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OK, I am going to start a thread here with some research writings and medical commentaries, working towards a proposed dietary and supplement regime for ensuring better outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Researchers can then crit the thing.
Hypokalaemia is huge in severe cases of COVID-19. So, we need potassium and magnesium (q.v. for magnesium explanation). https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_hypokalemia_in_COVID-19_patients_rcontributing_for_high_mortality_in_older_adults
The role of magnesium in treating hypokalaemia: https://twitter.com/tony_breu/status/1058413700233773056?s=19
Undesirably low serum levels of cholesterol in patients with COVID-19: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3544826
Now, statins are indicated AND contraindicated for COVID-19, depending on which scientist's musings you read. So for now, I will skip those articles.
Let's say that we'll have eggs as our staple dietary foodstuff to supply the cholesterol.
Now, the role of zinc. Similar virus, zinc has a beneficial inhibitory role: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/47794995_Zn_Inhibits_Coronavirus_and_Arterivirus_RNA_Polymerase_Activity_In_Vitro_and_Zinc_Ionophores_Block_the_Replication_of_These_Viruses_in_Cell_Culture
More tomorrow. Got to sleep now.
Meanwhile, see what else you can find on these issues, if possible with n=some statistically significant number, even if just based on case reports and not on a double-blind controlled yada yada. We're talking OTC stuff here, not scheduled medicine from Novartis.
Oh, and remind me to check out any science on COVID-19 and mitochondria, COVID-19 and thiamine and its playmates, COVID-19 and phospholipids, and COVID-19 and nitric oxide synthases. And N-acetyl-cysteine and postural drainage to reduce risk of downstream hypoxia.
I was reminded that I intended to add to this thread when I spotted this rabbithole this evening. So, let's just go back to zinc for a moment. There's a whole thread here. https://twitter.com/ChrisMasterjohn/status/1248716421112176642?s=19
Speculation on the possible benefit of thiamine supplementation to reduce the severity of COVID-19: https://www.hormonesmatter.com/covid-19-encephalitis/
A further hypothesis about the benefits of thiamine for COVID-19: https://www.hormonesmatter.com/thiamine-for-covid19/
Oh, hello. Vitamin D for surviving COVID-19. Exactly the thing that I ran out of two weeks ago because of a shortage at the pharmacy. 
(I have a prescription due to a chronic deficiency.) https://twitter.com/markoftheD/status/1251845838617350146?s=19
(I have a prescription due to a chronic deficiency.) https://twitter.com/markoftheD/status/1251845838617350146?s=19
I'm going to add two more things to this thread which are slightly off topic. They are notes about proning and kidney failure, shared by many medical professionals. I'm including these, because patients need to know what they can do for themselves if they do get sick.
I'm also going to add some information about breathing techniques which you can practice now even if you are not sick, to help you if you do get sick.
First, this picture. Some asthmatics lie like this to be able to breathe better. It also means that mucus can run in the right direction to be coughed up.
Note that in these pictures, nobody is on their back. There's a reason for that.
Just an aside... Uh... That's a pun... Some elderly people and others (including me) can't do weird twisty neckwarps like that. Our connective tissue isn't optimal for such things. Another solution is needed.
OK, now: why is keeping someone mostly on their back a bad idea if they have COVID-19, what should be done instead, and why?
Clue: Search Twitter using the search term PRONING.
Bonus question: How does proning reduce the need for respirators and ensure better outcomes for many?
Clue: Search Twitter using the search term PRONING.
Bonus question: How does proning reduce the need for respirators and ensure better outcomes for many?
Caveat: This doesn't apply to everyone, but according to emerging best practice in hospitals, it applies to MOST, and also to most people who are sick at home with COVID-19.
My uncle (a retired doctor) phoned my mother to urge us to take half a Disprin every second day to prevent embolisms in case we get COVID-19. He has been in hospital before with embolisms in his lungs (not caused by COVID-19) and said it's the worst feeling he's ever had.
Disprin is a popular aspirin tablet in South Africa.
There is now an emerging picture of COVID-19 as primarily a vascular/haematological illness, in which the respiratory symptoms are secondary rather than being the beginning of the cascade.
This view is corroborated by the Covid Toes symptom, which affects many people who don't have severe symptoms otherwise.
The pressing equipment need in many hospitals is now shifting away from ventilators towards dialysis machines.
FWIW, @ChrisMasterjohn has a regular newsletter commenting on emerging medical research on #COVID19. It's worth signing up for that. I haven't even read everything I have received from Chris yet, but I can tell you it's both rich and accessible.
A comment made by a several people who regularly write about epigenetics and molecular pathways is that because the Big Overall Disaster in COVID-19 is a cytokine storm, the focus of treatment should be to support the immune system so that it doesn't go batty, instead of...
