By Gerold
We may be overdue for any number of disasters, but another Spanish Flu pandemic is NOT one of them. That’s the good news. The bad news is that medical malpractice caused that pandemic, not a virulent flu virus. Western medicine continues treating symptoms rather than disease, and that’s what turned an ordinary flu virus into a global Spanish Flu pandemic.
2018 marked the 100th anniversary of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. The exact death toll is unknown, but estimates range somewhere between 20 million and 100 million deaths worldwide. It was considered “the deadliest pandemic in modern history” [Link]
At the turn of the 21st Century, there were reports [Link] that scientists planned to exhume some of the frozen victims of the Spanish Flu from Alaskan permafrost. Their research determined to answer the headline question, “What Made the Spanish Flu so Deadly?” [Link] Scientists had hoped to learn why the Spanish Flu was so virulent so they could prepare vaccines against that virus if it again resurfaced.
And then, the silence was deafening. Cue the *Crickets.* I searched the internet. The first ten results failed to determine that the Spanish Flu virus was any more virulent than any other strain of the flu. [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link], [Link]
One of the article’s by-lines is “After years of sometimes bizarre research, why are scientists still baffled by the 1918 Spanish flu?” [Link] No, they’re not baffled. They know the answer. But, they’re covering up the fact that the medical community was complicit in millions of these Spanish Flu deaths. Dr. Mercola confirmed this in, “Lessons from a Century After the Flu Epidemic of 1918: How Conventional Medicine Killed Millions and How Homeopathic Medicines Saved Millions.” [Link]
It was primarily the misuse of aspirin that did it. Aspirin, in addition to reducing pain also reduces fever. Dr. Mercola writes, “It is widely recognized that fever is a vital defense of the body in its efforts to fight infection. A fever enables the body to increase its production of interferon, an important antiviral substance that is critical for fighting infection. Fever also increases white blood cell mobility and activity, which are instrumental factors in fighting infection.”
In other words, it makes little sense to suppress the body’s natural defenses against viral infection. Fever is a symptom, not the cause of a disease. Dr. Mercola writes, “too many medical doctors today prescribe drugs that work directly against the body’s self-defensive efforts, including fevers.” And, that’s what doctors did during the Spanish Flu pandemic and what they continue doing today.
Influenza deaths usually occur among the very young with their under-developed immune systems and the elderly who have weak immune systems. What made the Spanish Flu pandemic such an anomaly is that most of the deaths were young adults between the age of 18 and 40 which happens to be military age. The pandemic occurred during the last year of WW I when a large number of young adults were in uniform.
Various reasons are attributed to this mystery, none of which stand up to scrutiny. It was thought that the virus was so virulent that it ‘turbocharged’ adults’ immune systems into producing so much mucus that they drowned in their own bodily fluids. Also, large numbers of troops were crammed into barracks, troop trains, and troop ships. Granted, this may have contributed to the spread of the virus, but in no way did it cause such an immense death toll.
The year before the Spanish Flu pandemic, Bayer lost their patent on aspirin, so drug companies went into over-drive producing vast quantities of cheap, generic aspirin, of which the military purchased large amounts. According to Mercola, during the pandemic, doctors were prescribing between 25 and 250 aspirin tablets a day to reduce fever. Troops had too-easy access to large quantities of aspirin. On the other hand, Pediatricians advised against aspirin for children. And, the elderly couldn’t afford to buy much. Consequently, those who were usually afflicted did not suffer the extreme death rate that young adults did.
Today, bleeding from the lungs is a known side effect from an aspirin overdose. During the Spanish Flu pandemic, “many sufferers came down with severe nosebleeds—some spewed blood out of their nostrils with such force that nurses had to duck to avoid the flow. Those unable to recover eventually drowned in their own bodily fluids.” [Link]
Furthermore, suppressing fevers during the flu pandemic prolonged the illness and caused complications such as acute respiratory diseases like pneumonia. Most deaths during the Spanish Flu pandemic were a result of pneumonia. “Moreover, a subset died rapidly after the onset of symptoms, often with either massive acute pulmonary haemorrhage or pulmonary oedema, and often in fewer than 5 days.” [Link] Note: that’s British spelling. According to Dr. Mercola, “The ‘epidemic of influenza’ should more accurately be deemed an ‘epidemic of fever-suppressing treatments.’”
NOTE: Dr. Mercola writes, “it may make sense to seek medical care in those extremely rare instances when one’s fever is above 104 degrees Fahrenheit for over six hours or in any fever in an infant less than 4 months of age.” He goes on to say, “because aspirin is an over-the-counter drug that does not need a physician’s prescription, we can and should educate the masses to realize that suppressing the fever in people who have influenza is NOT recommended and, in fact, it can be very harmful.”
There are several lessons we can learn from this tragedy.
- The medical industry still doesn’t know as much as it purports to know.
- Most doctors are pill-pushers treating symptoms rather than the disease.
- Our health lies mostly in our own hands.
We cannot blindly trust the medical system. Most medical doctors are ‘pill-pushers’ treating symptoms rather than the disease. Few offer advice on becoming and staying healthy and few receive much training in nutrition.
It’s not a ‘health care’ industry; it’s a ‘sick care’ industry. There’s no money in health and no incentive to promote it. There’s only money to be made in treating illnesses. The enormous pharmaceutical industry (“Big Pharma”) understands this and, with their influence in medical schools, have turned doctors into pill-pushers.
One of my uncles was a medical doctor. He told us if we want to live a long time, we must avoid doctors except for emergencies. Doctors will say things to their family they’d never admit to patients.
