The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Covid-19 a world-wide pandemic. Many of us will eventually come down with the coronavirus called Covid-19. First, this is a brand new disease to humans and we have no natural immunity to it. Second, it’s highly contagious. From what I read, most of us (80%), will have only mild to moderate symptoms. The time it takes from exposure to symptoms is somewhere between 2 days to possible 2 weeks but typically 5 days. We can pass it on to others during the period that we have no symptoms. You can expect fever, body aches, breathlessness and a dry cough that will last a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the rest will be really sick for 3 to 6 weeks and the current estimate is 3% won’t survive. Mostly those of us that are older, those with compromised immune systems and those with chronic illnesses like diabetes fall into that category. Three percent sounds like a small number but multiply that by our population and we have a serious event. A recent news headline from an expert in the field says a worst case scenario in the U.S. would be 96 million infections and 500,000 deaths! I don’t mean to scare you but I hope this inspires you to take action.
And regardless of what you may have heard, a vaccine will not be available for at least a year and half. Presently, there are no effective drugs to treat it.
My advice is to prepare now. Get your immune system in tip top condition. Get enough rest, exercise, eat nutritious foods and avoid stress. These are pretty obvious strategies but sometimes we need to hear the obvious. Also, wash your hands a lot. No more shaking hands and high fives. Try to maintain a social distance when around a group of people, three feet minimum and some recommend 6 feet. The virus can live from 12 hours and possibly up to days on a surface like a door knob, gas pump handle or the pen at the post office. You get the idea. Disinfect surfaces with alcohol or other disinfectants. The virus can also be transmitted through the air but the CDC doesn’t recommend using face masks for those that are well. The vast majority of face masks are too porous to be of any benefit except to keep your hands away from your nose, mouth or eyes. That said a high end mask with a rating of N95 or higher is likely to work to filter the viral droplets from the air.
Keep your throat moist. Gargle often. A solution of salt in warm water will be sufficient. Drink water, a few sips every 15 minutes minimum. The virus infects the throat first. Drinking water may wash a virus down your esophagus and into your stomach where the high acidity will kill the virus instead of migrating into your lungs.
If you do come down with any illness avoid sugar. Some experts believe 1 teaspoon of sugar depresses the immune system by 50% for 4 to 6 hours!
There are a number of products that have been shown to benefit your immune system. Begin with vitamin D. I’ve been talking about this for over a decade but if you haven’t heard Vitamin D is required to activate a tenth of your genome, over 2000 genes are never expressed without an optimal amount of vitamin D. Many of those genes have to do with your immune system. The easiest way to optimize your vitamin D level is to supplement. Usually it takes 3 to 5 thousand international units per day to get into that sweet range of 50 to 80 on a blood test. If you don’t supplement with vitamin D and you come down with symptoms Life Extension recommends loading up with a dose of 50,000 IU’s the first day and then decrease the amount you take after that. Check out Life Extension for more details. Other experts recommend taking 50,000 IU’s of vitamin D for 3 consecutive days beginning at the onset of symptoms.
Other things that I keep on hand to make sure my immune system is as good as it can be are zinc acetate lozenges from life Extension foundation ( LEF.org ), Echinacea, vitamin C with bioflavonoids, vitamin A, andrographis, and astragulus. Fortunately all those and more are in one product called Viracid from Orthomolecular Products. There are a number of studies that have shown a product called Transfer Factor from Researched Nutritionals has a positive effect on our natural killer cells. These are the immune system’s first line of defense. The over the counter drug cimetidine, as well as garlic, and CoQ10 have been shown to be beneficial to our immune system. A caution is noted on the use of cimetidine, I don’t recommend a young person with a robust immune system to use it. There is a possibility it can over amp the immune system causing a cytokine storm. Think of it as causing extensive collateral damage and possibly death. The one thing I wouldn’t be without is a blend of 7 mushroom mycelia from Host Defense called Stamets 7. These mushrooms have all been shown to augment the body’s immune system by increasing the activity and impact of immune cells. Personally, I’ve already begun taking the mushroom blend, Stamets 7. A very similar product is Mycel Immune Plus from Protocol For Life Balance. Both are great. I’m able to get Stamets 7 in bulk powder form which is more economical. The rest I’ll begin at the first sign of illness or exposure.
I’ll do my best to keep Viracid, Stamets 7, Transfactor, and Vitamin D in stock at the office. I’m certain there are other natural products that positively impact your immune system. These are the ones I’m using and recommending to my family and patients. The idea is to be prepared.
If you have any questions please feel free to call me at 714 633 9532 or email me at DrCharlesHough@att.net .
Yours in good health,
Dr. Charles Hough
FDA Disclaimer . The statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these products has not been confirmed by FDA -approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
