COVID FEAR

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 00:38:00 +0000

mwcf - gotta beware the fat anesthesiologist

Check out the section entitled Vitamin D, obesity and type II diabetes (obesity leads to Vitamin D deficiency but not the reverse).
This speaks to George's post.
[vitamindwiki.com]

Overview Obesity and Vitamin D
[vitamindwiki.com]

[www.upsbatterycenter.com]

From Mexico

[mexicobariatriccenter.com]
I would venture to say that most if not all of the 49 individuals with normal BMI had one or more of - elderly, Vit D deficiency, diabetes, hypertension

From UK

[i.dailymail.co.uk]

Re: COVID FEAR

GeorgeN — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 17:56:52 +0000

More on BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) groups, COVID & vitamin D. If you are in the BAME group, or have friends who are, please pass this on!.

One of the articles mentioned in the link:

There has been another result from the Far East, this time from Singapore. In this study patients on admission to hospital with Covid-19 were randomly allocated to standard treatment or standard treatment plus treatment with a combination of Vitamin D, Magnesium, and Vitamin B12. Those on just the standard treatment had a significant disadvantage as judged by deterioration and need for oxygen therapy.

Separately, I look at the root cause of many of the comorbidities as hyperinsulinemia. May be undiagnosed in the severe COVID cases who don't have comorbidities. DiNicolantonio and others describe Joseph Krafts work in this review article. [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Re: COVID FEAR

mwcf — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 10:13:56 +0000

Quote
GeorgeN

I've also listened to analyses suggesting there may be a material portion of the population with some kind of preexisting immunity.

That would probably include me as I barely noticed anything with Covid 19 - just a slightly sore throat, a bit of mild conjunctivitis, slight nausea - just like I was coming down with something but in the end didn't.

As such, I'm guessing that for me an antibody test would come up showing I didn't have it as I had some kind of immunity already and/or wasn't ill enough to actually produce enough antibodies to show up on an antibody test?

PS I definitely had it - even though not tested for it at the time - as my partner (a surgeon - who caught it off her anaesthatist - an obese chap who really was very ill with it but came through OK) had it for 10 days and I lived with (and slept with) her throughout her illness so there's no way I wasn't highly exposed to what is undoubtedly a VERY contagious virus.

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 06:30:13 +0000

I inadvertently posted the racial breakdown for vitamin D for US women (no offense intended) instead of for US adults in general.

[www.grassrootshealth.net]

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 02:24:20 +0000

For many years I toured the local high schools and intermediate schools spreading the gospel of a healthy lifestyle - no smoking, plenty of exercise, and good nutrition. This I did even though it threatened my livelihood as a pathologist (ha ha). I had several buckets of human hearts, lungs, brains,.. that functioned as props and really got their attention. At that time smoking was the number one cause of death, at least in the first world. It has since been displaced by obesity.
I decided to take the COVID bull by the horns graphically to underscore its insignificance and to shift your attention to health matters of greater concern.

[www.antiagemedical.com]

[mdedge-files-live.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com]

[mdedge-files-live.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com]

First of all, if you combine hypertension, a vascular disease, with cardiovascular disease, CVD becomes the top comorbidity. Actually it's probably no. 2, as the age comorbidity is not listed. Not sure where the "toxic male" comorbidity fits in, but ...
Secondly notice that the above graph does not mention the obesity comorbidity. This is probably due to the fact that obesity is closely linked to the other comorbidities. Furthermore classifying obesity (BMI > 30) as a comorbidity is politically incorrect, although perhaps not as bad as calling a person who menstruates a woman.
But plenty in the overweight category (25-30 BMI) have no other comorbidities.
[theredelephants.com]

Compare the above graph with that repeated below.
[www.grassrootshealth.net]

Obesity and Vitamin D deficiency are not only linked by ethnicity, but by the COVID. The increased skin pigmentation in blacks and Hispanics compromises production of the active form of vitamin D.
[vitamindwiki.com]
To further discourage your interest I decided to overload you with more graphs.
[paulkbuller.files.wordpress.com]

[www.prestonoralsurgery.com]

If you’re overweight, take charge.
[d.ibtimes.co.uk]

[image.slidesharecdn.com]

Don't be afraid of the COVID. Use it to incentivize yourself.

