Like death and taxes, wars against foreign enemies perpetuate. During times of peace, we grow complacent and focus on new agendas. Yet, time and time again, we are jolted out of our comfort zone when an old foe we thought once vanquished rears its ugly head with even deadlier strength and greater resolve.

Many of us who live in modern society think of death resulting from heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes related complications. However, we seem to forget that bacteria and viruses have inhabited the earth since its creation, but our ability to learn about them began a mere hundred years ago. In the short time that modern medicine has developed vaccinations and antibiotics, we’ve become relatively complacent with “old” enemies like diphtheria, smallpox, tetanus, etc. Yet, these “old” enemies continue to kill more people worldwide than cancer and heart disease combined.

The over utilization and indiscrimate use of antibiotics only speed up most viruses and bacteria’s evolution process. Countries, regardless of demographic or socioeconomic are equally responsible for this process, and as such, we all suffer the consequences of what we create.

Scientists of all creed, race, and gender are feverishly trying to build stronger drugs, even trying to tap into the genetic makeup of these natural evildoers. However, conquering SARS today will only serve to create another SARS tomorrow. What can we do? TOP

Optimize the best defense: Your IMMUNE SYSTEM

These humbling observations reveal one simple yet profound fact: the best way to tamper Mother Nature’s fury is to be more observant and respectable to the tools she provided to nourish and defend ourselves. We are in a precarious yet hopeful period in which we are developing scientific means to understand how exercise, emotions, and nutrition affect our immune system. Spending all our resources on finding stronger drugs without an emphasis on developing a strong immune system is akin to spending all our national budget on better weapons, with not a penny left for homeland security or public health measures like vaccinations and nutrition counseling.

SARS, as well as the threat of bio-terrorism, should serve as a sobering reminder to us all that health starts from strengthening within. While we may all have different socioeconomic resources to obtain the weapons against the SARS of today, we all have the collective ability to strengthen our body’s homeland security, consequently preventing the SARS of tomorrow. Given the amazing breadth of available resources that the information age makes available to all of us, we are fortunate enough to live in an unparalleled era in which everything we need to learn and do to optimize our body’s own homeland security is right underneath our fingertips. --Dr. Jason  WHAT IS SARS? | HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF