What COVID-19 therapy is the real “Game-Changer”?

— Hydroxychloroquine or Zinc?

https://medium.com/@hotvpc/what-therapy-is-the-real-game-changer-cebc8838d447

There has been a tremendous amount of buzz regarding the use of hydroxychloroquine (HC) for the treatment of COVID-19. This has been touted as everything from a “game-changer” and “a gift from God” to begin mostly dismissed for lack of convincing evidence. The skeptics, me being one, have cited the majority of the literature demonstrating negative outcomes. Nonetheless, the pressure to forego formal clinical trials and urgently employ the drug in the face of many impending deaths of an epidemic has been enormous and completely understandable.

A survey reported 2 days ago of doctors around the world who have been managing COVID-19 patients place it as “the most effective coronavirus treatment” to date. The survey, conducted by Sermo, a global health care polling company, asked 6,227 physicians in 30 countries to find out what is the most effective against SARS-CoV-2.

That is to say, of 6,000+ doctors surveyed, 37% considered HC the most effective available. This begs the question what the other 63% considered more effective than HC and it also seems to highlight the sorry state of what we have available as treatment since the therapy considered most effective has mostly shown no beneficial effect in the small clinical trials conducted to date. They didn’t report all the breakdown of how the voting went and which were the other 14 drug choices these doctors were allowed to choose from, but it likely included the antivirals remdesivir, lopinavir, and ritonavir.

Aside from these clinical trials of various quality and weak or negative outcomes, there have been two recent striking clinical observations by clinicians that have played powerfully in the media because of the obviously striking outcomes. These are not clinical trials but rather anecdotal observations of larger populations of patients treated for presumed COVID-19 infections and they did not involve just hydroxychloroquine alone. But just because they are not rigorous clinical trials shouldn’t mean we should discard any clinical benefit that is so obvious that we don’t need a statistical analysis to reveal it particularly if corroborating reports are coming in from multiple observers.

The first one was reported by Dr. Vladimir Zelenko from Monroe, NY whereby he reported on March 21 that his team had seen about 900 patients with possible coronavirus symptoms, treating about 350 with his regimen of HC, azithromycin and zinc. None had died as of April 2nd, he said, though six were hospitalized and two were on ventilators. Despite the criticism that this was not a randomized controlled trial, still, if one can believe that the 350 patients did indeed mostly have coronavirus and can believe the numbers that this wasn’t such a bad outcome. Still, skepticism remained because of these lingering questions.

This morning, another such pronouncement was made. Dr. Anthony Cardillo of Los Angeles said he has seen very promising results when prescribing HC in combination with zinc for the most severely-ill COVID-19 patients. He did not report the dosages of either the hydroxychloroquine or the zinc.

Zinc as an anti-viral

Zinc is known to inhibit viral replication by a few mechanisms. The first is that zinc shuts down the very enzyme that the RNA virus needs to replicate itself inside the cell. It inhibits RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP).

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Zinc as an anti-viral

Zinc is known to inhibit viral replication by a few mechanisms. The first is that zinc shuts down the very enzyme that the RNA virus needs to replicate itself inside the cell. It inhibits RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP).

In short, Zinc has been shown to block RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity of many RNA viruses and now this includes the SARS COV-2 virus. But it must get into the cell in order to do this.

Zinc utilizes zinc transport proteins to get into cells. Zinc from the extracellular milieu and from intracellular compartments enters the cytoplasm through 14 specialized trans-membrane proteins of the ZIP/SLC39 family. These transport proteins are very good at keeping zinc out unless induced to open.

Substances that open ion channels or that shuttle ions across membranes independent of channels are called ionophores. Zinc ionophores therefore are important in getting zinc into cells to block replication.

A study done in 2014, long before coronavirus was around, found that chloroquine behaved as an ionophore to open zinc channels and could therefore allow zinc into cells in sufficient quantity to stop viral replication.

In addition to inhibiting RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, zinc also is a potent inhibitor of the signalling cascade of interferons-lamba3, which are a family of pro-inflammatory cytokines. You may recall hearing about the dreaded ‘cytokine storm’ that suddenly alters a relatively mild case of COVID-19 tending toward recovery to sudden cyanosis with Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Zinc may play a role in preventing that storm.

Zinc Homeostasis as a major player in COVID-19 Pathology

Now that it seems plausible that zinc transport into cells is a crucial part of control of the coronavirus, it might make sense that any health condition that interferes with zinc transport would worsen COVID-19 disease and anything that promotes zinc transport would improve outcome.

It turns out that diabetes and cardiovascular disease reduce zinc transport while estrogen is an inducer of the ZIP6 zinc transporter. Conversely, dysfunctions of zinc transporters are promoting factors in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer.

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Perhaps the effect of diabetes and heart disease on zinc transport explains why patients with heart disease and diabetes are at such high risk of morbidity and mortality with COVID-19 infections.

The effect of estrogen to induce zinc transport may further explain why men get infected with SARS COV-2 at a higher rate and have a relative risk of death 3 times that of women.

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Are there other ionophores better than chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine?

Ionophore activity is in no way unique to chloroquine and HC. There are many other substances that either open zinc transporter channels or shuttle zinc into a cell across a cell membrane. hiokitiol, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, pyrithione all transport zinc and have been shown in vitro to inhibit viral replication. Hinokitiol is a natural substance isolated from Taiwamese ninoki tree and used as a topical antibacterial in Japan.

Pyrithione might be considered the gold-standard zinc ionophore in that it is used in studies looking at ability to get zinc into cells to inhibit replication. It is also a natural compound found in Persian shallot which is an Asian species of onion growing in central and southwestern Asia. It is for topical use only and often in medicated dandruff shampoos. So, even though hinokitiol and pyrithione are natural, it doesn’t look like they would be practical replacements for HC.