Re: COVID FEAR

wolfpack — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 03:33:33 +0000

So it seems my 1x/day supplementation of 2000 IU is pretty much the low end! I do take 400mg C and 800mg Mg bisglycinate daily, so hopefully that helps. Also K2-MK7 and B12.

Re: COVID FEAR

GeorgeN — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 02:25:35 +0000

Quote
PC, MD
But wearing when one alone in the car or while walking outside in a gentle breeze

My understanding of the data for the benefit of wearing a non-medical mask is it helps protect those around you, if you happen to be someone who is asymptomatically sick and shedding virus through droplets (if you are sick and symptomatic, you should be at home). It really doesn't do a lot to protect you. My understanding is if north of 40% of people wear masks in, especially indoor, situations where they are around others, there starts to be benefits to the group. This benefit will increase until you reach about 80% of people wearing masks.

One of the worst situations would be going to church choir practice. A confined space for a long time with quite a few people that are singing - therefore putting more droplets in the air. This could be contrasted with going to a grocery store, where you spend little time around any one person.

I've also listened to analyses suggesting there may be a material portion of the population with some kind of preexisting immunity. In my state, CO, the deaths are about 1/7th of what they were at the peak and positive PCR test results are now running at about 2%. This is happening even though the state is "opening up" quite a bit. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 22:29:57 +0000

😎🤙🏽
Thank you Jackie
The Covid fear out there is incredible, it’s unbelievable.
I can understand wearing a mask when you won’t be allowed in the store otherwise. But wearing when one alone in the car or while walking outside in a gentle breeze is akin to a guy wearing a condom when sleeping alone to prevent impregnation.
The above charts include many people with all sorts of comorbidities.
JUST TAKE YOUR D3!

Re: COVID FEAR

Jackie — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 21:52:51 +0000

Thanks, PC - I circulated those charts today to friends who are not afibbers but are interested in maintaining important key that help keep us healthy. Excellent report. Glad you posted it here.

Be well,
Jackie

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 20:07:46 +0000

Aloha,
Many of you have probably OD'd on the D discourse. This post will probably ensure that.
The below charts are from this article. Don't overlook the last one.

[shazidamain.com] (June 15, 2020)

[shazidamain.com]

[shazidamain.com]

[shazidamain.com]

Re: COVID FEAR

The Anti-Fib — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 10:24:23 +0000

Do you happen to have a ferritin level?

I only had that tested once, back in 2013, it was 143.

Re: COVID FEAR

GeorgeN — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 13:01:16 +0000

Quote
The Anti-Fib
What elevation do you live at?

About 2200 ft

I assume your hemoglobin and hematocrit levels are normal?

Hemoglobin has been running 50.3 - 51.7 Quest range 38.5 - 50
Hematocrit has been running 17.1 - 17.8 Quest Range 13.1 - 17.2

Hemoglobin & hematocrit are pretty high. Do you happen to have a ferritin level? I'm wondering if your iron level is high - not from an SpO2 perspective - but from a too much iron perspective. If ferritin is > 100, you might consider donating blood.

2200' (670m) would not have a big impact (bands are 95% confidence interval, x axis is in meters)

Re: COVID FEAR

The Anti-Fib — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 07:19:39 +0000

What elevation do you live at?

About 2200 ft

I assume your hemoglobin and hematocrit levels are normal?

Hemoglobin has been running 50.3 - 51.7 Quest range 38.5 - 50
Hematocrit has been running 17.1 - 17.8 Quest Range 13.1 - 17.2

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 02:32:55 +0000

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 16:08:12 +0000

Aloha Anti,

If you're not short of breath at 92, the reading is artifactual.

