Things are heating up concerning the spread of the Covid virus with the unfolding of the omicron variant.  It appears to be spreading much faster than the previous variants.  A few days ago the CDC reported 1 million new cases in one day.  Fortunately, this variant appears to be milder than earlier versions with few people having to go to the hospital.  This is fairly typical for most viruses.  As the target population (us) becomes more resistant to the dominant version of a virus, the variants mother nature generates are able to get a foothold and start spreading.  Mathematically, weaker versions of the virus that don't kill the host or make it really sick are more likely to increase the spread of the virus.  Our bodies serve as baby nurseries for the virus, and they don't want to kill the nursery.  They want to reproduce and yet keep us healthy enough to run around and spread the baby viruses to everyone we come in contact with.

This is what appears to be happening with the omicron Covid virus.  It is approaching that sweet spot where it is able to achieve maximum spread by infecting us just enough to make us into super-spreaders by leaving us okay enough to get out and give the virus contact with new human bodies to turn into baby nurseries.  That being said, it is likely that most people will become infected with this latest omicron virus.  This was brought to my attention when my cousin's husband recently got Covid even though he was fully vaccinated.  Interestingly, some reports are showing more vaccinated folks are contracting the new omicron variant than unvaccinated.  There are many theories as to why including that the vaccinated are getting out and about more because they believe that their vaccination protects them from getting the virus.  This is not true and has never been true.  We were told from day one that the vaccinations would not protect us from getting the virus, but that the vaccinations would help keep us from dying from the effects of the spike protein carried by the virus.  

The genetic structure of Covid has 29,811 nucleotides coding for 29 different proteins.  When you get a natural Covid infection, your immune system will attack as many of those proteins as possible and develop antibodies for them.  Currently, folks that got Covid in the early days are still showing active antibodies 15 months later.  The modern Covid “vaccinations” only trigger immune proteins against the original spike protein.  That is why variants are such a problem.  A variant is a virus that has changed one of its proteins, giving it new properties.  A full spectrum set of antibodies from a natural infection will still take out a variant by attacking some of the other proteins in the variant that are the same as the original type you got infected with.  At this time the only people that are safe to be around are those that have actually gotten infected by Covid in the past.  They have the full spectrum viral antibodies that will keep them from getting a new Covid variant infection.  Folks that have only gotten the shot only have the spike protein antibodies and therefore easily become carriers of new variants. Because of their belief in their immunity, they actually become more dangerous than unvaccinated folks that are still hiding indoors and limiting contact with others.

Since I believe it is likely that this new omicron variant will gradually spread through most of the population, I thought that having some idea of how to treat this virus at home would be a good idea.  Many of my patients tell me they are ready because they have one medicine or another, but as with most of life, the treatment is more complex than that.  Covid is a three-phase disease and needs to be treated three different ways – the beginning, middle, and end-stage all need different treatment strategies.

Before we consider treatment for an actual infection, we first want to look at how to build your immune strength to hopefully keep you from getting the bug in the first place.  Low vitality due to advanced age is the biggest factor in dying from a Covid infection (or any infection really).  Here we look at the other three main considerations that have been derived from looking at what factors are common in those getting serious earlier versions of the virus.  Here are the three modifiable biggies: 

1. Low vitamin D levels – so take lots of vitamin D3 or correct sun exposure. Ideally, get your D levels checked in your next blood test.  You want levels over 60ng/dl.  Vitamin D needs cofactors with it – vitamin K2, omega 3 oils, magnesium, boron, zinc, silica, and sunlight when available. 
2. Metabolic syndrome – if you have any diabetes, pre-diabetes, your waist is bigger than your hips, or you are more than 20 pounds overweight then get on a low carbohydrate diet to reverse this.  Eliminate sugar, simple carbs, and vegetable oils.  Strangely, real honey seems to be okay.
3. Low intracellular zinc – good zinc levels inside your cells keep viruses from replicating.  Take a zinc test (we offer them for free in the office).

Masks do not protect you at all so don't act like they will.  Masks protect others from you by limiting your droplet spread.  It is now understood that Covid is like every other virus and is spread by airborne aerosols.  Getting a sense of what that means requires doing some math.  I did that math to give you a visual of the result: imagine the pores in your mask were the size of your front door.  Covid particles would then be the size of a tennis ball passing through the door.  To quote a major virologist from Stanford, “If the pores in a mask were small enough to stop a virus, you would quickly suffocate to death.”