Perhaps reasonable choices as substitutes for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are quercetin and Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and even tonic water which contains small amounts of quinine (added to tonic water to make the gin and tonic a little bitter and more palatable).

Quercetin is a plant flavonol found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, seeds, and grains; red onions and kale. It is found in highest concentration in capers, sorrel and radish leaves. Quercetin is a very popular supplement used as an anti-mast cell and antihistamine therapy. EGCG is a water-soluble flavonoid present in green tea. Quinine is the naturally occurring parent compound from which chloroquine and HC are synthesized. It is isolated from the bark of the cinchona (qui-qui) tree. Quinine was used liberally during the flu pandemic of 1918. Whether it helped or not, no one know because no one stopped to do clinical trials.

Quercetin and EGCG are among the most consumed and most studied polyphenols in the human diet .Flavonoids are considered bioactive micronutrients whose regular consumption, either as food components, or as dietary supplements and nutraceuticals, entails benefits for human health, including prevention and amelioration of cancers, diabetes, and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.

Many of the health benefits of flavonoids have historically been ascribed to their antioxidant activity, which they exert directly by scavenging reactive oxygen species and indirectly by inhibiting transcription factors and pro-oxidant enzymes. However, it is currently believed that the levels of polyphenols achieved through ingestion are not enough to justify their wide array of biological actions.

Diverse polyphenols have been shown able to form complexes with the redox-inactive transition metal zinc. Several studies have shown that flavonoids affect zinc metabolism including, for the purposes of this story, acting as ionophores that shuttles zinc into cells effectively.

A study done in 2014 in Barcelona looked at the ability of quercetin and EGCG to allow zinc into cells. This was compared against the drug clioquinol, a drug that has both anti-protozoal and anti-viral properties but has too much neurotoxicity to be considered an option for COVID-19. But it provides a positive control for the study. Unfortunately, the study did not include quinine or compare it against chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine.

Is there a relationship between Asia’s consumption of green tea, their low COVID-19 infection rate and their lack of embracing hydroxychloroquine?

To date, Japan and Singapore are among the countries with the lowest new case rates and lowest deaths per capita in the world. South Korea fared well in this respect and if one can believe China’s numbers, then overall it also kept its daily death count low throughout the pandemic. This phenomenon in Japan and Singapore is despite their rejection of the use of HC as other countries have done.

Green tea and Quercetin and Zinc are all OTC. No doctors or tests needed

https://medium.com/@hotvpc/what-therapy-is-the-real-game-changer-cebc8838d447

This is BOOM quality info.

OTC substances such as Green Tea, Quercetin and Zinc can treat COVID19 and the common cold as well.

Couple them with Vitamin C 1000mg or more per day

Black Elderberry

NSAIDs like Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen

And likely well over 90% of people who have symptoms can just deal with it on their own and cure the problem in a few days.

Cure means, get rid of the virus so they are not spreading it either.

>>10024214

You should read about her marriages here

https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pence-marriage-wife-karen-2017-10#before-she-met-mike-the-future-second-lady-was-married-to-her-high-school-sweetheart-dr-john-steven-whitaker-the-washington-post-reported-karens-first-marriage-ended-in-divorce-partly-due-to-the-couples-youth-and-whitakers-intense-medical-school-schedule-1

And her former husband, Dr. John Steven Whitaker, has done some interesting things. Start with this lead which connects to patents and companies that you can follow up.

https://casetext.com/case/eli-lilly-co-v-teva-pharms-us-inc

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What the story of Zinc highlights, is that there is MUCH MORE being suppressed about the treatment of respiratory viruses than the HCQ story leads to. In face, there are a number of anti-malaria drugs that are beneficial in treating viral infections that cause respiratory problems, including HIV. But there are tons of scientifuc papers to read in order to get the full story, and that leads to another huge story on BLOOD and oxygenation of the blood.

Vitamin C tends to improve the uptake of oxygen in the blood, for instance.

But I think the second avenue that needs to be better publicized is what causes COVID19 patients to die.

It all boils down to pneumonia and congestion of the lungs caused by INFLAMMATION of lung tissues.

So the other important factor is drugs that will reduce the inflammation in the lungs. This will allow patients to keep breathing, potentially to stay home, not need ventilators, and to heal in their own time, even if it takes a while due to their co-morbidities.

There are two steroids that have been used successfully and there may be others in each of the two classes of steroids.

First is Dexamethasone, a steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, that is often given along with Ibuprofen which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. This is used for COVID or for Adenovirus (a cold virus which can cause swelling in the throat) and with Strep throat, a bacterial infection.

Second one is Budesonide, a corticosteroid that is supplied widely to asthma patients in the form of an inhaler. At least one doctor has been routinely treating all his COVID patients with this, to IMMEDIATELY reduce the swelling and begin to ease the breathing. Then he sends them home to get well.

This second one is less well-known so here is an article:

Doctor Claims To Have Found The Silver Bullet For COVID-19

A West Texas doctor claims to have discovered the silver bullet for COVID-19, although his steroid based treatment is not currently approved by the FDA.

“The treatment plan is inhaled, generic budesonide,” said Dr. Richard Barlett. “Using some generic antibiotics to protect from a secondary bacterial infection. Using zinc, which interferes with virus replication. It’s common sense. It’s intuitive.”

Both types of steroid can be further researched in the medical literature. We, the human race, have known all this for a while, but since nobody, until COVID19, tried to find a cure for the common cold, the information was scattered. Now we are motivated to cure the cold because it is the viral infection that sparked the COVID crisis. In the process we may find that we already have cures for flu, HIV and other retrovirus diseases because many of these treatments work on a wider spectrum than just Coronavirus