DDP Newsletter Vol. XXXVII, No. 3
After 2 years of government suppression of early treatment for COVID-19, and with world spending on COVID vaccines expected to reach $157 billion through 2025 (https://tinyurl.com/2ekbkw7w), the Biden Administration plans to invest $3 billion in an antiviral development strategy (https://tinyurl.com/dc2wrd2). Perhaps some of these agents (https://tinyurl.com/tajruwwj) will work out, but what can we do in the meantime?
There is a large body of evidence supporting hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and other agents, summarized at c19study.com. In many countries it maybe difficult to obtain HCQ or IVM owing to governmental restrictions, or in the U.S. mostly because of physicians’ reluctance to prescribe. For treatment protocols proposed by various physicians, see c19protocols.com, which also lists resources including telehealth.
A number of agents are discussed in Civil Defense Perspectives (https://tinyurl.com/34u6chjp), and in the September 2020 issue of this newsletter (https://tinyurl.com/d9k7bvev). Here are some more recent reports:
The “8th Day Therapy” is described by Dr. Shankara Chetty, a family general medical practitioner in South Africa. He observes that many of the best known early treatment protocols focus on reducing viral replication in the first few days. He emphasizes the importance of aggressively treating the second, inflammatory phase of the disease, which typically begins on day 8, even if symptoms are very mild. This approach applies to all the variants, including the “double mutant” (Delta) strain now spreading in India. He believes this phase is likely related to a hypersensitivity reaction to a previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 or a similar virus, rather than just age or presence of comorbidities. This may explain why younger people may suffer from severe disease in the second wave of the pandemic. Some may seem to have recovered completely but develop shortness of breath and oxygen desaturation on day 8 (https://tinyurl.com/fyru7b9c).
Dr. Chetty uses corticosteroids and type 1 and type 2 antihistamines, for the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, respectively. He suggests promethazine (Phenergan®) and famotidine (Pepcid®) or cimetidine (Tagamet®). Others have found diphenhydramine (Benadryl®) to be beneficial. Because of the role of mast cells, he adds a leukotriene antagonist, montelukast (Singulair®). To prevent thrombosis, he uses aspirin 325 mg daily for a month (https://tinyurl.com/nrv5z7uy).
People taking low-dose aspirin (81 mg) to prevent heart disease were found, in an Israeli study, to have a 29% lower risk of contracting COVID-19 (tinyurl.com/s53hh8um).
A nitric oxide (NO) nasal spray has been found to prevent transmission and reduce severity of COVID-19. It is made by the Canadian company SaNOtize and is approved for over-the-counter marketing in Israel and New Zealand (ibid.). This should also be effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other respiratory viruses (tinyurl.com/4ehk7phe).
Amantadine, approved for the treatment of motor symptoms in Parkinson disease and of limited use in influenza, has shown some effectiveness against COVID in a small observational study (https://tinyurl.com/hbdsey), and further study is planned.
Lysine, the “poor man’s amino acid cure,” has been used with success in a clinic in the Dominican Republic for prevention and treatment. The daily therapeutic supplement regimen for the medical staff in the Dominican Republic consisted of 2000 mg lysine capsules along with restricted dietary consumption of arginine-rich foods such as nuts, chocolate, orange juice, pumpkin, sesame seeds, and wheat germ. Lysine is also used to restrict herpes outbreaks (https://tinyurl.com/34yyavnh).
Intravenous lidocaine, because of its antagonistic effects on interleukin-1 and interleukin-6, might attenuate the intense cytokine storm in COVID (tinyurl.com/2bmnfatb).
Curcumin, a major component of turmeric, may hinder cellular entry and replication of SARS-CoV-2, help repair tissue damage, and protect against cytokine storm (https://tinyurl.com/8yxef56n). In four studies involving 281 patients, there was a pooled effect of 71% improvement (c19study.com).
CAUTION: All the above is intended for information only, for you and your trusted physician. Theoretical benefits based on laboratory experiments or basic science considerations may not prove effective in clinical practice, and all measures can have adverse effects. Studies are limited, and public health authorities generally ignore or recommend against these measures. Patients must be proactive.
THERAPEUTIC NIHILISM
As the Delta variant threatens to create a perfect storm, therapeutic nihilism—resistance to early outpatient treatment—is the official policy in many countries. Repression is perhaps fiercest in Canada. Federal and provincial heath authorities mostly preclude any form of early outpatient treatment, not just hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and ivermectin (IVM), although two drugs—inhaled budesonide and colchicine—recently found their way into some provincial-level treatment guidelines.
In Europe, only Slovakia has openly approved the use of IVM, which is prescribed off-label in a few other countries. After its approval in late January 2021, the number of daily new cases there plummeted. The Netherlands has threatened huge fines of 150,000 Euros to any doctor daring to prescribe HCQ or IVM. (See graphs at worldometers.info).
After an analysis of existing randomized trials of IVM, conducted by McMaster University in Ontario for the World Health Organization, WHO after issued a statement recommending the drug to be used only in the context of clinical trials, making it unavailable to most. The “Living Guideline” analysis shows an 80% reduction in mortality with the use of the drug for early treatment, but the Canadian researchers claimed the certainty of evidence to be “very low.” This WHO position remains in force, but Slovakia, India, Mexico, and other countries do not adhere to it. Fortunately, the Indian government resisted calls by the WHO to withdraw the drug from the market.
The Delta variant, which is extremely transmissible, spread like wildfire in India. There was a huge spike in cases in late March and April, with a sharp, much less publicized 67% decline in new daily cases in less than a month, likely due to early treatment and prophylaxis. India’s rate of full vaccination is only 3% (https://tinyurl.com/4p6y9dna).
The Indian Bar Association is suing WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, accusing her in a 71-point brief of causing harm to Indian citizens by misleading them about IVM. It argued that she had used her position as a health authority to further the agenda of special interests to maintain an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the lucrative vaccine industry. Point 52 reads, “It seems you have deliberately opted for deaths of people to achieve your ulterior goals, and this is sufficient grounds for criminal prosecution against you” (https://tinyurl.com/42zrepek).