Miracle Cure for cold sores!! Tested and Approved.

This is an exclusive sneak preview of Monday's new blog post on My Bugs And I and trust me it is a good one!!
My Bugs and I is  a blog  talking exclusively about gut flora and general microbiota. Articles talk about their impact on our diet, health, immunity, and sanity. Check it out over here.

A Miracle Cure of cold sores! There, I said it!

I know, I know, as a scientist, I should never think/say/write about miracles, but... After suffering from cold sores for 35+ years, this solution is nothing short of a miracle!
OK, rewind, let me tell you my own story!

When I started this blog, I also started a probiotics cure. My reasons for this were multiple:

• I'm on a healthy diet path and the right microbial strains in your gut can help you digest your food nicely, whereas the wrong ones can extract more energy than necessary and store all in fat (if you'd like to read about this, follow here) 
• I'm lucky to be gut-healthy but a few of my family members are suffering from either IBS or IBD (the differences between these two diseases will be covered soon), I therefore may be carrying genetic predispositions to developing an auto-immune disease. Auto-immune diseases can strike a person with genetic susceptibilities at any age, anytime, following environmental random events (stress, medication, alcohol, ...); and a healthy gut may delay such impact (if you are interested in knowing more about this, please come back soon)
• Last year, I was ill for 4 months non-stop as I was picking up bugs from my son's nursery; the right gut strains can help you modulate your immune system to fight illnesses (here) 
• If ever I should fall ill with cancer, a healthy microbiota would help me fight the cancer through helpful modulation of my immune system, help me with side effects, and help my chemo or else medicines achieve optimal efficacy (here)

I had no idea, however, what impact it would have - if any - on my weight, wellbeing, or health. This is the reason why I haven't mentioned probiotics yet as I was doing my own experiment.

The first time I realised a difference
A few months ago, I felt the usual tingle on my lip that is so typical of cold sores. As every cold sore sufferer, I carry my Zovirax everywhere so I was able to quickly dab a little bit on where I felt 'the dreaded' was going to appear.
Then, what happened? NOTHING... Nothing happened, no cold sore appeared!
I know that this happens to some lucky cold sore sufferers, but for me, never in my 35+ years of cold sores experience, have I ever managed to stop  the growth of the virus. Zovirax helps the process go quicker but the pain, the vesicles, the scabbing, and the scar steps would always occur.
That's when I started to wonder if it had anything to do with my probiotics as I hadn't changed anything else in my life. Because life happens, I forgot about my miracle cure.

The second time confirmed my hopes
Last week, as I waking up, I felt the tingle again. Unfortunately, a few vesicles had already appeared and I had little hope I could stop the process. How wrong was I! After massaging a bit of Zovirax on them, the vesicles 'expired' after about 4 hours the way they usually do after 4 days. All I was left with was damaged skin that was going to scab and heal, so i used Compeed to speed up the process.

How I think it worked
Probiotics, Bio-Kult
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus
What I didn't know though is that a certain strain present in Bio-Kult (Lactobacillus rhamnosus) has been shown to help activate macrophages to eliminate the herpes simplex virus type-1 (responsible for cold sore) (here). Macrophages are the weapons of our innate immune system and they have been shown to orchestrate a multitude of anti-herpetic actions during the first hours of the attack (here). This specific strain contained in my Bio-Kult is therefore boosting my immune system to produce natural anti-cold sore actions right from the start.
- Lactobacillus plantarum
Another strain contained in my Bio-Kult, Lactobacillus plantarum, has also been shown to stop the spread of the virus (here).

Zovirax
The way Zovirax works is well known: the active ingredient is 5% aciclovir. Aciclovir is a drug that transforms into a form that inhibits and inactivates the spread and growth of the herpes virus. The way different people respond to it is variable. In my case, I usually don't see much difference; with probiotics as part of my diet, I saw a massive difference as I think both actions of probiotics and Zovirax combined to completely stop the growth of the virus.

Compeed
Compeed contains a hydrocolloidal gel  and is well known to accelerate skin repair.

My Miracle Cure recipe

1. Two Bio-Kult probiotics pills every day with water and food. If you are under antibiotics, it is advised to take four tablets of Bio-Kult per day but at different times than when you take your antibiotic (as your probiotics will be killed by the antibiotic if you take them at the same time!).
2. As soon as you feel 'The' tingle, massage some Zovirax. Repeat as advised on the notice. If you caught the tingle when the vesicles are already present, massage the cream until vesicles are flatten and 'dead'.
3. Dry the surface and apply a Compeed patch. Replace your patch as advised on the notice.

What have you tried for you cold sores? 

Do you have any miracle cures you would like to share?

Feel free to share your stories in the comments here below, I'd love to read your tips.

