Comments on: Patrick Holford’s Recommendation for Swine Flu – Same As Those for Bird Flu But With Phrase Substitution – Updated

By: jonhw

jonhw — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:22:39 +0000

Glad you’re feeling better now, but you can’t judge the efficacy of a treatment like this based on a single case. Anecdotally, I’ve had what I thought was flu and recovered v quickly; had I taken some kind of pill, I might well have credited this with getting better quickly.

Sadly, there’s not good evidence that high doses of vitamin C are good for swine flu.

By: marsav

marsav — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:38:46 +0000

I recently came into close contact with someone who had swine flu and sure enough a few days later I started to feel very unwell, feverish, sore throat and losing my voice. Now I normally take aspirin for colds and flus as it is usually very effective in alleviating symptoms but it was pretty ineffective this time which didn’t surprise me if it was swine flu as the first person who died from swine flu had taken aspirin. So I tried my plan B which is high doses of Vitamin C which I have not usually found as effective as aspirin but generally boost my strength levels. So I took 3g of Vitamin C (I took a 500mg Calcium/250mg Magnesium tablet at the same time so I could counterbalance the acidic effects of such a dose in one go but you can get away with taking 3g a day without this if you stagger the dose over 2-3 times (i.e 1.0-1.5g a time). I also took cod liver oil containing 100% RDA Vitamin A and D to absorb the Calcium.

To my great surprise it had an INSTANT effect and knocked my illness stone cold out, I have never known Vitamin C to be so effective so it was a very pleasant result. I am now well after only a few days of fighting this illness and I also recommended this dose to a colleague who also is now making a great recovery. Now I don’t know for sure what I had was Swine Flu but I just thought I would put my experiences out there just in case it was so it can help someone else.

By: Holford demonstrates why online health advice can be problematic « Holford Watch: Patrick Holford, nutritionism and bad science

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:47:24 +0000

[...] Comments Patrick Holford has made clear his opinions on vitamin C and swine flu (we have already discussed an earlier version of his post, and I don’t know that there is much else to add). However, I was interested to not some of [...]

By: jonhw

jonhw — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Just to be clear – you think that ancient human societies had access to high strength vitamin C supplements? Or that high strength vitamin C supplements are unmodified plants? Not that this has much bearing on whether they work or not – but a bit of consistency would be welcome.

By: John Botha

John Botha — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:17:39 +0000

Holford’s remedy’s based on nature answer to provide us with illness remedies.
Not stinking rich pharma company that modify natures plants and then try to sell it to us for massive prices. (ala genetic modified food), thou they have their place but not at the cost of nature’s answers.
How did people survide in the centuries before us, not by the pharma companies, but from plants & trees etc. All you guys against Holford should probebly have shares in pharma companies! Don’t deny nature response,she gives virusse and she can destroy them

By: jonhw

jonhw — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:26:58 +0000

Steve- if you look at the post above your comment, you’ll see a well-referenced assessment of Holford’s treatment recommendations (something fairly typical of this site: you might like to take a look over some of our archive). It would be nice if you wanted to engage with the content of what we have written.

Instead, your comment does not mention the above post – instead focusing on who we are, and on what you think motivates us. Simultaneously, you attribute ad hominem arguments to us.

Is this a ‘serious’ comment inviting response? Or some kind of pomo satire of alternative nutritionists’ discourses?

By: Steve Lambert

Steve Lambert — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:41:19 +0000

This site is more a parasite feeding off the work of one person.Anonymously presented with the usual array of ad hominem argument and little science. Methinks you doth protest too much – is envy the driver here ? Come on now, out of the closet; reveal yourselves , don’t be shy; or at least grow up a little.

By: dvnutrix

dvnutrix — Sat, 02 May 2009 10:20:30 +0000

Science and medicine really can work remarkably well, no matter the strictures of some self-appointed, media-lionised Health Guru. Presumably, no, Holford and his family won't be talking the shot. They will either be water-logging themselves to take 100g of vitamin C a day or have a compliant IV-vitamin C administering concierge doctor on retainer, should they (perish the thought) contract the flu. But you see, of course, optimally healthy people don't get ill.

Most of the chronic diseases, but also most of our general malaise, from digestive problems to weight problems to energy problems to concentration problems, are all down to what you put in your mouth… When you are optimally nourished you simply don’t need any medicine.

By: Steven Salzberg

Steven Salzberg — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:49:20 +0000

Well, thank goodness someone has a cure for swine flu! We can all relax now, since Vitamin C is widely available. Phew, and I was really getting worried until I saw this.

But seriously: the scientific community has been analyzing the genomes of the new outbreak strain nonstop, and we have a pretty good picture now. It’s a reassortment (a mixture) of 2 pre-existing swine flu strains, and it has picked up the ability to infect and spread among humans. So far it appears no more virulent than the normal seasonal flu, but because it is an entirely novel strain, it will infect many more people if it does take hold and become a pandemic.

The advice you give above (not counting Holford’s advice!) is pretty much all we can do until a vaccine is available. When the vaccine does appear – which will take 6 months or more – then I will be first in line to get my shot.

Maybe we’ll get lucky and Holford won’t get the shot since he doesn’t like vaccines – and perhaps the flu will put him out of commission for a while.

By: dvnutrix

dvnutrix — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:11:41 +0000

Thanks for the link to the full paper – it didn’t show up when I was looking for it. Good to know it was confirmed influenza and the authors really should have mentioned that in the abstract. I would also have been happier if they had asked the participants if they could guess which preparation they were taking (I find elderberries quite distinctive – I wonder about the participants).

Nothing in the paper about “something that makes it harder for viruses to penetrate cells” – how odd. Although, to be fair, they do refer in a couple of sentences to other references that discuss that.