There have been some developments recently in Covid-19 research. Two involve nutrients that provide immune system enhancement to prevent and cure the disease. The third involves the treatment of President Trump at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
In the science periodical, “Journal of Steroid Biochemical and Molecular Biology” of 2020, October, #203, there is research from a Spanish hospital treating Covid-19 patients. 76 patients were matched for similarities of age, comorbidities, and weight on a 2 to 1 basis, yielding 50 patients in the experimental group and 26 in the control standard care group. Each group got standard care of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin; additionally, the experimental group received a type of vitamin D3 that bypasses one metabolic step that the standard D3 capsule you can take must undergo (as well as the D3 that your skin makes due to direct 10 AM to 2 PM sunlight—it actually requires the metabolic conversion also.) This type of D3 is called calcifediol. The doses given on the initial hospital day would equal about 50,000 IU (1.125 mg) of regular over-the-counter D3, a big dose but totally safe. On the 3rd and 7th days, the experimental group of 50 patients were given an additional half of that dose. So, in a week, they were given 100,000 IU or 2.250 mg equivalency of D3. I have taken 12,000 IU per day (84,000 IU per week) for months at a time.
Of the 26 patients who got the standard hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin care, 13 (50%) needed to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and 2 patients (8%) died. Of the 50 receiving vitamin D3, zero died and one (1) needed the ICU care.
Results are not much more definite than that. And, as time has proven, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are no longer used, yielding no significant improvement in Covid cases.
A study in the journal “Nutrients” July 16, 2020, measured blood levels of the mineral selenium in the Covid-19 patients as compared to selenium levels of the population as a whole. It was found that the Covid-19 patients had substantially reduced selenium levels. This indicated that higher levels of selenium was protective against infection.
These improved treatments are not a mystery. It is known to those who study immune factors that vitamin D and selenium are protective against a wide range of virus diseases. Other important nutrients for immune function include zinc, vitamins A, B-complex, C, E, and K.
The last item of interest is the treatment package provided for President Trump at Walter Reed this past week. It included vitamin D3 and zinc, as well as remdesivir, and an experimental polyclonal antibody formula plus the corticosteroid dexamethasone. It should be noted that the injection of any substantial dose of any corticosteroid drug (prednisone, methylprednisolone, etc.) has the potential effect of significant improvement in physical and mental/emotional feelings. The improvements are temporary. The flip side is that continued usage results in bone and cartilage degeneration among other life-threatening problems.
Please read and heed the other Covid-19/coronavirus entries on this blog. The supplementation of 5,000-10,000 IU of D3, 200-400 mcg of selenium, 1,000-5,000 mg of vitamin C, plus adequate amounts of other nutrient mentioned combined with proper mask wearing and social distancing would have a very beneficial effect on the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be with us for a long time, at least another year. Take precautions and do your part to keep yourself and the community safe.