See you soon,

PS: Please note the Amazon images are affiliate links. 

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Thinkrolls - recommended tablet game for toddlers

As a parent, I am always on the look out for new ways to stimulate my child's mind. Maybe because I have a boy who hates puzzles and crafts, I am desperate to find interesting activities other than train tracks and animal farms!

I came across this game on my kindle fire tablet because it was free! If I'm perfectly honest, I originally downloaded it for myself because it looked like a fun and pretty game, and - come on - FREE!!!

On a Eurostar trip back to London a couple of months ago, my son was a bit agitated so I gave him to tablet for the first time. I know at nursery they have iPad sessions so he knew how to handle ours.

Soon enough, he was hooked on the game. Most of you would say it's really bad to get them used to computer games and I would normally agree but hear me out.

Thinkrolls

Thinkrolls is a game of strategy for toddlers and children aged 3-8. My son was barely 2 and 1/2 when he started so they are definitely capable to achieve the first levels at that age.

The basics of the game are that each window screenshot is a maze through which you have to guide a funny character. Obstacles need to be moved or used to go through the right path. 

The first levels are easy, you just need to eat biscuits or move boxes but as chapters difficulty increases, it becomes more and more strategic.

At later levels, strategic actions include moving a cushion to jump from to get out of hole, or fill the hole with the box, move balloons to clear access or extinct fires with ice cubes using moving platforms.

At the age of 2 and 1/2, my son is able to achieve all chapters at the easy setting which is for children aged 3-5. He can also achieve the first levels of the hard setting where observation and choices are the skills developed even further.

What Amazon says about it:

• 207 challenging levels with mind-sharpening puzzles
• Easy mode for ages 3-5, hard mode for ages 5-8
• Experiment with gravity, heat, buoyancy, speed, friction, elasticity & more
• Enhance logic, observation, spatial cognition, memory
• Track progress for up to 6 player profiles
• 22 hilarious super smart characters to play with
• Original soundtrack and sound effects
• Supreme design, eye-catching artwork
• Language neutral game-play
• COPPA compliant

Highly recommended!!!!

SoreThumbThinking #3 - Hypnotize

Hello Beautiful Creature,

This post is a Re-blog from my company's employees' blog. I would like to share with you what I write over there. Feel free to visit it as well :)

Hypnotize

Have you ever read a book that makes you enter a trance and nothing can quite get you out of it?
I’m into such book at the moment. In fact, I have been for a month or so, ever since I discovered Liane Moriarty’s novels. I already devoured 3 of her books, am famished to finish this one and cannot wait to feast on her earlier titles!
Enough with the eating metaphor and let me tell you about the one I’m reading at the moment which is about hypnotherapy!

I e-read so, very conveniently, I can highlight sentences whenever I’m wowed by her insights – which happen to be quite often with her! One such quote I recently highlighted was the following:

‘From the moment we’re born, everyone is hypnotizing us. We are all, to some degree, in a trance. Our clients think we’re “putting them to sleep” but our ultimate goal is the opposite!’

And that is one of those things that made me stop reading!

 'From the moment we are born, everyone is hypnotizing us' - TWEET THIS

I got out of my own reading trance, my neurons firing new messages, telling me I should think about that for a minute.
Now I’m reading this sentence through my copywriter-in-a-healthcare-advertising-agency’s eyes and I’m reminded of the BIGGER PICTURE:

‘Our clients think we’re “putting them to sleep” but our ultimate goal is the opposite!’

As a creative agency, we are trying to shake our clients up, hypnotize them into unreservedly trusting us to create better advertising for their drugs. Why? Because

‘Their clients (GPs, HCPs, etc…) think they’re “putting them to sleep” but their ultimate goal is the opposite!’

‘Yes, there is a lot of money involved but here is a drug that can save more lives or increase quality of life, you do whatever you want with this information but please make the right decision by your patients, because

Your patients think you’re “putting them to sleep” but your and our ultimate goal is the opposite!’

At the count of 3, you will wake up and feel refreshed, 1… 2… 3… Discuss!

(The title of this post refers to a song, can you guess what it is?)

 See you Soon,

SoreThumbThinking #2 - Roses Are Red

Hello Beautiful Creature,

This post is a Re-blog from my company's employees' blog. I would like to share with you what I write over there. Feel free to visit it as well :)

Roses are Red

I’m new to the advertising world.
Not that I’ve never watched/been intrigued/shocked/appalled by TV adverts… But now, it’s my job to transform complicated medical data into appealing, exciting, influential information while being uncompromisingly scientifically accurate!!!
To do the best job possible, ideally I need to come up with ‘fresh’ ideas, to quote John Hegarty. However, as he explained his book:

‘Your idea only exists in relation to another idea’
‘In fact, the value of an idea is in how it draws its inspiration from the world around us and then reinterprets it in a way we haven’t seen before.

