Doctors for Disaster Preparedness Newsletter | Vol. XXXVI, No. 5
No, Doctors for Disaster Preparedness does not recommend do-it-yourself medicine.
You should have a physician who knows you and is available to advise you—confidentially. Fewer and fewer people are so fortunate. Most are enrolled in a “health plan” and have an assigned “healthcare provider.” Even if the provider has an M.D., evaluation and management may be determined by the drop-down menus in the electronic health record. The EHR will follow you everywhere, tracking your history and compliance—some even have electronic “sticky notes” to flag potentially disruptive patients who have a politically incorrect attitude.
Corporate medicine has been adamantly opposed to early home treatment of COVID-19, and employed physicians deviate from that policy at their peril. Hospitals, clinics, and most of “organized medicine,” including the AMA and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), will cite “the science” as determined by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The NIH funds research—it is not supposed to produce guidelines or to direct physicians’ practice. But suddenly it does—or constrains practice and makes therapeutic nihilism the presumed “standard of care” for COVID.
Only in December did NIH revise its treatment guidelines from doing nothing in non-hospitalized patients to mentioning neutralizing antibodies available through an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), while stating that “there are insufficient data to recommend either for or against” them (https://tinyurl.com/y64horcu). On Jan 14, 2021, it updated its “do not recommend” for ivermectin to neutral, same as for the antibodies, possibly because of testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (https://tinyurl.com/yyqx7rsv).
Physicians who actually treat patients have developed a number of protocols, some of which are compiled at c19protocols.com. A Grand Rounds presentation that was censored by a major health system is made available to the public by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (tinyurl.com/y29fco6w or tinyurl.com/yxqx5r9y).
You need a physician’s prescription for hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, steroids, antibiotics, or colchicine. If your “provider” declines to prescribe, some resources to find a physician are also at c19protocols.com.
OVER-THE-COUNTER PREVENTIVES AND REMEDIES
In addition to the nutraceuticals mentioned in the May 2020 issue and in Civil Defense Perspectives, March 2020, a number of other measures have been suggested. If new viral mutants proliferate, these preparations may become harder to find than toilet paper. This material is presented for information only. It is not intended as medical advice. Try to find a physician you can trust.
Nigella sativa (black cumin seeds) and honey improved symptoms, viral clearance, and mortality in a randomized study of 313 patients with moderate or severe COVID-19 in Pakistan (tinyurl.com/yy26f6su). One can currently buy Nigella by the pound or grow it in the backyard in a suitable climate.
Iodine is the most effective and benign disinfectant, both externally and internally. In a Bangladeshi randomized controlled trial with 606 subjects, the use of 1% povidone iodine in eye/nose drops and mouth gargle reduced COVID-19 hospitalizations by 84% and mortality by 88% (https://tinyurl.com/y6lzf37u).
In 1945, studies showed that painting the snout of mice with iodine solution prior to exposure protected them from a lethal mist of influenza virus (tinyurl.com/y5rkvmgb).
Molecular iodine could be a game changer in dentistry (tinyurl.com/y357v5d4) because of its activity against viruses, bacteria, fungi, and spores. Oral rinses are now available. Unlike other agents, iodine does not induce microbial resistance. There is a nasal spray (e.g., ioMist™) that disinfects areas unreachable by gargling. One dental office pours unscented mouthwash (ioRinse™) into a standard scent diffuser (tinyurl.com/yd7zupw7).
Before antibiotics and Big Pharma emerged after World War II, potassium iodide (KI) was widely used for many infections. “The recommended dose of potassium iodide to treat infectious diseases varies from 4 to 6 g/day or 6 to 7.5 g/day for adults, depending on the scientific reference. The pediatric dose is about half or a third of the adult dose,” write Costa et al. (An Bras Dermatol 2013;88(3):396-02, tinyurl.com/y34pwksk). From the current perspective these doses are massive, and may need to be ramped up gradually.
Iodine has been used in the treatment of malaria, kala-azar, smallpox (Indian Medical Gazette, July 1923), and tuberculosis (JAMA 1892, tinyurl.com/y5zdovsd). In the 1957 influenza pandemic in India, painting throats with Mandl’s paint (I2 + KI) reduced transmission. In severe cases, “1-3 doses of 10 ml of colloidal iodine were generally administered intravenously. In several such cases, treatment was followed by a rapid drop in temperature and the disappearance of toxaemia” (https://tinyurl.com/yxbqe9kk).
Xylitol, a naturally occurring alcohol, in a nasal spray combined with grapefruit seed extract, can significantly reduce the titer of SARS-CoV-2 and may reduce the spread of respiratory viruses, including future influenza outbreaks (tinyurl.com/y25ezuxv). Xlear™ is available OTC. Xylitol also has anti-inflammatory properties (tinyurl.com/y2yd2mp3).
Carrageenan, a common food additive, mimics cell surface proteoglycans, thereby trapping the virus to allow mucociliary clearance. It has demonstrated antiviral activity in vitro and in several common cold clinical trials when administered as a nasal spray. A clinical trial in COVID-19 is underway (https://tinyurl.com/y4b775zg).
Melatonin, often used as a sleep aid, appears to be protective against acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) because of its anti-inflammatory effects (tinyurl.com/175h380z). It may also help to prevent transmission. In a Cleveland Clinic observational study that used propensity scores from 26,799 individuals in a COVID-19 registry, which considered 34 repurposable drugs with their reported antiviral profiles, it was found that melatonin usage was associated with a 28% and 52% reduced likelihood of a positive laboratory test result for SARS-CoV-2 in the combined population and in black Americans, respectively, after adjusting for age, sex, race, smoking, and various disease comorbidities (tinyurl.com/1ifpeouv). Melatonin is produced by our own bodies. See I-MASK+ at c19protocols.com.
Aspirin is recommended to help prevent blood clots; early observations suggest that it decreases ICU admission and mortality (https://tinyurl.com/y5awaxdu).
This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Ask your doctor. What advice does he give patients for prevention, and what will he do for you if you test positive or become ill with COVID? Have a back-up plan.
DDP, 1601 N. Tucson Blvd. Suite 9, Tucson, AZ 85716, 520.325.2680, www.ddponline.org. Follow us on Twitter @d4dp.