Coronavirus medical advice
Hello all,
Here are a couple of thoughts about this pandemic and some medical advice.
This coronavirus has apparently taken us all by surprise and that adds to the present sense of anxiety. In fact, a number of governmental and non-governmental agencies have been publicly stating that such an event was just a matter of time. Despite such warnings, and consistent with a widespread failure of governance, we are as nations underprepared and as people underserved.
My own opinion is that industrialism is our golden calf and there is a deeply held prohibition against questioning its fundamental value. We have, to some large degree, become homo machina at odds with homo sapiens, and industry at odds with ecology.
Until we hold a real sense of a viable alternative to ubiquitous industrialization, then even destructive aspects of our socioeconomic structures will go unchecked. Disturbingly, some parties are committed, for private gain, to maintain this appearance of no option. This deliberate obscuration crosses the line from ignorance to malfeasance. It seems that every eighty years or so, the reality of such iniquity and corruption comes to collective consciousness and there is widespread collapse followed by a sort of cathartic rebirth. I believe that we are experiencing such a dynamic on several levels. Additionally, there is the possibility that the present social revolution is greater, faster, and deeper than previous readjustments of this sort. We might be at the confluence of several cyclic metamorphosis, several processes of maturation coinciding to form a perfect storm.
On a practical level, I can offer the following reflections.
This virus is a novel form of a familiar type of virus and this means that it is both predictable and unpredictable. For example, it is unknown whether the springtime and summer will end its proliferative cycle. Nor is it known whether individual acquired immunity will be enduring from year to year. That means that the present infectious cycle is with us for now plus for an indeterminate time, like any epidemic, and might or might not repeat seasonally, like the flu.
I have read that there are two circumstances under which the pandemic will naturally end: When widespread vaccination has been accomplished, most likely within eighteen or twenty-four months; or when about 60% of the population has acquired resistance after infection and recovery. This second alternative circles back to the question as to whether that resistance is enduring or not.
As we know almost all governments are trying to “flatten the curve” to reduce the burden on our healthcare systems. But it is simply wrong to think that you might avoid contracting the virus at all. Exercising some control over when you get it and how severely it affects you is very reasonable. But trying to avoid it altogether is probably impossible and not necessarily desirable from either and individual or group perspective.
My understanding is that thinking firstly of others is a very effective approach. That means to say, wearing a mask to protect others is sounder reasoning than doing so to protect myself. It is wise to wash hands frequently in order to remove oneself as an infective vector rather than living in fear of germs. Keeping the healthcare system operable is to everyone’s advantage. I have no doubt that we will almost all eventually get this virus. 20% of infections are completely asymptomatic and 80% are mild requiring no medical intervention. Without blanket testing, we have no idea how widely spread the disease really is. And until an antibody test is developed we won’t know how many people have had it, with or without knowing. It is worth noting that up to 65% of transmission occurs during the incubation period anyway, when a person is unaware that they are carrying the virus at all. I believe that we are all going to be exposed at some point. Being prepared for that is a better use of our energies that attempts at avoidance.
It seems likely that we will face one or two years of recession and reemergence of infective hot-spots. Based on disease dynamics, our lives will cycle between some semblance of past gregariousness and some form of social-isolation. It looks like China is now following an approach of permitting a level of community transmission at a predictable rate. Thus, having flattened the curve they are now planning on holding it steady, aiming at manageably achieving that 60% threshold. Plus, that procedure might have to be repeated next year, if developing a vaccine takes the usual amount of time.
Medically, I can offer some advice.
Protection
Leaving aside issues of community transmission and focusing on individual physiology, in terms of protection there are two parallel and interrelated approaches. One is to restore and reinforce the body’s natural health and resilience, the other is to support the immune system with particular relevance to viral infection.
Clearing the body of lurking and unresolved infections serves several purposes. Firstly, those infections can become activated under certain circumstances and add the body’s immunologic burden. When the body cannot completely resolve an infection, or rid itself of toxins, the body sequesters them, but that requires energy. Then that energy is unavailable to counter novel infections. Furthermore, when the body’s energies are taxed or diminished, the contained pathogens can become reactivated. Hence detoxifying the body, chemically and biologically, is one facet of enhancing one’s resiliency. It seems that Covid-19 includes a component of oxidative damage to the body, and this contributes to the inflammatory component. Detoxing the interstitial spaces plays a vital role in enhancing the body’s capacity to deal with oxidative stress. Vitamin C at high doses, can be very helpful. Grape Seed Extract, Pycnogenol, and Glutathione are all very useful.
I accomplish a deeper detox using a combination of herbs and homeopathy.
Additionally, helping the body complete old and unresolved conditions serves the purpose of enhancing the body’s resourcefulness. In this way, the body’s vitality learns new responses. In traditional Chinese medicine, illness results from an imbalance or emptiness in the health and the resolution of illness is supposed to remedy that liability. Truly completing a disease process should make a person healthier than they were before.
