by Nanci Elliott on March 10, 2010
Wow. This one is a tough one. Let’s see if we can’t muddle through it together. The asymptomatic shedding of the herpes virus? Shedding is one of the most misunderstood and in my opinion, abused symptoms of genital herpes. Yes, herpes virus shedding does occur and it drastically raises the risk of herpes transmission and spreading herpes throughout the population. I am in no way saying that it should not be taken seriously and that all available precautions should be taken to protect partners. That being said…
Herpes Viral Shedding | The Facts:
by Nanci Elliott on March 9, 2010
Vitamin D Meets Genital Herpes | Treatment
Awesome article in the paper today about Vitamin D and herpes. This vitamin has been in the news a lot in the past year after a landmark study revealed that it was a key player in cancer rates in that a significant number of people with cancer were found to be deficient in Vitamin D. Since then there has been a serious hard look at this supplement and what role it plays in illness and the body.
A little background:
Vitamin D is made naturally in our body every time we are in the sun. You would think that this would make it completely unnecessary to supplement since well, it’s the sun, right? But no. It has been found that over half the world’s population is low in the vitamin and the issue is getting worse as we spend more and more time indoors. Also, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere (think Canada, Iceland, etc.) will never get enough in the winter because the sun does not rise high enough to induce Vitamin D production. Food sources are also limited with seafood (tuna, salmon, fish oil) topping the list followed by fortified foods like milk and yogurt. Anyway, we need more.
And how does this relate to genital herpes treatment?
A new study by the Danish has found that Vitamin D plays a vital role in virtually all immune function. Ladies, this is huge and not just for our vaginal herpes issues. It was found that the killer T cells in our immune system require Vitamin D to become active. Without the vitamin, it is possible that they remain dormant and infections and pathogens are free to roam the blood and wreak havoc. And yes, this include the female genital herpes virus!
Since this supplement is so important to our body overall (fighting cancer, multiple sclerosis, calcium deficiency) let’s make sure that this week we start taking 2000 iu per day. The government recommended dose is between 400 to 600 iu per day, and the cancer society is going with 1000 iu, but I belong to the school of, ‘if some is good, then more is better’ so I am going with 2000. Seriously, many health professional aim for 5000 iu a day so taking 2000 iu is just great. (Just to clarify: iu stands for international units – just how vitamin D is measured). Vitamin D is dirt cheap; I just bought 200 capsules (1000 iu each) on sale for $5.89. The label states that it promotes bone and dental health which is all find and good, but let’s use it to kick these herpes outbreaks to the curb!
Word.
