Tag Archive for: coronavirus

Ideas for Long-Hauler Recovery from COVID-19

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There is currently no research on ways to recover faster if you have chronic symptoms after your initial COVID-19 infection. When this occurs, the best thing we can do is to use what we know to help restore the body as long as it does no harm. That’s the approach I used when putting this together.

Understand these recommendations are hypothetical, but they’re based on what we currently know. Much of it depends on the types of symptoms that you may have; deep muscle pain is not the same as a chronic cough or the loss of smell.

  • Try to get some exercise, preferably outdoors. Even brief stretching exercises, including deep breathing, are better than nothing. As you gain back strength and lung capacity, you can increase the amount and types of exercise, but it’s important to get blood flowing to the extent that you can.
  • Increase your intake of vegetables and fruits and decrease your intake of refined carbohydrates and saturated fats, especially from deep fried foods. Give your body the best nutrition that you can afford—it doesn’t have to be all organic. Raw fruits and vegetables are better because of the phytonutrients and the potential for beneficial bacteria.
  • Take these supplements that may help, depending on your symptoms. Use vitamin D for immune support; probiotics for the microbiome and immune support; high-DHA fish oil for any neurological issues including the loss of smell and taste; coenzyme Q10 for muscle fatigue and soreness; and a multivitamin-multimineral that contains plant concentrates. I know that there are a whole lot more antioxidants and herbs that you may hear about, but all of these have known functions they can benefit the organs involved.

That’s it. It sounds like the recommendations I always give: Eat less. Eat better. Move more. Well, there’s a reason for that; they really help you get healthy. The supplements target those body systems and organs to help their recovery as well.

One more thing: because the mental aspect of being a long-hauler is so tough, make an extra effort to do the things that make you happy but don’t take too much energy: video chat with your favorite people, wear your favorite or most comfortable clothes, listen to your favorite music, or get some sunshine even if it’s just putting on a coat and sitting outside for a few minutes. If prayer and meditation help you, be sure you make time for those.

Until the science and research catches up with the long-haul COVID-19 symptoms, this is the best approach I can recommend. This plan may work or it may not. But one thing is for sure: you’ll be getting better nutrition as a result.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

The COVID-19 Long-Haulers

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I’ve spent most of my time on COVID-19 talking about how to prevent getting the infection, but I haven’t talked about what happens if you get the infection and recover from it. I hope you have a mild case, and in a week or two, you’re back in business. Your body has built up antibodies, so research shows you should be in good shape at least for a while.

However, some people are experiencing symptoms long after they’ve recovered from the initial infection. They call themselves long-haulers. The path of the disease is unpredictable; people feel better and think they’re on the mend and then get walloped by the symptoms again. The top five symptoms are fatigue, shortness of breath, joint pain, chest pain, and cough. For some people, the after-effects of having COVID-19 are actually worse than the initial infection. Fatigue and shortness of breath seemed to occur in over half the people who’ve had confirmed COVID-19 infections, and they last for several months.

Paula and I, and actually the entire family here at home, probably had the virus. This happened way back in January and early February, before we were really aware the virus existed. Paula had other complicating factors and still has unexplained fatigue. What can we do about it? There’s no research to guide us, but I’ll give it my best effort in Saturday’s Memo.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-tragedy-of-the-post-COVID-long-haulers-2020101521173
2. JAMA. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.12603.

Why We Need Hope

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I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and were as safe as possible. The COVID-19 seven-day average continues to stay over 150,000 cases per day. We’ll find out in a couple weeks how we did during the Thanksgiving holiday related to masking and social distancing. It’s difficult to be without family and friends, especially over the holidays, but the one thing we can take solace in is that this is temporary; the better we all follow the rules, the sooner we can all be together again.

It reminds me of an interview a well-known business advisor had with a prisoner of war in Viet Nam years after the war ended. He asked who did better in captivity—people who were optimistic about rescue or those who decided they would simply endure? The answer surprised him: the optimists did far worse than other POWs. The optimists would say, “We’ll be out by Christmas for sure!” Then Christmas would come and go, so they would pick the next significant event and say the same thing. The events would pass, one after another, and soon, the optimists lost all hope.

