Health Resilience Of The Filipino?

[Jack Peterson]

Now we have our resident health Adviser back on Line can I ask a Question of you  Mike and maybe others That may have noticed this.

I know you not a doctor Mike and I guess none of us are qualified to give actual medical Advice but.......

I have noticed over the last couple of years that the Filipinos do not seem to have the same sort of immune system that we ( The Foreigner does) and their resistance to mild things is very low.

Even in my own House I seem to be the Only one that does not get a Cold, (Fever) that demands constant trips to the pharmacy for whatever.

In the local Area I live in there always seems to be constant coughing,Runny Noses, Weeping eyes,

scabs from bites that never seem to heal.

Many things that I see just make me believe that how we were brought up in our past Lives has made us more Resilient, to most things here.

Questions;

1. Is our Diet a Boon to our resistance? ( Given many of us do not always eat the local food all the Time.)

2. Through our life was the past inoculations/vaccinations, still providing us with a Good immune System?

3. Is the Filipino Diet in General just not giving the People the Resistance they need?

 

My Helper has just scaled a 3 meter Calamancy tree to get fruit to make her a Hot toddy from the Fruit.

She is constantly having a bad throat, She neither smokes or takes Alcohol, my Wife and Daughter are the same and it just makes me think, Are we actually doing something Right. I really do seem to be the one that never gets these things and I am ill (Stroke Survivor)

maybe not the Sort of thing we like to Think about but with a death age so low of many Filipinos, there are days that I sit and think, their Diets are just not the best for keeping their bodies immune from things and it will keep their resistance low.

 

Any thoughts my friends.

 

JP :tiphat:

[jon1]

JP,

 

I am not a doctor but have had similar observations. I think the local diet does not meet the nutritional needs. Most of their meals are rice and meat. Very rarely do they eat vegetables and then barely what a westerner would call a proper serving. This usually severely impacts the females as they generally do not get enough iron in their system and are susceptible to anemia. They also use too much salt and do not hydrate properly. This leads to issues with kidney stones which are not uncommon here. I only see them eat fruit if the fruit is in season or if they are sick and their body drives them to eat something citrusy for Vitamin C. My wife and sister in law are very resistant to taking Vitamin C tablets when they have a cold and any pain medication for swelling from strains. The rice also is a lot of starch that gets converted into sugars which really is not good for us. 

 

In the end I have been educating my filipino family on what is good for them and have made several dishes that entice them to eat vegetables for the iron needs. I also have the wife cooking with less salt and more spices. The sister in law still doesn't eat much western food but does try the western dishes my wife makes now. 

 

Another issue that I see is proper sanitation of dishes, cookware and food handling practices. In the past my wife would cook enough rice for the whole day in the morning and let it sit out all day. This is the perfect environment for bacterial growth which can lead to bowel troubles. She now cooks for each meal and puts leftovers in a sealed plastic container in the refrigerator to be warmed up the next time in the microwave. The filipinos also think that just washing with soap is enough to clean the dishes. They do not understand that hot water (as hot as you can stand) is a must. I still find them using cold water when washing the dishes. My solution was to buy one of these http://www.weemall.com/products/5548-imarflex-dish-dryer-dd-989.aspx. It heats up the dishes and dries them quickly. So even if they wash with cold water, they still put it in this unit to dry and we are safer.

 

I also think that due to the poverty and low income, most of the filipino families do not have the money for the proper food in their diet. Although, they could replace meat with lentils, beans and such periodically to keep their nutritional needs within their tight budgets. Another factor is proper nutritional education which I do not see being distributed.

 

just my 2 cents

 

:cheersty:

 

Jon

Edited June 17, 2015 by jon1

[canadamale]

I have noticed the same thing, my gf is always having cold sores and cankers and cough and runny nose., She uses vicks constantly. She is always buying cough medicines. I thought it was just her, I very seldom get sick ( knock on wood). She basically refuses to eat vegatbles, rice, chicken, pork, fish and very rarely fruit is her diet. Never drinks milk only pop or water, I tend too buy lots of juice so she is starting to drink juice now.She also cooks rice in the rice cooker in the morning and I have saw it sit for over a day on the counter. Now when we eat at her moms there is always vegtables cooked. I love her moms cooking, mmmmm

[canadamale]

I have noticed the same thing, my gf is always having cold sores and cankers and cough and runny nose., She uses vicks constantly. She is always buying cough medicines. I thought it was just her, I very seldom get sick ( knock on wood). She basically refuses to eat vegatbles, rice, chicken, pork, fish and very rarely fruit is her diet. Never drinks milk only pop or water, I tend too buy lots of juice so she is starting to drink juice now.She also cooks rice in the rice cooker in the morning and I have saw it sit for over a day on the counter. Now when we eat at her moms there is always vegtables cooked. I love her moms cooking, mmmmm

[Dave Hounddriver]

I think they catch diseases from foreigners that they have no natural immunity for.  I base this theory on the research of Canadian Inuit dying from tuberculosis they caught from Europeans.  In return, I notice that foreigners often get sick on their arrival here when the local people around them show no ill effects.  Remember this is just a pet theory with no basis other than my own observations.

