Preface Introduction What is influenza? Flu viruses There is flu and then there is deadly flu Pandemic influenza symptoms Avian Influenza (H1N1) symptoms Is H5N1 likely to be the next pandemic flu? Conventional treatments for pandemic influenza Vaccines Tamiflu and other antiviral drugs How effective and safe are antiviral drugs? Scary responses to the threat of a pandemic Our plan for the pandemic Every cloud has a silver lining Influenza and pregnancy How are the chickens doing? Herbal remedies for influenza Information sources on Eclectic flu remedies Who were the Eclectics:? The Demise of the Eclectics The Eclectic Legacy Did Eclectic Remedies work? The safety of Eclectic remedies Herbal remedies in pregnancy The possible danger of cytokine storms The Eclectic Treatment of Influenza Remedies useful in seasonal and pandemic influenza The Chief Sedatives Nine other important herbs in influenza Honorable Mentions Twenty additional herbs for influenza Chest applications Non-herbal remedies Glossary Resources References

This book is written for the average person who wants to learn about herbal treatments for seasonal and pandemic influenza as well as learn a bit more about influenza, modern treatments, and the politics of medicine.  At the same time, the book contains all of the detail that a professional health care practitioner would want to know about how herbs were used to treat pandemic influenza. This book reflects my own journey into understanding influenza, and answers I found as I learned about the disease.  I was fascinated by John Barry's book The Great Influenza but it did not convince me that there would be another pandemic in my life time.  References are often made to other pandemics such as the Asian flu pandemic of 1957, the Hong Kong flu pandemic of 1968 and the Russian flu pandemic of 1977.  I lived through all of those and do not know a single person who caught one of them. But, as I looked more closely at the history of influenza, I discovered that there were earlier pandemics such as the one in 1889 that rapidly infected 40% of the population, and became convinced that pandemics occur regularly and that we are overdue for a big one.   Perhaps the little flu pandemics of 1957-1977 are like the earthquake that damaged freeways and bridges in the Bay Area -- not the big one but devastating to many nonetheless.  I live in earth quake country.  I have prepared for the predicted "big one" as best I can although I hope not to experience it.  I am convinced that it is equally important for me to prepare for the next big flu pandemic as well. Avian flu is a real threat to our birds.  It is also a threat to humans who come in too close contact with sick birds, their feathers, and their waste.  Avian flu will soon arrive on this continent.  I think about this as I fill my bird feeders and wash out the bird bath, and as I snuggle up at night in a down comforter or listen to gardening advice suggesting that digging chicken manure into the garden is a good idea. Frankly, avian flu does not look like it will become highly infectious to humans.  The concern is, however, that it has an extremely high fatality rate in birds and humans.  At least 60% of those with avian flu die -- despite vaccines, antiviral drugs, other drugs, and intensive hospital treatments.  The 1918 flu was considered unusually lethal because it killed some 3% of those who got the flu although it sometimes claimed up to 30% in certain areas.  Thus, avian flu is much, much more lethal.  And that is a real threat. The next question for me was:  How much does the person who gets sick with pandemic flu suffer?  Barry's book makes it clear that it is a painful, debilitating disease in the best of circumstances and horrendous in the worst.  Modern medicine's solution to seasonal flu is basically to rest, drink plenty of liquids, and suffer through it.  No way do I want to experience even a mild case of pandemic flu with only that advice to see me through!  So I devoted a great deal of time to learning about flu viruses and how vaccines are made.  I read the FDA files on the antiviral drugs and read the studies into their effectiveness.   Birds have been dying from avian flu since 1997 and extreme measures have been taken to slow its spread, without success.  And those humans who get avian flu continue to die despite medical treatment.   Moreover, we do not have enough hospital equipment or personnel to provide intensive treatment to huge numbers of people all sick at the same time.  I actually downloaded and read most of the long document on our preparedness plan.  I learned that society will ration medical resources and that I will be at the end of a very long line of people wanting help.  And I learned that, even if I somehow can get to the front of the line, little help is available.    I am a practicing herbalist and a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild.   It was a logical step for me to also investigate whether there were any successful herbal remedies for influenza.  In 1918, modern medicine was beginning to take hold but there were still groups of physicians who continued to use plants to treat their patients.  These physicians wrote textbooks and published medical journals.  Some of their information is available on line but most of it is buried in the archives of a few libraries.  I searched those archives for influenza treatments and uncovered some amazing material. Some patients were treated with herbs in the 1918 pandemic.  Their survival rate was far above the average, and the remedies appeared to effectively alleviate much of the discomfort that the flu brought.  It is exciting information.   Many of these remedies are able to treat the symptoms associated with seasonal flu as well as the difficult symptoms of pandemic influenza.  These remedies are being entirely ignored largely because modern medicine, and society as a whole, has decided that effective treatment of disease did not exist before the discovery of drugs.  The economics and politics of modern medicine has in many ways blinded us to viable solutions for treating influenza.                                                                                                      Kathy Abascal JD, RH(AHG)

Should we be concerned about pandemic flu?

HERBS & INFLUENZA: How herbs used in the 1918 flu pandemic can be effective today

Author Kathy Abascal's comments on the book followed by table of contents

Table of contents

Purchase a signed first edition of Herbs & Influenza $18.00 S&H $1.50 Washington residents must add sales tax For S&H outside of the U.S., contact TiganaPress@HerbsandInfluenza.com

This book describes in detail how plants were used successfully to treat flu victims in the 1889 and 1918 pandemics.  It also describes how these herbs are used today and summarizes studies on these plants and their characteristics.            194 pages, 16 illustrations, 5 photographs Published by Tigana Press, P.O. Box 1528, Vashon, WA  98070

How real is the threat of Avian flu (bird flu, H5N1)?

Can modern medicine treat influenza effectively?

Are there effective herbal treatments for influenza?

For whom is this book written?