...trying to kill the virus itself.
I will explain this later in simple layman's terms, as I understand it. This will give me an opportunity to wring my hands like a villain with a cunning plan and talk disapprovingly about that silly marketing phrase "Boost your immune system".
For now, let's first understand what a cytokine storm is. https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/health-disease/2020/what-cytokine-storm
So, a couple of points there. First let me explain why 'boosting your immune system' is nonsense. A system is an integrated union of interdependent parts. Many things work together to make it work well. You can't just 'boost' one thing and now all the other bits will work better.
You could have one bit that's gone on holiday while another bit is doing as much as it can. So, you could end up with an immune system which is not responding well enough. Or you can have an immune system which is responding too much. Both too much and too little are bad.
Sorry, I know I am jumping about here a lot, not finishing off one topic before starting another, but I just need to pop this in here... https://twitter.com/DietHeartNews/status/1258809482487795718?s=19
Links up to the mail I got yesterday as well - details here: https://twitter.com/ChrisMasterjohn/status/1258634903324954624?s=19
And you can check out the previous newsletters here. I admire this, it is hard work to read, collate and write regular blogs like this! I get that Chris is selling a book and services too, but this labour is nevertheless pretty generous. https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/covid-19/
By now, there are a lot of YouTube videos on proning for COVID-19 and other illness involving respiratory distress.
If COVID-19 causes so many "healthy" people to die thanks to a cytokine storm, surely we need to stop telling people to "BOOST your immune system" and rather to "OPTIMISE your immune system" for the situation?
Another good explanation of the cytokine storm that leads to the death of so many COVID-19 patients. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/cell-death-cytokine-storms-immune-response-battling-covid-19
A bit of lifesaving news about COVID-19 treatment... https://twitter.com/NIHRresearch/status/1272875390160289793?s=19
More people happy about that: https://twitter.com/ChildrenNeedUs_/status/1272952011177078784?s=19
It's not just a lung thing. It's all the organs, even the skin. https://twitter.com/richardhine/status/1276663642243596288?s=19
What a great article on the latest knowledge about COVID-19 prevention. An excellent basis for a training guide, training video or other citizen training initiative. I hope governments use this information in publicity campaigns and policy decisions. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-06-26-distance-dose-dispersion-an-experts-guide-on-covid-19-risks-in-south-africa-and-how-to-manage-them/
Here's an interesting one, not a home remedy, but information about what many hospitals recommend for treating #COVID19. Note that SOME of these things, such as thiamine, would be important in reducing severity in those NOT hospitalised. https://covid19criticalcare.com/treatment-protocol/
To learn more about the role of thiamine in the body, follow @ChanatLucine.
I am very relieved to know that a whole lot of these recent research-based approaches are now being used in standard COVID-19 hospital care in South Africa. Even the D-Dimer marker test. I will be less worried now if someone I know is hospitalised. https://sacoronavirus.co.za/2020/07/24/odds-of-beating-covid-19-are-much-better-now-by-dr-mark-holiday-general-practitioner-johannesburg/
I remain concerned that self-management (home treatment) regimes are not being disseminated to reduce the number of people ending up in a serious condition in hospital.
I have turned some of my learning into a video on how to treat yourself at home to reduce the severity of COVID-19. Experts can now please produce an improved version of this information for the public. https://tania.co.za/covid-19-self-treatment/
If I had to put this into polite layman's terms, I'd say this is basically a clusterfaghetti. https://twitter.com/CellPressNews/status/1291411210487975938?s=19
It looks like Vitamin K2 may benefit the lungs in COVID-19. (Research commentary by @ChrisMasterjohn) https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/covid-19/vitamin-k-and-covid-19
Vitamin D. Again! https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1296514552285331457?s=19
Low carbohydrate diet could give you a survival advantage in COVID-19, or maybe even prevent you from getting sick at all. https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/covid-19/could-sugar-intake-play-a-role-in-covid-19
There's a new hypothesis out about how COVID-19 works, and guess what! Vitamin D is still one of the most important things you need. https://elemental.medium.com/a-supercomputer-analyzed-covid-19-and-an-interesting-new-theory-has-emerged-31cb8eba9d63
Crumbs, this would make so much sense. https://twitter.com/apnoeaboy/status/1309507675147980800?s=19
OK, Vitamin D is now pretty much a front runner on the 'internal protection' side. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/26/correcting-britains-vitamin-d-deficiency-could-save-thousands/
So I am getting ready to produce an updated version of this. https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1288607511495561216?s=19
With more emphasis on this... https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1291081796084469761?s=19
...and with this and other preventative and ameliorating measures listed in order of a kind of ROI. ("What are the most effective things you can do if you don't have much money? What would be a wise way to spend your money?")
