Avian Flu.
We are not treating the virus - we are seeking to counter the adverse effects created by the virus on your body to minimise the risks to you.
- PROTECTION PROTOCOLS:
We are devising individual-by-individual (IBI) protect-your-body protocols.
We are not seeking to protect you from Avian Flu - although certain elements of our protocols may have some relevant anti-viral properties.
We are seeking to get your body optimally prepared (at its best) as soon as there is a 'high alert' of a possible pandemic - to put you in the best possible 'physiological' place to withstand the threats of avian flu infection.
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Please note that we have NO WAY of testing the validity of our presumptions and the value, effectiveness and safety of our recommendations in advance of a pandemic situation. If you wish to understand some of the science that underpins our recommendations we urge that you purchase a copy of our book.
As ever, please check with your GP before commencing any programme.
Our statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.
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Immune System, PNI), Psycho-neuroendocrinology (Mind