Now that we are in the midst of flu season, there’s a lot of anxiety about vaccines and treatments. So it’s always good to be reminded of good old common sense practices to prevent infection in the first place. This week, esteemed British Medical Journal has published an excellent review article (link at bottom) which looks at those simple precautions — and yes, indeed, there’s excellent evidence that common sense works!… Read the rest
Five Keys To Safer Food
The WHO (World Health Organization) is an invaluable public health resource. Their Food Safety group has a special program called “Five Keys To Safer Food”, a collection of posters and manuals in 50 languages that underly their global campaign to educate people all over the world about proper food handling.… Read the rest
Flu Health: Which Natural Medicines Are Best?
The flu season has arrived; mostly H1N1 now, we should soon start to see more seasonal flu as well. There are a lot of healthy approaches to fight this infection. I have made a link below to an article from the Natural Medicines Database, an outstanding physician-oriented website.… Read the rest
Food Safety: Proper Handling of Vegetables
Wow, this Hong Kong public health site I just discovered over the weekend, the Centre for Food Safety, is just a treasure trove of high-yield and reader-friendly material! It’s the best government-run information I’ve seen which can materially help all China expats make healthy food decisions.… Read the rest
Flu News: Cheap Surgical Masks Don't Work
It’s definitely the start of a new wave of H1N1 flu right now; and in a few weeks we will also start to see the “regular” seasonal flu as well. Many people recommend wearing a mask. A new study (review below) suggests that the cheaper surgical mask is not effective in stopping the flu virus.… Read the rest
Food Safety: Should Egg Shells Be Washed?
I just discovered an outstanding website in Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety. It’s like the U.S. Center for Disease Control, except this website usually has much more relevant food safety information for us expats, as 95% of Hong Kong’s foods are imported, and mostly from China’s mainland.… Read the rest