We are now getting an idea of WHY Vitamin D in high quantities makes such a difference to surviving COVID-19. COVID-19 assassinates Vitamin D... and its friends. https://medium.com/covid-19-bradykinin-hypothesis/bradykinin-hypothesis-and-clinical-results-suggest-vitamin-d-may-treat-covid-19-fd6b50833582
About the earlier post on masks and virolation, here are some reviews. https://healthfeedback.org/evaluation/telegraph-article-describing-the-hypothesis-that-face-masks-can-variolate-a-population-receives-mixed-reviews-on-its-scientific-accuracy/
Ha, interesting and not what I would have expected, given that it's a different type of virus. But the all-out bodily response hypothesis makes it sense. https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1321216948319981570?s=19
South African pharmacologist develops anti-COVID-19 drug that addresses the cytokine storm.
Effective within few days.
Trials since early 2020.
Subset of diabetic patients don't respond as well as other people.
Side effects in approx. 4% of people. https://www.iol.co.za/sunday-tribune/news/durban-professor-develops-first-anti-covid-19-drug-treatment-afdd7f8b-424c-4d53-b3f0-e461548ba832
Effective within few days.
Trials since early 2020.
Subset of diabetic patients don't respond as well as other people.
Side effects in approx. 4% of people. https://www.iol.co.za/sunday-tribune/news/durban-professor-develops-first-anti-covid-19-drug-treatment-afdd7f8b-424c-4d53-b3f0-e461548ba832
Oh, great 
...although not surprising: Pfizer vaccine currently not recommended for people with a history of significant allergic reactions to foods, medication, etc. 
Probably OK for people like me with moderate sensitivities. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-vaccine-allergic-reactions-uk-b1768530.html
...although not surprising: Pfizer vaccine currently not recommended for people with a history of significant allergic reactions to foods, medication, etc. Probably OK for people like me with moderate sensitivities. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-vaccine-allergic-reactions-uk-b1768530.html
How the Pfizer vaccine works. https://twitter.com/BBCMorningLive/status/1336970725878587392?s=19
One of my colleagues now most likely has COVID-19. She'll get her results today. I've sent her a list of vitamins meanwhile, to the best of my current knowledge.
One new set of information that's come up since I last updated this thread is Robert Miller's hypothesis.
One new set of information that's come up since I last updated this thread is Robert Miller's hypothesis.
I've read the gist in news reports; it's basically about zinc and nicotinamide/niacin (vitamin B3), and it would explains why most younger people don't get quite so badly sick.
I'm parking this here to listen to the discussion later. https://www.biznews.com/health/2020/11/08/covid-19-17
I'm parking this here to listen to the discussion later. https://www.biznews.com/health/2020/11/08/covid-19-17
Interviewer: Which celebrity would you most like to hang out with?
Me: Marian Evans, aka George Eliot.
Interviewer: She's dead, though.
Me: Oh, right. Then Robert Miller, outdoors.
(Robert is a biohacker from Cape Town. You can follow him on Twitter.) https://twitter.com/panascape/status/1312768778703458305?s=19
Me: Marian Evans, aka George Eliot.
Interviewer: She's dead, though.
Me: Oh, right. Then Robert Miller, outdoors.
(Robert is a biohacker from Cape Town. You can follow him on Twitter.) https://twitter.com/panascape/status/1312768778703458305?s=19
Super-interesting stats on infections. https://twitter.com/mvankerkhove/status/1327616581573226501?s=19
IN TODAY'S NEWS:
New version of SARS-Cov-2 in South Africa.
Spreads faster
Affects young people more severely than before.
Scientists don't yet know how effective antibodies will be.
#WearAMask 
Distance
Ensure airflow in rooms https://www.nicd.ac.za/the-emergence-of-a-mutated-sars-cov-2-lineage-in-south-africa/
New version of SARS-Cov-2 in South Africa.
Spreads faster
Affects young people more severely than before.
Scientists don't yet know how effective antibodies will be.
#WearAMask Distance Ensure airflow in rooms https://www.nicd.ac.za/the-emergence-of-a-mutated-sars-cov-2-lineage-in-south-africa/
After nearly 2 weeks (gives you an idea of the province's testing backlog!) my colleague's COVID-19 test came back negative, and she's also on the mend. It was something else—regular flu turned into bronchits or something, as a result of a compromised immune system.
The clinic doctor said she needs Vitamin D and C. (Shall I pretend to be surprised that she was deficient?) I'm pleased that this wasn't COVID-19. Long Covid is horrible. I hope she'll be more strict with distancing, masks and airflow now.
For Christmas, my mother and I have invited two guests (a relative and a friend). I'm stuffing a chicken (something I've done to date without fail). We'll be eating outdoors. Distanced. No gifts.