Furthermore, spO2 decreases with age and a reading of 95 is OK

Mine jumped around a bit too initially. So be sure you

1) don't move your finger during the reading
2) insert your index finger all the way (I even spread the spring a little to fit it in more)
3) fingernail on same side as the monitor
4) keep your finger lower than your heart to make sure there’s good perfusion

Whatever it says in the first 10 seconds is probably correct.

How could you get a good rating of 96 at any time if you have a problem? So don’t worry.

Re: COVID FEAR

GeorgeN — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 13:00:18 +0000

Quote
The Anti-Fib
My SPO2 levels for the last 10 weeks are 92 sitting in a chair or lying down, and 95-96 moving around. Is that normal?

What elevation do you live at? SpO2 does drop with elevation. I live at 5,500' and a 93 reading is common. Though I can also have readings of 98.

I assume your hemoglobin and hematocrit levels are normal?

I'm helping a friend who has been having SpO2 in the 80's after she recently moved to 9,100'. Below is the text of an email I sent to her.

=============================================================

The thing that stood out for me was that your SpO2 improved with some exercise. Not surprising that it would decline with more intense work.

Since I've not been around you to observe, I'm just going to make some assumptions and you can see if they apply.

I would suggest always nasal breathing. This will direct your breath to the lowest lobes of your lungs. Breathe diaphragmatically - deeply in the sense of into the lowest lobes, but not in the sense of a large quantity of breath. Per the Bohr effect, you are trying to conserve CO2, so don't want to over-breathe. You might even try this with your monitor on, on your back with your hand on your belly, focusing on making sure the diaphragm is moving. Then see what happens to your SpO2. There is much better O2 exchange in the lowest lobes.

If you are exercising and feel you need to breathe through your mouth, just slow down.

Again, having more CO2 will allow your body to use the O2 that you do have more effectively.

You may want to consider taping your mouth shut at night. I know this sounds odd, I've done it for quite a few years. Many others in the health/longevity space do as well. This is tape for that purpose.

[correctbreathing.com]

This is a book by breathing instructor Patrick McKeown [www.snoring.ie] that will give a background into the CO2 concepts.

So with this podcast with UK doc, Rangan Chattergee & McKeown [drchatterjee.com]

McKeown's more recent book, Oxygen Advantage, goes into even more detail. [www.amazon.com]

For even more explorations of breathing, James Nestor's very recent book gives even more detail. [www.amazon.com]

So, in summary, try to always direct your breath to your lowest lobes by breathing through your nose and diaphragmatically, but easily so as to conserve CO2.

A way to help doing this at night is by taping your mouth shut. I can monitor heart rate patterns over night with an ECG level heart rate monitor. I could see apnea patterns in these data. When I started taping, the apnea patterns went away. I also thought I was getting poor sleep when I was spending the night in the 7-10,500' range. Again, after taping, sleep improved.

Re: COVID FEAR

The Anti-Fib — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 05:35:06 +0000

My SPO2 levels for the last 10 weeks are 92 sitting in a chair or lying down, and 95-96 moving around. Is that normal?

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Sun, 07 Jun 2020 16:31:26 +0000

George has plenty of great advice.

I might add that DIC is caused by the secondary bacterial infection that often follows in the wake of the COVID pneumonia. It played a big role in the Spanish pandemic of 1918.
That's why the initial Lancet protocol recommended Zithromax (azithromycin), an antibacterial.

It is critical in my approach
[www.afibbers.org]

Re: COVID FEAR

GeorgeN — Sat, 06 Jun 2020 13:39:03 +0000

One thing else I do is take a large amount of Vitamin K2 as Koncentrated K with 5 mg of K1, 25 mg of K2-MK4 and 0.5 mg of K2-MK7.

Saw this article today.