Similar but slightly different to detoxification is the restoration of the body’s vitality after infection, injury, or ageing have left their mark. A good and highly relevant example of this is patients who have recovered from pneumonia. I have found that such people tend to experience some frailty and deeper respiratory reactions than the rest of us. But after treatment, their lungs regain their pre-pneumonic state. Ageing also taxes the vitality. There are specific herbs, homeopathic agents, and meditation practices that tonify at a deep enough level to constitute a partial rejuvenation of the body.
The same treatment that restores the lungs after pneumonia is very effective for asthma, a significant comorbidity determining the severity of a Coviod-19 infection. This is a very important point as asthma is an inflammatory condition, and much is known about the inflammatory process. I predict that understanding the role of the inflammatory response in Covid-19 will yield important insights. Conventional treatment of asthma is by suppression of the inflammatory process and this is exactly contrary to the principles I have outlined above. Suppressing a physiological response undermines the body’s natural abilities and leads to the accumulation of unresolved imbalance in the body. Ridding that build-up and teaching the body how to self-regulate is a superior form of medicine. The body’s resilience and resourcefulness are likely to directly affect how the individual responds to a novel infection.
There are two main kinds of immunity: Specific and non-specific immunity. Specific immunity is the result of previous immunological experience, including vaccination. It is a fast and targeted response mediated by memory cells in the immune system. This is an acquired response and renders an individual immune to an infection they have had in the past. It’s reminiscent to the Chinese (and Nietzschean) idea that getting sick makes you stronger. However, some specific immunity fades over time.
The other immunity is called non-specific. This system includes such diverse functions as pH balance, special proteins in the blood, and even “natural killer” cells. This is the immunity that responds to novel pathogens and can be strengthened. In fact, my professional criticism of vaccination is that the technique confers specific immunity to an identified antigen but actually weakens the non-specific immune system. Hence, a complementary approach to vaccination would include reinforcement of the non-specific immune system. Strengthening the non-specific immune system can be accomplished using certain nutrients, herbs, and homeopathic agents. And, of course, acupuncture.
A general tune-up of the body might include regulating pH, restoring a better probiotic balance in the gut, detoxifying the blood and body fluids, nourishing with essential nutrients that might be deficient, and tonifying specific aspects of the physiology, including the immune system. Research in China, after the SARS epidemic and this new coronavirus, has shown that specific herbal formulae can strengthen the immune system. Interestingly, one of the recommended classical formulae is derived from experience treating malarial symptoms, and Western anti-malarial drugs, including hydroxychloroquine, are under investigation for the treatment of Covid-19.
Additionally, specific homeopathic protocols can detoxify the body and strengthen the lungs. Some supplements, such as Zinc and Selenium, have been shown to inhibit viral infection. Probiotics, essential fatty acids, trace minerals, and regulation of the body’s pH can improve the inflammatory response.
Treatment
The infection itself can be well treated. Herbal and homeopathic remedies can be powerfully anti-viral and the treatment of pneumonia has a long history. Acupuncture is very effective in treating acute infection and respiratory distress. The great majority of people will survive Covid-19. Maximizing that percentage is one goal of treatment and another would be surviving optimally. Rest is the single most important factor. In my opinion, treating acute pneumonia involves the twin approaches of resolving the pathogenic influence and regulating the inflammatory process. This includes addressing the edema in the lungs. In the old days, people talked about catarrh. Nowadays we talk about phlegm. But many old remedies, from massage to aromatic infusions can treat catarrh. Eucalyptus oil or simple menthol might be inhaled in steam. In fact, many of the treatments for treating acute infection and pneumonia might be effective in preparing the body in advance.
Infection, and specifically Covid-19, can damage the health of the body, especially the lungs, but this damage can be mitigated. As I mentioned above, Covid-19 includes an important component of oxidative damage which can be mitigated using Vitamin C at high doses, Grape Seed Extract, Pycnogenol, and Glutathione.
Specific approaches can restore the body, as I described above in the treatment of post-pneumonic weakness. This becomes very important if an acquired immunity is short-lived and another, possibly seasonal, pandemic wave hits.
In summary
It is important to prepare for an immanent infective, inflammatory, and transformative process. External preparations might include hand washing, masks, and the maintenance of strong community. My emphasis is on preparation of the internal environment. Covid-19 can be viewed as a combination of acute viral infection and an acute inflammatory response. Preparing the body to meet those conditions is possible and recommended. Resolving the body’s unfinished processes, reducing toxic traces, and enhancing resourcefulness constitute several powerful and relevant approaches to meeting the present challenge. Whilst this generation is experiencing this crisis as a brand-new kind of event, the medicine involved is familiar and well established. Avoidance and procrastination of infection is one strategic response. Preparing the internal environment is the natural corollary to mindfulness of external conditions. This can be accomplished using a variety of approaches.
I am available for further discussion.
Best wishes and thanks
Eden