Grow Youthful: How to Slow Your Aging and Enjoy Extraordinary Health

Glandular fever, Mononucleosis, Epstein-Barr virus

What is Glandular fever?

Symptoms of Glandular fever

Causes of Glandular fever

Prevention / remedies / cures / treatment for Glandular fever

References

What is Glandular fever?

90% of all people are infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). In the USA about half of all five year old children and about 90% of adults have evidence of previous infection. (1) Those who become infected with EBV usually get adaptive immunity. Most people get EBV during their teen or young adult years, as it is most commonly transmitted by kissing. The Epstein-Barr virus is only transmitted through the exchange of body fluids like saliva, blood or semen. Other common methods of infection include sharing drinking glasses, eating utensils, toothbrushes or other close contact.

Most people make a complete recovery, but the virus does remain in the body for the rest of one's life. People who have recovered and are now healthy can spread the virus intermittently for the rest of their lives.

Glandular fever is diagnosed with a blood test.

Symptoms of Glandular fever

The time from infection to the appearance of symptoms ranges from 4 to 6 weeks.

Symptoms usually last for between a few days to a few weeks.

Symptoms tend to be worse in adults, with young children often showing few or no symptoms.

Sore throat.
Swollen lymph nodes and neck glands.
Swollen spleen and liver.
Fatigue, tiredness and generally feeling unwell. Brain fog.
Aches and pains in joints.
Fever is an immune response to an infection, which causes an increase in body temperature. One of the defensive strategies of the EBV is that it modulates the fever response. Therefore it is possible to suffer from symptoms of an EBV infection, but the symptoms may or may not include fever with a raised temperature.

Long term Epstein-Barr symptoms include increased risk of the following:

Causes of Glandular fever

Stress. Prolonged stress, bereavement, lack of sufficient deep sleep and rest, consequent high and sustained levels of cortisol stress hormone.
Weakened immune system. EBV can harm the immune system by directly affecting some types of immune cells. A weak immune system allows the EBV to re-emerge if previously infected. Therefore in susceptible individuals with weakened immune systems, an EBV infection can continue to be a long term chronic health problem, often causing chronic fatigue and other symptoms for years. It is sometimes caused by the re-activation of a dormant herpes (HSV) virus. (2, 3)
Vaccinations.
Vitamins A and D insufficiency.
Zinc insufficiency.
Dysbiosis, damage to the microbiome, usually the consequence of taking antibiotics.
Diet. The Standard American Diet has excess omega-6 oils (vegetable oils, seed oils) and insufficient omega-3 oils. (4, 5)

Prevention / remedies / cures / treatment for Glandular fever

De-stressing, time out, relaxation. Remove long term, ongoing sources of conflict, anger, stress and other negative emotions from one's life. The most important preventative for EBV is the management of emotional stress. Stress increases the level of the hormone cortisol, which in turn suppresses the immune system. A suppressed immune response means that the EBV remains active, there is no fever, but the other symptoms continue for what seems forever.
Vitamin D and sunlight.
Exercise daily. Pleasant, sustained, not stressful. Long walks are ideal.
Zinc.
Eat real food, plenty of vegetables, and get off the Standard American Diet (SAD).
Vitamin A in the form of retinol. Retinol, the active form of vitamin A, is found in cod liver oil, liver, egg yolks, quality cheese and fish oil in oily type of fish like sardines, mackerel, salmon and herring. The plant precursor of vitamin A is beta-carotene, which is found in yellow, orange, and green vegetables and fruits like carrots, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cantaloupe and winter squash. However large quantities of beta-carotene are required, and the conversion into retinol is inefficient and may be inhibited by illness.
DMSO.
Berberine.
Heat, in the form of a hot bath or sauna. As described above, EBV often inhibits fever and the raised body temperature that it induces. Enjoy a sauna to combat EBV.
Probiotics. Take only very small quantities initially and for the first few weeks, because if the digestive system is damaged it may identify new probiotic foods as foreign proteins and attack them rather than digest them.
BHT.

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References

1. CDC, National Center for Infectious Diseases, 28 September 2020.

2. Iwona Ptaszynska-Sarosiek, Justyna Dunaj, Agata Zajkowska, Anna Niemcunowicz-Janica, Monika Krol, Slawomir Pancewicz, Joanna Zajkowska. Post-mortem detection of six human herpesviruses (HSV-1, HSV-2, VZV, EBV, CMV, HHV-6) in trigeminal and facial nerve ganglia by PCR. PeerJ. 2019 Jan 9:6:e6095. doi: 10.7717/peerj.6095.

3. Maltsev D, Fedirko V. Refractory atypical trigeminal neuralgia associated with reactivated herpesvirus infection: pathogenetic link and efficacy of combination antiviral therapy. Virusdisease. 2022 Jun;33(2):155-165. doi: 10.1007/s13337-022-00769-9. Epub 2022 Jun 13. PMID: 35991701; PMCID: PMC9381677.

4. Abeba Haile Mariamenatu, Emebet Mohammed Abdu. Overconsumption of Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs) versus Deficiency of Omega-3 PUFAs in Modern-Day Diets: The Disturbing Factor for Their Balanced Antagonistic Metabolic Functions in the Human Body. Journal of Lipids, vol. 2021, Article ID 8848161.<

5. Martin YB, Avendano C. Effects of removal of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids on plasma extravasation and mechanical allodynia in a trigeminal neuropathic pain model. Mol Pain. 2009 Feb 25;5:8. doi: 10.1186/1744-8069-5-8. PMID: 19243598; PMCID: PMC2651866.