So much for preventing yourself from getting the bug in the first place.  What can you do if you get Covid? 
Covid 19 has three phases:  the viral phase (days 1-5), the inflammation phase (days 5-10), and the hyper-inflammation/clotting phase (days 10 -20).  How much of this you go through and how bad symptoms might get are entirely dependent on the strength and character of your immune system.  Some people get no symptoms at all and have no problems later, while others will die within a week or two.  Many people are showing long-term symptoms (now called long covid) due to the inflammation and clotting phases not completely resolving.  Approximately 99% of people getting Covid recover, and 90% of those who die are over 80 and already have metabolic or lung issues.  So right out the gate, your chances of dying of Covid are the same as your chances of dying in an auto accident – far less if you are healthy. 

At-home care:

First, tools you should have:  a thermometer, a pulse oximeter, and a nebulizer.

Covid comes on like most flu bugs, so if you feel flu-ish take your temperature.  Around 80% of Covid cases have a loss of smell or taste, otherwise, Covid feels much like any other flu initially.  The serious phase happens when clots start forming in your lungs and you can't breathe easily.  Use the pulse oximeter to check your oxygen levels.  If you are consistently below 92 to 94, you need some help – call your doctor.  Steroids and blood thinners may be in order as well as antiviral medications.

Most at-home treatment protocols I have seen start treating all three phases of the disease from day one (here is one).  You should already be on immune support in the form of 5000iu of vitamin D2 daily, 15 to 30 mg of zinc, 1000mg vitamin C, 400mg of magnesium, quercetin to help get the zinc into the cells, and a good multivitamin daily.  The first place Covid infects is the sinuses and lungs, so breathing in colloidal silver or 1% hydrogen peroxide from a nebulizer is indicated.  Both thyme oil and eucalyptus oil kill Covid, so Grandma's old remedy of Vicks Vaporub mixed with a bit of thyme oil around the nostrils and throat may be very helpful.  An antiviral nasal rinse like the one I have in the office can also be very useful.  Even classic style Listerine as a mouth wash is helpful (yeah the nasty tasting one).

Systemic anti-virals are indicated, and some research has been done with traditional herbal antivirals against Covid.  One which has been researched and found to be quite effective is andrographis (link), a traditional Ayurvedic remedy, so I would include it from day one.  Other positively useful herbs are marsh mallow, myrrh, licorice, ivy, and elderberry.   A  safe medical antiviral (if you can get it) is ivermectin as it is also used as a common anti-parasitic medicine.  Doxycycline is an old-school antibacterial drug that also has antiviral properties that you might be able to get from your doctor.

Inflammation is a major component of Covid that must be addressed.  In its worst form, the inflammation forms what is called a cytokine storm, which can kill you if it gets too severe.  My go-to anti-inflammatories are curcumin, luteolin, resveratrol, Andrographis, allicin (from garlic), and eugenol (from clove oil) to fight the cytokine storm plus CBD, omega 3 oils, and for a short time ibuprofen or aspirin for other inflammation symptoms.  An interesting possibility is 5 to 10 mg of melatonin at night.  Melatonin appears to be a major anti-inflammatory in the body.  If things get serious then the biggest anti-inflammatory is a steroid drug like prednisone or dexamethasone, which you will need to get through your doctor.  For a detailed coverage of natural ways to calm the cytokine storm  check out this excellent paper in Frontiers in Pharmacology in ethnopharmacology.  Here

Super important is to start on anti-coagulant therapy.  Many of the biggest problems with Covid come from the micro blood clots it forms.  Traditional therapy would be a baby aspirin daily, but I prefer fibrinolytic enzymes like nattokinase or lumbrokinase.  Again in serious situations, the docs have even more powerful drugs like heparin.  I would start the enzymes immediately even though the phase for clotting generally starts at around 10 days because my information is based on how the original Covid was working.  The newest variants may work differently.

So, that covers the basis for at-home treatment of Covid.  You want to address the initial infection phase with antiviral treatments to the sinuses and lungs.  You want to calm the inflammation and cytokine storm phase with substances that tune this down.  And you want to keep those nasty blood clots from forming during the last phase.  At each step along the line, you want to be checking your temperature and blood oxygen to make sure that you do not need emergency medical treatment.  If you are having difficulty breathing or other symptoms get too severe then it is time to get on board with calling your medical doctor and taking more powerful drugs to control these issues.

The vast majority of you will be able to handle getting Covid just like any other flu by staying at home, having plenty of rest, fluids, and the use of supports like I mentioned in this article.  A few of you will need medical intervention.  If you fall into the latter category, please get the help you need.

Take care,

David   
 

 "Your life is not measured by the amount of work you do but by the amount of service you give."
    David  

Ellen update:   

Last week we showed Ellen pumping iron while in her wheelchair to keep up strength in her arms.  Normal wheelchairs with big wheels will do this for you, but when one side of your body does not work and you can only push from one side, those type of chairs only make you go around in circles.  Use it or lose it is the rule in the body so Ellen does many different exercises.  I work her out for half an hour every morning, then during the day she will exercise her legs on this pedal exerciser plus challenge her muscles on our vibration plate.