Don’t do that. One thing we have is hope. The current treatments for those who get COVID are better than six months ago, and they will be better tomorrow as we learn more about the disease. Vaccinations will start soon and while the distribution will take time, there’s hope for those who are most at risk. If we do all we can with the things we can control, there will be an end to this. We don’t know exactly when that will be, but it will happen. Until then we grind it out, we endure. We’re tougher than we think we are. Let’s prove it.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Another Path to Trained Innate Immunity

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There is one more action that may give a person a way to enhance trained innate immunity short of catching COVID-19 itself, and that’s to catch a cold. Specifically, a coronavirus cold. I read a great article in the New Scientist that I’ll summarize for you. I urge those of you who want to know more to read the paper listed below.

There are four fairly common coronavirus colds we all get at some time: OC43, HKU1, 229E, and NL63. In a study cited by the article in the New Scientist, researchers collected data from medical records of just under 16,000 patients. Of those, 875 had a documented case of coronavirus colds verified by a test; the rest of the subjects did not. Those who had a confirmed case of one of the types of coronavirus colds had milder cases of COVID-19, fewer required intensive care, and fewer had to be put on mechanical ventilation. The mortality rate was 4.8% in those who had a prior cold and 17.7% without a verified cold test.

The upside is that it seems to provide some trained immunity against COVID-19. The downside is that the immunity seems to wane over the years. I think this research is important because it shows one more way to train the immune system. It may not be practical in the real world, but if you happened to catch a simple cold in the past six months, you may have some innate immunity—if you happened to catch the correct form of the cold virus. For the rest of us, the flu shot is still the best course of action in training our immune system.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. The New Scientist. https://bit.ly/35yxbDY
2. J Clin Invest. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI143380.

How to Train Your Immune System

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Here’s where we stand: healthcare workers in the Netherlands who got last year’s flu vaccine had fewer cases of COVID-19 than their unvaccinated counterparts. In addition, white blood cells treated with the flu vaccine, with or without the tuberculosis vaccine, demonstrated enhanced immune responses when exposed to the COVID-19 virus.

Where does this lead? It’s a quality known as trained innate immunity: exposure to one vaccine, such as the flu vaccine, will train the immune system to respond to another virus such as COVID-19. However one test-tube study does not prove it will work in the real world. Let’s look at some additional research.

The Flu Vaccine and COVID-19

Several retrospective studies have looked at the flu vaccine and COVID-19. In two studies from Italy, people over 65 who got the flu vaccination had a lower mortality rate from COVID-19. There are several more observational studies, but these studies don’t prove cause and effect.

There are problems doing clinical trials, ethical considerations being one of them; for example, if getting the flu vaccine proves to have a beneficial effect, it puts the people in the study who did not get the flu vaccination at risk. There’s also the possibility that it might have been other factors that were actually beneficial, such as lifestyle. It’s all very complicated.

Other Vaccines and COVID-19

Several studies have reported an enhanced immune response against COVID -19 after certain vaccinations. The polio- and measles-containing vaccines have been identified as stimulating the immune system and providing protection against covid-19. The bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against tuberculosis could protect against COVID-19 as well. Both have been investigated as potentially being immune-stimulating against severe upper respiratory infections. In countries where BCG is given on a regular basis, the rates of COVID-19 have remained lower than in countries that no longer use it because tuberculosis has been eradicated for the most part.

The Bottom Line

These are observational studies; there’s a lot of research to be done to find out how vaccinations for one virus can provide benefits against a completely unrelated virus. Trained immunity means immune cells are reprogrammed in some way. The “how” is important because what we may find out is that there’s another way to do it, or research may find other factors such as vitamin D status that complement the vaccinations to enhance trained immunity.

One lesson this foray into trained innate immunity has taught me is that our immune system gets weaker as we get older and must constantly be “trained.” It’s not just diet, exercise, and supplements that help our innate immunity; it seems that exposure to other viruses in the form of vaccines may help protect us against severe cases of COVID-19 and possibly other viruses as well. Right now the simplest way to do that is to get the current flu vaccination. We may not evade catching COVID-19, but having a better-trained immune system may help us avoid the most severe symptoms and possibly even death.

