CAN CERTAIN PILLS HELP YOU AVOID THE CORONAVIRUS?

Now that most of you are safely hunkered down, as I am, are there pills you can take to further protect yourself?  You know that a vaccine is at least six months away, and probably longer.  So what do you do now?

If you have COVID-19 the following seems to have helped:

• HIV meds with Tamiflu (oseltamivir) have worked in Thailand.  Once #2 to China in number of cases, there was a stabilization.  However, just over the past day or two there has been an upsurge in new infections.  But only one person has died of this ailment in the country.

• China is using "old" SARS and MERS medication (both are also caused by a type of coronavirus).  An experimental antiviral, remdesivir, manufactured by Gilead Sciences, has shown some promise.  This medication also worked in the State of Washington.

But the great majority are people like us, still healthy and wondering if there is something we can take to AVOID the infection.  At our 15 Craigside dinner table last night, which included one physician, Umcka and Airborne were recommended, not necessarily for COVID-19, but as a remedy for treating colds, so that we can keep reasonably healthy.

Airborne was concocted by Victoria Knight-McDowell, a former elementary school teacher from Spreckels, California.  Back in the 1990's she took four years to create a formula using 17 herbal, mineral and vitamin supplements.  

The primary component is vitamin C, but also Vitamins A and E; forsythia (that bright yellow flower you see on the roadside during the spring), ginger and other extracts; and magnesium, zinc (not a significant amount), selenium, manganese, sodium and potassium.  By 2000 many pharmaceutical chains carried the pill, and in 2004 they hit annual sales of $90 million.  Kidney failure has been a problem.  Here is a full story.

There has been no medical testing because Airborne is a dietary supplement and not a drug.  No serious studies support this pill's effectiveness.  The Federal Trade Commission accused the company of false advertising.  Airborne Health paid a $30 million settlement.

At Shopjet you can get a one-time buy of 30 pills for $16.64.  Further, 2,160 tablets costs $1286.60, about the same price/pill.  Touted is Vitamin C and not zinc.

Umcka (Pelargonium sidoides) is a germanium plant native to South Africa, and is an abbreviation of umckaloabo.  While studies are sketchy, existing research indicates that it:

• is better than a placebo for respiratory tract infections
• more effective than a placebo for people with acute rhinosinusitis, if taken for 22 days

• appears to be better than a placebo for patients with acute bronchitis
• has side effects of liver injury, allergic reactions and gastrointestinal upset
• dangerously interacts with warfarin and aspirin
• is important that you first consult with your healthcare provider before taking this pill
• Amazon sells 60 tablets of Umcka for $12

What about Vitamin C?  This will totally surprise adherents, but valid studies show no positive influence regarding cold prevention or symptom reduction.  Everything you read is hype.  Watch out for the 2,000 mg pill, for that raises your risk of kidney stones.

Zinc does help treat, but NOT prevent, colds.  Taking zinc pills within 24 hours, continuing daily, may help shorten sniffles.  However, there seems to be some recomendation inconsistencies warranting your attention.  Including the zinc you get from what you eat, the upper intake level for adults is 40 mg/day.  However, those zinc lozenge directions indicate taking them every one to two hours while awake every day you show symptoms, and these tablets each have from 4 mg to 24 mg.  Clearly, work this out with your doctor first.

Someone sent me something from a Dr. Larry.  He says, to PREVENT getting COVID-19, yes, PREVENT getting the coronavirus:

• Stay away from sugar and refined starches.  Avoid fried stuff.  Something about they all being virus-friendly.  Unfortunately, that's  not an insignificant part of my diet.  However, this makes sense.

• Eat live foods like vegetables, nuts and beans.  Okay, I'm doing this already.
• Vitamins D3 and C prevent viral infections.  Yeah, but see the above about Vitamin C.  Plus, I go golfing, regarding the D3.  If you're in-hiding at home and never actually get into sunlight, you might consider this pill, especially if you're taking ten more of them anyway.

• Colloidal silver is a proven antiviral.  Combined with Oregano oil, especially good for preventing viral respiratory infections.  Contact him for more info.  However, several exposes have cited colloidal silver as fake news regarding prevention of COVID-19.  Forbes rates colloidal silver as right up there with snake oil.

• His favorite antiviral herb is Astragalus membranaceus.  He likes the 2000 mg capsule by We Like Vitamins.  I don't think much of antiviral herbs, and so do others.
• How to reach him?
• 808 732 7717
• cech@pixi.com

I don't know Dr. Larry.  He could well be a respected doctor in Hawaii, but I couldn't find him in my computer search.  Nationally, naturopaths (Dr. Larry is one of them) are usually fake doctors in white coats.  According to that article from Forbes, naturopathy is not medicine or science, but more akin to religion.  But here is an interesting statistic:  the World Health Organization estimates that up to 80% of the world population use holistic naturopathic medicine as a primary form of health care.  Just about the same percentage of Americans who believe in an afterlife.

Getting back to reality, the simple truth is that there is no pill nor vaccine to help prevent COVID-19.  Keep your immune system healthy by eating well, frequently washing your hands, avoid touching your face, staying at least 6 feet away from anyone and everything else Dr. Anthony Fauci (who is 79 and was born nearly four months after me) says, carefully avoiding anything President Donald Trump mouths.  Nah, he is now coming around.

I might take a chance and play poker tonight (where there is considerable coughing and we sit right next to each other), but, having been sensitized by COVID-19, looking at the survival statistics, I'm actually wondering if I should drive anymore.  Why?  

• The first coronavirus case in China was exactly four months ago, 17 November 2019.  
• As of this morning, there were around 7000 deaths, infecting a number approaching 200,000 worldwide.  That's 57 killed per day.  

• Every DAY, 3287 people die in traffic accidents.  That's 401,014 deaths on the road the past four months.  Plus another 16.7 million injuries.
• I have not driven in five days.  I'm running out of fine cuisine options, so will take a chance and shop tomorrow.

Here is a new table I found (as of 16March2020):

COUNTRY     TOTAL DEATHS              NEW DEATHS
                                                               (past 24 hours)
World                       6603                               855
China                       3218                                 14
Italy                         1809                                368
Iran                            853                               245
Spain                         288                               152
France                       127                                 36
South Korea               75                                    0
U.S.                            41                                    0
U.K.                           35                                   14
Japan                         24                                    2
Netherlands               20                                    8
Switzerland               13                                     2
Germany                   12                                     4
Philippines                12                                     6

Here's my analysis.  Europe is a problem area.  United States...no new deaths?  If you watch television, now that everyone else has panicked, politicians are now catching this virus.  The Senate will pass the first phase pandemic recovery act, probably tonight.

Even President Trump is talking about the problem hanging in there until the the Fall.  Some are even suggesting that if there is a peaking in the early summer, the corona virus will likely return in the Fall, so we should build those new coronavirus treatment hospitals and have factories crank out as many respirators as possible.  Also, manufacture face masks in the country.  Have available a billion of them, especially for health care workers.  BUT ZERO NEW DEATHS FROM YESTERDAY?  Of course there will be more COVID-19 deaths in the USA.  But zero deaths for a whole day in this critical decision-making period.  Makes you wonder whether this is just remarkably lucky day, or, maybe, this pandemic will not be all that ghastly.

So, aside from possibly losing your job and worse, what is the one issue of the day worthy of further comment?  I'm okay with toilet paper now, paying a princely sum to Amazon.  But there is a world-wide shortage, and getting worse.  So let me close with this cartoon sent by a good friend.






















Oh, if they named a day after me, the least I can do is acknowledge St. Patrick's Day:

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