We are on our own, and we must be our own doctors and use the medical system as just one of several tools in maintaining good health. Other tools include proper nutrition and exercise. Proper nutrition means avoiding junk food and overly-processed garbage. A simple rule of thumb: if you don’t understand all the listed food ingredients, it’s garbage; don’t eat it. It’s also important to look at proportions. For instance, a jar of pickled beets showed “beets, water, fructose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup…” In other words, ingredients three, four and five were all different forms of sugar, which if they were grouped as the single item ‘sugar’ would be second on the list ahead of the water.
Let me illustrate from recent experience how I use the medical system as a tool. First, I should point out that I’m in the Canadian tax-supported medical system so I can afford to get second or third opinions and treatment without becoming bankrupt. Also, I haven’t had a family doctor in almost ten years, nor do I miss him. And, what works in my case may not work in yours; we need to be creative and flexible to work the system.
About a year ago, being of advanced age, I decided to get three vaccines; Shingles, Pneumonia and a Tetanus booster. I received the Shingles vaccine in April. A week later I developed a nasty cough. It worsened, so I went to a walk-in clinic, was diagnosed with Bronchitis and given a prescription for 250MG Azithromycin.
My condition continued to deteriorate, so a week after that I went to another walk-in clinic and told the doctor which antibiotic I had taken. Unwritten medical protocol prevents doctors from criticizing each other. He said, “Well the Azithromycin often works in many patients.” Discretion being the better part of valor, I kept my mouth shut. He then prescribed the much stronger Levofloxacin 500MG. It worked.
Until then, I hadn’t been ill in many years, so I thought it odd acquiring Bronchitis shortly after vaccination without getting some primary infection first. Consequently, I decided to wait more than four months for the Pneumonia vaccine to ensure I had recovered entirely from Bronchitis, but get it before flu season starts in case my reaction to vaccines made me vulnerable to opportunistic infections.
Five months later, I received the Pneumonia vaccine. A week later, I started coming down with a variety of ailments including a sensitive crowned molar and finally culminating in a severe throat infection. The first visit to a walk-in clinic on a Wednesday was negative. The doctor said, “It doesn’t look like Strep, so it must be viral.” In fairness, the sore throat had just started so perhaps it didn’t show yet.
By the following Monday, my throat was so sore I couldn’t swallow solid food. I went to a second walk-in clinic. The doctor said it looks like Strep. She gave me a choice; either an antibiotic prescription or send a throat swab for lab analysis to better determine a specific antibiotic. I chose the swab because I suspected whatever low-grade antibiotic she prescribed likely wouldn’t work. Being a pill-pusher, she treated the symptoms by recommending Tylenol as a pain-killer and Advil as an anti-inflammatory for the time being. Thanks, but no thanks. I saw no point in treating symptoms.
After four days without solid food, I explained my symptoms to a colleague at work. He said it sounds just like the Peritonsillar Cellulitis he had about a year ago. The following morning I went to Emergency. By the way, if you have a choice of when to go to Emergency, go early in the morning after shift change at 7:00 because the waiting room was so empty I barely read a page and a half of a book before a doctor saw me.
I explained my symptoms and told him it sounds identical to the Peritonsillar Cellulitis my colleague had. He consulted his computer, asked a few questions, and said “Open wide and say ‘Ahhh.’ Yup, that’s what it looks like.” He prescribed a heavy dose of Clindamycin over ten days. It worked.
I admit I had an ulterior motive to obtaining a powerful antibiotic. One of the complications that arose after that last vaccine was a very tender crowned molar. The dentist couldn’t see any infection, but as a precaution prescribed Penicillin VK which, as I anticipated, did nothing. He now recommends a root canal and a dental implant (a painful $4,000 procedure only partly covered by my dental plan.) My rationale was that if a heavy dose of antibiotics didn’t cure the infection causing the sensitive molar, then a root canal and implant is indicated. Now I know for sure.
That’s how we work the medical system. We cannot assume doctors know much more than we do. If we suspect it’s not working, go for another opinion or seek an alternative. We cannot always rely on a medical diagnosis. As luck would have it, my colleague would have made a better doctor than some of the doctors I saw.
We need to ask questions, but be careful when challenging medical dogma. When I pointed out to the second doctor that I fell ill shortly after receiving two recent vaccines, not once, but twice in a row, she got all huffy. “Why are you telling me this?” It was as if I was questioning her vaccine religion. I challenged her, “Do you believe this is a coincidence? Once is a coincidence; twice is suspicious.” Her huffiness turned to iciness. A month later, I still haven’t received the lab report. Not that it matters because it would have been negative for Strep anyway. As Shakespeare said, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
By the way, not only do doctors receive little training in nutrition, they’re completely baffled by regular fasting. I’ve been fasting Mondays and Tuesdays since 1982. For more detail about the benefits of fasting, see the article I posted. [Link]
When I told the third doctor, I felt weak and sore, and that I hadn’t eaten in four days, he immediately wanted to put me on an intravenous. I politely refused and told him about my regular fasting and that I’ve done week-long fasts without weakness, so any weakness now was a result of my illness, not lack of food. Even so, he made a note of my refusal for the records and had me initial it. They know how to cover their butts.
Other than a Maverick like Dr. Mercola, don’t expect the medical establishment to accept responsibility for their complicity in the millions of Spanish Flu deaths in 1918. They’ll continue to pretend they’re completely baffled by it.
And, I’m having second thoughts about getting that Tetanus vaccine. The ‘cure’ seems to be worse than the disease. Nor will I ever entirely trust the medical profession.