I got my flu vaccination and so did Paula. Talk with your physician and see if it’s right for you. Your body. Your choice. But I hope you’ll do whatever you can to put the odds in your favor.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. medRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.14.20212498
2. Nat Rev Immunol. 2020 June; 20(6): 375–388.

How Vaccines Can Affect COVID-19

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In vitro studies, more commonly called test-tube studies, are used when you want to see if there’s a relationship between cells and microorganisms. In the case of the researchers in the Netherlands, blood cells, vaccines, and the COVID-19 virus were used. While the laboratory techniques were complex, here’s what they found.

The researchers isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the Buffy coat layer of cells. The Buffy contains primarily white blood cells after centrifugation. The researchers then exposed the white blood cells to the flu vaccine commonly used in the Netherlands for 24-hours. Half the samples were also exposed to the bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine, typically used for tuberculosis. After a week, the samples were exposed to the COVID-19 virus. The objective was to see if immune system markers were increased after exposure to the virus.

The flu vaccine increased the immune capability of the white blood cells. The addition of the BCG vaccine increased the capability of the immune response. The cells were better able to make cytokines faster. If it happened in humans, the cytokines would be able to respond faster thus reducing the ability of the COVID-19 virus to replicate.

What does this all mean? I’ll finish this on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: medRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.14.20212498

The Flu Shot and COVID-19

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This week, I’m going to review a series of studies that outline a strategy that includes getting the current flu vaccination. The first study is an observational study. In my opinion, it’s the way research should begin: look for relationships between factors first, and then conduct experimental trials.

Researchers in the Netherlands used the medical records database of a large hospital to find out the answers to a couple of questions. First, of over 10,000 healthcare workers who worked there, they wanted to find out how many got the flu vaccination during the 2019–2020 flu season last fall. Then they examined how many employees got the COVID-19 infection since the pandemic began. They learned that of those who were not vaccinated, 2.23% got the COVID-19 virus; of those who got the flu vaccination, 1.33% got COVID-19. That works out to a 39% reduction in the risk of catching COVID-19 for people working in a healthcare setting if they get vaccinated for the flu.

As we know, there’s not a cause-and-effect relationship in these types of studies. But it does indicate that it’s a place to look—which is exactly what they did in the next phase of the research paper. More on Thursday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: medRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.14.20212498

Taking Charge of Your Health

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Flowers and trees have been winterized. The mulch has been spread throughout the yard. The leaves remain a continuing problem, but in short order the snow may take care of that. The one thing that I like about working in the yard is it gives me an extended opportunity to think. There are two things they have been on my mind.

Body Composition and Aging

I completely underestimated the change in body composition that occurs as we get older. I weigh about seven pounds more than I did about a year ago; the problem is that it’s all settled right around my waist. I’ve lost muscle mass in my arms, shoulders, and even my legs. From a strictly physical perspective, that’s the challenge I intend to address next. This will not be a “by the end of the year” thing because it’s going to take some time. I’ll write about how I intend to do it and then keep you posted on how it goes. Everyone is welcome to join me.

COVID-19 Isn’t Going Away

The second thing I’ve been thinking about is the COVID-19 virus. I’ve had the opportunity to read a lot of material I want to cover in upcoming memos that are not related to the pandemic. But the damage from this pandemic continues to increase, at least for the time being, and it would not be responsible for me to ignore COVID-19 all together. There’s some fascinating research that I think adds to the Swiss cheese approach in the last Memo.

Many people seem to be working themselves into a frenzy over possible state restrictions on activities and the insistence on wearing masks. Many of you know that attitude is everything. If we, as a nation, could just make up our minds that we’re going to do the best we can in each and every state, we could get through these temporary restrictions and get back to living our lives more completely than we are able to right now. If we don’t, then this is going to continue until we all decide to take things seriously.

