just watching, and waiting,
outside my sequestered door. As the oldest in the house… for whom the bell tolls… I prefer the plaintive coos of the nesting owls in the neighboring tree.
Once I accepted the inevitability of exposure, I focused on resistance: boosting my immune system and antivirals. I’ll share what I take daily, and if anyone is aware of any reason to *not* take these in the context of coronavirus, please let me know and I’ll update. I have not had a sick day for decades, and perhaps this helped, but remember that my personal journey is not prescriptive and that none of these have been properly studied to reach any conclusions on efficacy, yet:
1) Vitamin D (+ K2 for better absorption): “Studies have indicated that there is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency worldwide. Vitamin D deficiency may affect the immune system as vitamin D plays an immunomodulation role, enhancing innate immunity by up-regulating the expression and secretion of antimicrobial peptides, which boosts mucosal defenses. Furthermore, recent meta-analyses have reported a protective effect of vitamin D supplementation on respiratory tract infections” — WHO and an apparently biased site, but some links: Vitamin D Wiki
2) Magical mushroom powder of Shitake + Maitake: “We found significant stimulation of defense reaction. In all cases, the most active was the Maitake-Shiitake combination” — NIH
3) Coconut oil: “Several in vitro, animal, and human studies support the potential of coconut oil, lauric acid and its derivatives as effective and safe agents against a virus like nCoV-2019. Mechanistic studies on other viruses show that at least three mechanisms may be operating. Given the safety and broad availability of virgin coconut oil (VCO), we recommend that VCO be considered as a general prophylactic against viral and microbial infection.” — Ateneo University
4) Zinc, short term use: “In this study we demonstrate that the combination of Zn(2+) and PT at low concentrations (2 µM Zn(2+) and 2 µM PT) inhibits the replication of SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV)” — Researchgate And some warnings about prolonged use: Oregon State
5) Oregano oil capsules: “Mexican oregano oil and its main component, carvacrol, are able to inhibit different human and animal viruses in vitro.” — NIH
And then found to be helpful with other viruses, like norovirus and herpes: “This study provides novel findings on the antiviral properties of oregano oil” — sfamjournals
6) Vitamin C: “2019-nCoV infected pneumonia, namely severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) has caused global concern and emergency. We hypothesize that Vitamin C infusion can help improve the prognosis of patients with SARI. Therefore, it is necessary to study the clinical efficacy” — Clinicaltrials
These are all inexpensive on Amazon, but if you want an even stronger placebo effect, find the most expensive version, as that is proven to work better 🙂 ScienceDaily
7) Update: I have added Quercetin. Its impact on Covid-19 has not yet been properly researched, but the basic mechanism could be similar to Chloroquine, and is an over-the-counter supplement even if you don’t have symptoms. Best with Zinc. From molecular simulation studies: “Liu et al. (2020) successfully crystallised the COVID-19 main protease (Mpro), which is a potential drug target. Quercetin… and curcumin [among others] appeared to have the best potential to act as COVID-19 Mpro inhibitors.”
8) I also take NMN + TMG and have been discussing possible downstream NAD+ / sirtuin effects on COVID-19 with David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School. As with all of these, nothing is proven; it’s just a fascinating hypothesis. The observed age effect on mortality is stark — the younger a person is, across the spectrum, the lower the death rate and hospitalization rate. Looking to NAD+ depletion as we age, and exacerbated by inflammation, perhaps it’s ultimately an energy crisis and a loss of NAD + ATP that does us in.
Snips from his recent book Lifespan:
“NAD boosts the activity of all seven sirtuins. And because NAD is used by over 500 different enzymes, without any NAD, we’d be dead in 30 seconds. NAD acts as a fuel for sirtuins. NAD levels decrease with age throughout the body. Human studies with NAD boosters (NMN and NR) are ongoing. So far, there has been no toxicity, not even a hint of it.” (p.134)
Also: “Most antiviral drugs target specific viral proteins. Consequently, they often work for only one virus, and their efficacy can be compromised by the rapid evolution of resistant variants. There is a need for the identification of host proteins with broad-spectrum antiviral functions, which provide effective targets for therapeutic treatments that limit the evolution of viral resistance. Here, we report that sirtuins present such an opportunity for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral treatments, since our findings highlight these enzymes as ancient defense factors that protect against a variety of viral pathogens.” — Researchgate
Sinclair added trimethylglycine (TMG) in a recent podcast. He also mentions not to take NMN or NR at night as they interfere with sleep.
H/T Nova Spivack for the corona-relevant links. He is maintaining a more complete list here.
“Ah, distinctly I remember
it was in the bleak December
And each separate dying ember
wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl
to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning—
little relevancy bore
For we cannot help agreeing
that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing
bird above his chamber door
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt,
and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking ‘Nevermore.’”
— Edgar Allan Poe
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