Why Do Healthy People Get the H1N1 Swine Flu?

I recently came across an incredible theory about why some people who contract the swine flu get virtually no symptoms at all, while others have symptoms that are incredibly severe and even deadly. The thing that struck me most about this theory is that it's not only believable, it's also credible and explains why "previously healthy" people get sick with the swine flu.

I'll tell you the theory but first I need to give you the back story that really drove the theory home for me. I read a story about a 5-year old girl in California who came down with the swine flu with virtually no symptoms, then within a matter of hours, began to experience severe, debilitating symptoms shortly before dying. This struck me as very unusual, especially in an otherwise healthy person. I began wondering what would render a healthy child's immune system so vulnerable so suddenly. I couldn't think of anything. The article quoted the girl's grandmother saying, "Her dad had just taught her how to swim without her life vest". While this didn't seem strange, for some reason it stuck in my mind.

Later that day, I came across a recent newsgroup posting from an elderly woman who pointed out that the swine flu started out in a poor area of Mexico, during spring, and primarily affected children. She surmised that these children were performing hard labor on farms and in other various capacities when they came down with the illness. She then went on to point out that other people involved in physically strenuous activity (runners, football players, manual laborers) seemed to come down with an suffer with the swine flu far more frequently than older, sedentary folks who do not do much physical activity.

Her theory relies on three very simple principles:

1. Physical activity depletes potassium, an electrolyte necessary not only for proper heart function, but is necessary for proper functioning of the immune system.

2. Strenuous physical activity lowers serum levels of thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones must be sufficient to allow proper functioning of the immune system. People who are untreated hypothyroid (euthyroid) have weakened immune systems.

3. People involved in hard physical activity, particularly sports, will supplement with sugary drinks and foods. Sugar consumption is known to weaken the immune system.

Her theory is that hard physical activity combined with poor diet creates a perfect opportunity for H1N1 to infiltrate and then incubate.

This theory makes a lot of sense no matter how you look at it. If you've ever done hard physical activity, you know that it can take several days to recover. During this time, potassium and thyroid levels may be below normal, allowing the swine flu virus plenty of time to grow and spread without much interference from the immune system. Even perfectly healthy people who engage in strenuous physical activity will experience a temporary "hit" to their immune systems.

The little girl mentioned in the article referenced above had learned to swim without any flotation device during a 2-week break from school. Obviously this counts as strenuous physical activity, especially if you're just doing it for the first time. Since the incubation period for the swine flu is between 2-7 days, it stands to reason that she contracted it right around the time she was undergoing a lot of physical stress.

The theory also gives us some very useful steps to take to avoid falling ill with the flu. Make sure you are getting plenty of potassium and magnesium through diet and supplementation (magnesium affects potassium levels). Avoid sugar and alcohol. And avoid strenuous physical activity if possible. Yes, that's right. Avoid too much exercise.

I believe this theory also explains why bacterial meningitis affects younger people but it virtually unheard of in older adults. H1N1 is highly transmissible and, like the pneumococcus bacteria that causes meningitis, can multiply quickly. If the immune system is healthy and intact, it can act quickly with a non-specific response that doesn't require time to develop antibodies. But if the immune system is weakened, even if you've been vaccinated, it might not be able to muster a strong enough response to ward off the threat.