‘Hegarty on Creativity’ by John Hegarty

So naturally, I’m looking around… I am more attentive to ads on TV, on the tube, the bus, youtube, etc…
And what I came up with recently is that in the advertising world, we can encounter dramatically opposite messages that would still appeal to anyone and everyone in this day and age:

1. SUPER FRESH: The Coca-Cola ad on the Social Media Guard

2. Fresh-ish EE’s Kevin Bacon “It’s a no Brainer” advert
‘It’s a no brainer’ is the perfect opposite to the above Social Media Guard.
While EE and Kevin Bacon promote the possibility of accessing the same network whatever device each family member uses, Coca-Cola promotes bringing people together by guarding family members from the restricted view of a cyber world.

3. Not so Fresh (once you know about 1. and 2.) Vodafone Power to the family 
Vodafone latest TV advert is all about sharing important moments with family thanks to our increasing inter-connectivity. Power to the family encourages multi-generations to work better together, stay open about those all-important family values ie. stay “connected”.


Somehow, all three of them could appeal to anyone because although we think that we all need a reliable internet broadband, we also would like to respect traditional values.

Now, the tricky question: would you be able to choose the one that appeals to you the most? Did the execution determine your choice or did the message?

The title of this post refers to a song, can you guess which and why I chose it?

See you Soon,

SoreThumbThinking #1 - Imagine There's No Right Track Baby

Re-blog

When I asked my mum and friends about what influential creativity meant to them, they all said something different; my mum said “Oh well, it’s advertising, isn’t it?” whereas my friend who’s a professional singer confidently said “It is Music!”

Have you ever asked yourself what influences you in this world?

Are we even aware of what influences us? Some of us will say “Yes, that’s why I’m taking control of what I put on and in my body”. But even then aren’t we influenced by a new movement that dictates us to lead a more natural way of living?

And this is my point, influential creativity is all around us, from everything we see and hear. People who want or need to creatively influence you will go about doing it differently depending on their own surroundings and influences, and will choose a certain vector they will be comfortable with to convey their message.

For example, music is a big influence in my life. From the beat to the lyrics, I feel and love songs for different reasons. Some songs are more influential than others, either to me, you or the world. I associate songs to moods and life events. And when I have to recall events, I’ll usually first remember which songs I was listening to at the time.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one to do that though, am I?


Some songwriters are more influential than others for different reasons, and sometimes for reasons we can’t even explain because we weren’t touched by the message or weren’t the targeted audience.
An example of influential songwriter could be Stephanie Germanotta.

How many of us knew of her existence when she was an unremarkable-looking piano player and not the Lady Gaga we now know?

She wasn’t getting her messages across so she chose to alter her looks and do all sorts of attention-seeking stuff to draw us within her world of music. I’m not saying there are hidden messages in her songs, but even if she’s not your cup of tea, you can’t deny that through her extraordinary attires and catchy tune “Born this way” she was trying to use influential creativity to make us feel and behave differently… Beyond the act of buying her album.

In earlier days, other songwriters didn’t have to go to such length to achieve a similar goal. I’m thinking about John Lennon and his iconic song “Imagine”.

The goal of “Imagine” was and still is to make you think about what the world could be if we stopped focusing on borders, religions, and material possessions. Is it working? Obviously not at the moment but John Lennon’s song still appeals to people because we all want to live in peace, it’s an ideal we would all like to reach. John Lennon used his influential creativity to make us question ourselves in the hope that it would make us behave differently.


How we use creativity to influence our surroundings through music, art or advertising, to me, is about connecting with an audience on a personal, emotional or practical level; it is about understanding their lives, getting comfortable with them and letting them know that you are there to make them feel better, or be better, or make them question themselves by providing them with an emotion, an ideal, a service, or a product.

And there you have it, what influential creativity means to me!

But what about you? What are the first words that come into your mind when you hear “influential creativity”?

(The title of this article is a mash up of 2 songs, can you guess which? Clues are in the post)

SoreThumbThinking

SoreThumbThinking is a independent blog by employees of PAN Unlimited..., the healthcare advertising agency branch of Creston Health.

The Blog started a few months ago and as a blogger and employee of PAN, I was invited to write for it.
I was a bit skeptic at first: I'm good at writing crap on my life, and smart things on Science but never had to write essays-like article on advertising and influential creativity.

When I went through the interview process for this job, I had to prepare a presentation on what influential creativity meant to me. It was an exhilarating thing to do having so far only written on Science subjects!

To keep a record of my writing efforts for that particular blog, I'm going to re-blog my articles.