"Patients who have died or been admitted to intensive care with Covid-19 have been found to be deficient in a vitamin found in spinach, eggs, and hard and blue cheeses, raising hopes that dietary change might be one part of the answer to combating the disease.

Researchers studying patients who were admitted to the Canisius Wilhelmina hospital in the Dutch city of Nijmegen have extolled the benefits of vitamin K after discovering a link between deficiency and the worst coronavirus outcomes."

“I have worked with a Japanese scientist in London and she said it was remarkable that in the regions in Japan where they eat a lot of natto, there is not a single person to die of Covid-19; so that is something to dive into, I would say.”

Go Dean & Colindo with your natto!!

Re: COVID FEAR

GeorgeN — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 19:39:30 +0000

Quote
PC, MD
3) consider an anti platelet med at each step, esp if in the ICU to avoid the coffin (follow DIC risk with lab hs CRP, D-dimer levels)

Though I didn't comment on it in my link above, I was thinking about hypercoagulability with a number of my interventions.

KAATSU users in an inpatient setting had significantly lower incidence of DVT's than typical. Per Jim Stray-Gundersen MD's presentation. (Also IHMC presentation) He describes how this training reduces the elements of Virchow's triad {edit} Endothelial health is important to me. Tonight, did an hour of KAATSU cycles (not working out, just cycles) on my arms. Then measured my aortic pulse wave velocity. It was 5.84 m/s (slower is better). My device also reports it by statistical age. Mine was 19 and I'll be 65 in a couple weeks. BP was 104/58. More on KAATSU here, here and here.

NAC "counteracts hypercoagulation and breaks down blood clots." N-acetylcysteine attenuates systemic platelet activation and cerebral vessel thrombosis in (a mouse model of) diabetes

Avoiding or fixing hyperinsulinemia will also help with hypercoagulation (as well as some of the other comorbidities). Per this interview with Ron Rosedale, MD, this can be fixed in fairly short order. In this interview, Dr. John Madany describes how he's helped reverse heart failure quickly. Note, if you are on meds for hypertension or high glucose (except metformin), be careful and implement with help to deprescribe. I keep my fasting insulin <4 mIU/L and usually in the 1-2 mIU/L range. I've been keto adapted since Oct 2009, though my diet is not what is typically described as keto. I eat a lot of unprocessed, non-starchy carbs and I also eat in a narrow eating window.

The other thing I do for hypercoagulability is a high omega 3 intake. Gundry likes us to have an Omega 3 index >12%. Mine in Nov was >17%. This was a bit much as my arms, with all my activity, started to look like I was on Warfarin with a high INR. I've backed off a bit. One of the things I consume is a beta version of this plasmalogen. Omega 3 & hypercoagulability [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

My understanding is that while vitamin C can increase absorption of iron, it can also help deal with the iron issues caused by COVID - but I don't have links right now.

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 01:54:02 +0000

Received an email from a cardiologist friend in Milan, ground zero for COVID in Italy, about research his father and colleagues just published. The results of this new therapy had triggered a phone call from Fauci three weeks earlier. It involves addressing the disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) that claims many COVID patients.

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov] (Aug 2020)

So

1) take D3 to avoid the COVID

2) take losartan ASAP after contracting it to avoid the hospital (personal approach)

[www.researchgate.net] (May 2020) *

[academic.oup.com] (May 2020)

3) consider an anti platelet med at each step, esp if in the ICU to avoid the coffin (follow DIC risk with lab hs CRP, D-dimer levels)

* My contact in the Netherlands just published an article supporting #2 (first hyperlink)

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 18:31:35 +0000

For those of you who are loathe to visit a medical facility to learn your vitamin D status, perhaps the below will be of some assistance.

[www.grassrootshealth.net]

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 17:52:37 +0000

[www.grassrootshealth.net]

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 16:37:31 +0000

Thank you again George for the great graph.

I detect some element of fear of excess vitamin D amongst many out there. I include the below graph to allay any such worry about toxicity.