The Bottom Line

Every morning, when I take Riley to school, we review our rules. The first rule is “Do the best you can.” It doesn’t have to be perfect. And you will make mistakes. Just do the best you can each and every day, because that’s all you can do. We review it after school on the drive home, and he gives me a thumbs up if he did his best that day. I hope we all can do the same thing in dealing with our health. The bottom line is that in all phases of our health, let’s do the best we can.

The Insider Conference Call is Wednesday evening. Do you have questions you’d like answered about supplements, weight loss, or any other topic related to health? Become an Insider today and gain the benefit of our discussion.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Does Exercise Reduce COVID-19?

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I’ve written about fitness and COVID-19 before, but a recent post by a colleague got my attention. I had never been able to find any research that suggested people who are fitter would have less serious cases of COVID-19 or any upper respiratory infection for that matter. I thought maybe the scientific paper he used might provide an update. In addition, there were a couple of statements in the paper that caught me by surprise. Here’s what I found.

Exercise and Fatty Lungs

The paper suggested that if a person were overweight or obese, there could be an increase in fat cells in the lungs. As such, that could increase the available components such as fatty acids that could contribute to the cytokine storm in extreme cases of infection. I’d never heard that fat cells were found in the lungs, so I decided to dig deeper.

The paper referenced an article that talked about risk factors for severe cases of the COVID-19. They cited two studies. The first was a study on overweight diabetic rats. However, we’re not rats so we can’t assume the same applies to humans. The other article dealt only with obesity. The paper said that in a small study on humans, fat cells were found in the lung parenchyma where gas exchanges occur in the lung tissue.

I decided to check out that paper as well. It was a post-mortem examination of the lungs of normal-weight and overweight subjects who died from asthma and non-respiratory conditions. Researchers found fat cells in the cell walls of large structures greater than 6 mm in diameter but none in smaller areas. There was an increase in the fat cells and immune response cells in the fatal asthma cases in obese subjects. While interesting, it does not support the original article indicating fat cells in the lungs to any significant degree, because some obese subjects had none in their lung tissue.

Exercise and COVID-19

The rest of the paper discussed the benefits of exercise as it relates to weight loss, reducing cardiovascular disease, and improving metabolic systems, especially as related to type 2 diabetes. They talked about how every type of exercise improves the body enough to reduce comorbidities, and reducing comorbidities may lead to a better outcome if you get COVID-19.

The only misstatement was that exercise is a way to reduce a significant amount of body fat. It’s not; you also have to reduce your caloric intake to do that. But exercise can improve every organ system to respond better to challenges. That may help if one catches a severe case of COVID-19, so they got that right.

The Bottom Line

Exercise has been described this way: it would be the most prescribed medication in the world if it were in pill form. Based on this paper and the sum total of all the research on exercise and health, exercise can help you reduce your risk of a severe case of this or any virus, maybe not directly, but in helping you reduce your comorbidities. Move more and start today!

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. Front. Physiol. doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.572718
2. Diabetes Metabolism. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.3325.
3. Eur Resp J. 2019. 54:1900857; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.00857-2019

Research Update: COVID-19 on Surfaces

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There are hundreds of papers published every day on the COVID-19 virus. The range of topics borders on the incredible, so I decided to provide two updates based on a couple questions that I’ve gotten. The first is a simple one. How long does the virus live on surfaces? When does it become unable to infect us?

Using standardized procedures that exposed the surfaces to identical amounts of viable COVID-19 virus, researchers tested surfaces under a standard temperature of 68 degrees F and 35-40% humidity. They found the virus was detectable up to seven days on nitrile gloves, four days on chemical-resistant gloves, 21 days on plastic face shields and N95/N100 particulate respirators, and 14 days on stainless steel. All very nice, but how about what appears to be argued about most of the time: cotton masks? The viability of the virus on cotton was reduced within four hours of drying and by 24 hours, was not detectable at all. For a full explanation on the facts behind masks, check out the free Health Info on drchet.com: Cloth Masks: What the Research Says.

The researchers want to check out other materials used in personal protection devices, but the masks are most relevant to you and me. If we can’t wash them between uses, which will kill the virus, letting them dry completely overnight renders the virus unable to infect us. They will continue to protect others as long as we wear them. Respect.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2020.10.006