[Larry45]

Seems like all my neighbors have a productive cough, and I've seen studies that estimate anywhere from 3%-30% of the population has TB.  Most here in the province also have never been taught to cover their mouth and turn their head to cough.  And as Jon said, Filipinos really don't seem to take care of themselves proactively.  So it's much like the natural disasters.....if you're not resourceful enough to plan ahead, you have no choice but to be resilient.    

[Daydreamer]

I also think that due to the poverty and low income, most of the filipino families do not have the money for the proper food in their diet. Although, they could replace meat with lentils, beans and such periodically to keep their nutritional needs within their tight budgets. Another factor is proper nutritional education which I do not see being distributed. just my 2 cents

That's more than two cents worth, but I hear you on the nutritional education part its just non-existent :th_thbestpost: .

[Medic Mike]

Now we have our resident health Adviser back on Line can I ask a Question of you  Mike and maybe others That may have noticed this.

I know you not a doctor Mike and I guess none of us are qualified to give actual medical Advice but.......

I have noticed over the last couple of years that the Filipinos do not seem to have the same sort of immune system that we ( The Foreigner does) and their resistance to mild things is very low.

Even in my own House I seem to be the Only one that does not get a Cold, (Fever) that demands constant trips to the pharmacy for whatever.

In the local Area I live in there always seems to be constant coughing,Runny Noses, Weeping eyes,

scabs from bites that never seem to heal.

Many things that I see just make me believe that how we were brought up in our past Lives has made us more Resilient, to most things here.

Questions;

1. Is our Diet a Boon to our resistance? ( Given many of us do not always eat the local food all the Time.)

2. Through our life was the past inoculations/vaccinations, still providing us with a Good immune System?

3. Is the Filipino Diet in General just not giving the People the Resistance they need?

 

My Helper has just scaled a 3 meter Calamancy tree to get fruit to make her a Hot toddy from the Fruit.

She is constantly having a bad throat, She neither smokes or takes Alcohol, my Wife and Daughter are the same and it just makes me think, Are we actually doing something Right. I really do seem to be the one that never gets these things and I am ill (Stroke Survivor)

maybe not the Sort of thing we like to Think about but with a death age so low of many Filipinos, there are days that I sit and think, their Diets are just not the best for keeping their bodies immune from things and it will keep their resistance low.

 

Any thoughts my friends.

 

JP :tiphat:

I have seen this too on the many ambulance runs around the Cebu country side over the years. In Australia, we see the same thing with the indigenous, it all boils down to poor hygiene in relation to washing hands, etc. etc. I have seen the same poor habits in the Philippines. They have identified this as such a problem, that in NT, Australia they actually have info commercials on TV all the time trying to educate the indigenous in relation to this problem.

[Thomas]

I have noticed over the last couple of years that the Filipinos do not seem to have the same sort of immune system that we ( The Foreigner does) and their resistance to mild things is very low. Even in my own House I seem to be the Only one that does not get a Cold, (Fever) that demands constant trips to the pharmacy for whatever.

Well.  I believe

/Yes, not SAME immune system.

/But No, NOT lower immune system than us, but low for DIFFERENT illnesses than foreigners. (Of course there can be for SOME, who have because of nutricion deficency, not counting them.) I suppouse we FOREIGNERS e g get stomach illnesses more OFTEN   :)

/But Yes concerning Cold BY AIRCON. I suppouse foreigners in average are more USED TO Aircons than Filipinos are.  I'm NOT used to Aircons, so I get cold almost NEVER by OTHER things, but very EASY by AIRCONS...  :lol:     The cold wind is one thing, buit perhaps it depend of many aircons are constructed so they BLOW around DUST and BACTERIAS.

[chris49]

I think they catch diseases from foreigners that they have no natural immunity for.  I base this theory on the research of Canadian Inuit dying from tuberculosis they caught from Europeans.  In return, I notice that foreigners often get sick on their arrival here when the local people around them show no ill effects.  Remember this is just a pet theory with no basis other than my own observations.

 

Good train of thought. There is no way they would have any immunity to viral/bacterial infections brought in, while a well travelled ex pat might have built up some good anti bodies over the years.

 

Also. The Filipino is generally a very clean person, but the environment is dirty. And consider the close proximity of bus and jeepney passengers and what if one of them or a child is carrying a virus.

Edited June 17, 2015 by chris49