[www.grassrootshealth.net]

And to repeat the most important step graph of all

[www.grassrootshealth.net]

Re: COVID FEAR

GeorgeN — Sun, 31 May 2020 23:33:48 +0000

Mercola hosted a roundtable discussion of 3 researchers in the Vitamin D space here. Worth a listen, in my opinion.

One nugget, one of the participants noted his serum 25(OH)D levels increased after he increased his magnesium intake.

Thought this graph comparing D3 intake vs serum 25(OH)D was interesting from Grassrootshealth.net

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Wed, 27 May 2020 21:46:20 +0000

That D would be integral in a longevity practice makes perfect sense.

D technically is not even a vitamin (something we take to address a dietary deficiency) but a hormone (requires sunlight) that inhibits renin that produces angiotensin II.
Angiotensin II is essential to the development of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and many of the other comorbid maladies, not to mention alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s.
[vitamindwiki.com]
Angiotensin II by an indirect pathway suppresses vitamin D.
[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
D down regulates the pro inflammatory effects of angiotensin II.
[pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

For me D is right up there with Mg!

Thank you George for leading the discharge errr D charge.

Re: COVID FEAR

GeorgeN — Wed, 27 May 2020 13:54:08 +0000

Quote
mwcf
When Googling ref ranges just now I saw a lot of stuff warning that evidence was/is emerging showing that levels > 50ng/mL are linked to potential side effects but not detail. IIRC George N here keeps his levels around 100ng/mL and knowing George with very sound logic backing that up!! Although I'm figuring that anywhere between 50 and 100 ng/mL one needs to be keeping Ca intake to a reasonable minimum.

From the data presented, even 40 ng/mL seems to be protective. Gundry told us that ~20 years ago, when he started his "longevity" practice, he was very traditional with respect to vitamin D. He had some patients who came in with intentional levels around 250 ng/mL. They were adamant that levels should be that high. He later came around to that point of view & said that he's seen higher levels be very beneficial for those with autoimmune issues (me). He told me he keeps his own around 120 ng/mL. I've run my levels up to 150 ng/mL without negative consequences, though more normally keep them around 95-100 ng/mL. He also told me he's not seen hypervitaminosis D in his practice. Dr. Mercola told me he's not taken a D supplement for over 10 years, he keeps his level at >70 ng/mL by walking on the beach in shorts for an hour a day near his Florida home in the middle of the day.

I'm not advocating for levels like I keep, but certainly >40 ng/mL makes sense to me. Here is an infographic that Rhonda Patrick put together. As well as her discussion on the topic.

Re: COVID FEAR

mwcf — Wed, 27 May 2020 12:03:09 +0000

Yep. Thanks to Steve Carr this last 6 months I've increased my D level to 176 nmol/l (70ng/mL) and am maintaining it around that level with 5000iu/day. It hasn't eliminated ectopics like it did for Steve, but I'm sure the 20000iu/day I've been taking played a significant role in keeping my own recent (mid-March) run-in with Covid 19 to just a bit of a sore throat for a few days (my other half had it rather worse than me but recovered fully after 10 days - lost sense of taste and smell for last 3 days of those 10).

When Googling ref ranges just now I saw a lot of stuff warning that evidence was/is emerging showing that levels > 50ng/mL are linked to potential side effects but not detail. IIRC George N here keeps his levels around 100ng/mL and knowing George with very sound logic backing that up!! Although I'm figuring that anywhere between 50 and 100 ng/mL one needs to be keeping Ca intake to a reasonable minimum.

Re: COVID FEAR

GeorgeN — Wed, 27 May 2020 03:01:56 +0000

The Essential Role of Vitamin D in the Biosynthesis of Endogenous Antimicrobial Peptides May Explain Why Deficiency Increases Mortality Risk in COVID-19 Infections

Re: COVID FEAR

PC, MD — Tue, 26 May 2020 19:45:37 +0000

🤙🏽😎