Indoor Herb Garden Kits and Herbal Remedies

Every year the seasonal flu kills about 36,000 people and sends 200,000 to the hospital, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annually during “flu season” (typically starting around Thanksgiving and peaking around Christmas) there is a dash to get flu shots; especially among the older folk, the ill, and the very young – and this concern is well-grounded.

For most victims – between 5 and 20 percent of the populace annually – the flu brings fever, headaches, exhaustion, aches and discomfort, stomach distress and other symptoms that make life dismal for days. Rumor of a pandemic flu virus outbreak brings increased personal concern. It’s important to understand precisely what this means, instead of just being afraid of something arriving at the nearest airport against which you have no protection.

Viruses are the invading organisms to blame for most epidemic illnesses. Virus-caused ailments cover anything from the common cold to cold sores, warts, measles as well as chicken pox, liver disease, West Nile virus, the “ordinary” flu, and AIDS. Recently it was the Avian flu that had people on edge. We can help prevent the passage of viruses from person to person by avoiding large indoor gatherings of people (Right…slap bang during the holiday season!) and exercising good hygienic practices – cleansing hands often, making use of tissues, ventilation of rooms, etc.

Viruses are known to be resistant to pharmaceutical antibiotics. Numerous public health experts pinned their hopes on the antiviral drug Tamiflu to fight the avian flu, for example, only to find that resistent cases are emerging. A flu virus mutates frequently and sometimes a new strain emerges that humans have not been subjected to. If the strain propagates easily between humans, it can cause widespread death and bombard global health resources. (It’s important to know that the avian flu is NOT passed easily between people; it seems to mostly be passed from poultry to humans.) A flu virus from half a world away is one to which you will most likely have no defenses, in contrast to the local ones you contact, and the mutations can leave us even more defenseless.

Enter the powerful therapeutic properties of the oil of the tea tree, Melaleuca alternifolia. Tea tree oil offers numerous uses in medical therapies due to its triple antibiotic features: it’s an antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal agent. Simply because a substance is naturally-occuring with no identified side effects, does not necessarily mean it can’t work. Tea tree was an important medicinal for native Aborigines. They drank teas made of the leaves and used tea tree poultices to treat wounds, cuts, and various skin disorders. In 1920, Dr. A. Penfold examined the oil’s elements for the first time. He learned that tea tree oil was 12 times more potent than the accepted antiseptic at the time, carbolic acid. Dr. Penfold’s study motivated further tests in the following decades, contributing to its growing use by the public.

Tea tree oil is a valuable replacement for pharmaceuticals. Its complex chemical composition makes it very difficult for germs to develop resistance. Traditional antibiotics have got more simple chemical structures to which germs can easily develop immunity. Tea tree oil is readily absorbed and it proceeds to obstruct germ growth at the site for several days after the initial application. The oil is a proven immuno-stimulant and anti-viral agent; it is currently being tried in the management of AIDS.

You should apply a little test amount to the skin prior to using it the first time, just like any product, there is always the chance of sensitivity in a particular individual. Adding a few drops to a vaporizer and inhaling the steam helps to freshen and disinfect the air, eliminating germs that invade the sinuses and lungs, and opening blocked breathing passages. The oil can be rubbed into the skin at full strength, or perhaps combined with a carrier oil or lotion. The oil can also be put into a hot bath tub and is then assimilated both through the skin and the nasal passages.

Personal use of tea tree oil is not to be substituted for advice from your family doctor. It is, however, useful in avoidance and as a first aid treatment. And there is anecdotal and scientific evidence of truly incredible results using this extraordinary substance.