I have benefited greatly both professionally & personally from each of you. My hope is that both of you stay very energized because my instincts tell me this battle is far from over for a variety of reasons.
These treatment protocols are not going to prevent severe Covid for everyone, and many are not going to go unscathed from their “bad cold” as far as various long term symptoms. Also, there are many people who have Covid related thrombotic complications such as blood clots to the lungs (very much potentially deadly), strokes, heart attacks, etc. A fair number of patients have these thrombotic issues and I don’t know how much Covid is acknowledged as being the real culprit. When people die suddenly from these conditions it’s often chalked up to someone just dying. I have heard the talk about the concern of thromboses from vaccines, but the evidence I’ve seen is that while it does occur but nowhere near the rate of being Covid related. I have an inpatient neurologist friend who treats a large number of stroke patients. He has not seen any vaccine related strokes, but has seen a bevy of Covid infection related strokes. He has seen 2 sinus venous thromboses (very serious) associated with vaccines. To be clear, IVM and associated treatments have shown good effectiveness which is seriously lacking in conventional treatment protocols. I just don’t think everyone should look at these as a cure-all because they aren’t. I don’t think it’s known whether the vitamin D link is solely about Vitamin D levels or if the link is more associated with the fact healthy individuals happen to have higher Vitamin D levels. In the former supplements would be helpful, in the latter maybe not. IMO something like Covid should be fought from every possible angle. If the mortality rate is 1 in 5000, that doesn’t sound so bad….unless you are the 1 in that equation. I know many have described our current healthcare system as being “sick care”……which happens to be spot on. Relying on IVM and supplements is actually a form of sick care. If people want want to really pursue health (with Covid or cardiovascular disease, many cancers, kidney disease, etc), then they will treat their terrain much nearer to the upstream source of real health. True health (or disease) for most of us in this day in age has to do with the foods we put in our mouths every day.
One thing I will always be grateful to Chris for is the study he presented in August. It was the CDC study of over 500k patients which evaluated the risk factors for severe Covid. Dr. Kory mentioned pattern recognition of seasoned physicians. At first glance of seeing that study I could immediately see the link between the top 6 factors or so for severe Covid: metabolic syndrome, metabolic syndrome, metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance is same thing). My speculation is that high insulin levels somehow increase the expression of ACE2 receptors throughout the body leading to more severe Covid. My life in medicine has been dominated by seeing the end results of metabolic syndrome: strokes, heart attacks, obesity & non-metabolic associated complications such as a zillion knee/hip replacements, much of chronic kidney disease from result of diabetes and hypertension, diabetes & related non-metabolic complications, obstructive sleep apnea & associated non-metabolic ramifications, and the list could go on for a long time. Why is MS running rampant worldwide? It’s the Western diet which has now spread to much of the world. Most of us are unknowingly eating toxic diets. No one would ingest low levels of benzene on a daily basis for decades, but that’s what most of us are doing.
The problem lies with high fructose corn syrup, simple sugars, grains, processed foods, and things like white potatoes….in that order. The body can produce its own glucose. These carbohydrates are toxic for a variety of reasons. For the past 40-50 years or so there’s been a steady increase in insulin levels. People can have normal appearing glucoses yet have raging insulin levels. The body can mask the problem for many years. Fasting insulin levels are not routinely checked. They should be. Insulin resistance is a driver for hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, disrupter of the normal leptin feedback mechanism which lets the brain know when the body has eaten enough, contributor to chronic inflammation which impairs the immune system, etc. They call hypertension the silent killer. The true silent killer is insulin resistance. Some get confused thinking metabolic syndrome is what overweight people have. About 80% of the obese have metabolic syndrome (probably more, but I don’t think it’s diagnosed accurately by most), and about 40% of non-obese have it (again, probably more). Healthy appearing very fit athletes can have it if they eat like crap. Again, it’s insulin resistance which is by far the highest risk factor for severe Covid. Metabolic syndrome is also the highest risk factor for cardiovascular disease, many cancers, and probably contributes to all sorts of health issues from depression/anxiety, autoimmune diseases, insomnia, colon issues, etc. The gut microbiome was greatly under appreciated for years, but is now being recognized as a very important aspect of overall health. Eating is not just feeding our own cells, we are also eating for our trillions of gut bacteria. They thrive on natural fiber, and not so much from simple carbohydrates & processed foods.
Btw, don’t confuse type 1 diabetes & type 2. Type 1 shows up very early in life & results from a deficiency of insulin. Most are very sensitive to insulin. The much more common version of diabetes is type 2 which results from insulin resistance. Type 2’s have an abundance of insulin, but the cells have become resistant to its effects. Insulin levels climb and climb until the point they can’t keep blood glucose levels down, then pre-diabetes and diabetes start showing up on the common lab tests when it’s actually been brewing for years.
The big lie for many years has been that eating fat is bad (does apply to “bad fats”). Nothing could be further from the truth. Healthy fats are the main foods which suppress appetite. And, while carbohydrates cause a big release of insulin and proteins a mild to moderate release of insulin, fats cause no release of insulin. Why do you think cocaine was originally in Coke or that caffeine is in it now? It’s because industry knew this would enhance consumption of their product. There’s nothing better than fructose or refined sugars to trick the brain into eating more than it normally would. Not only do healthy fats suppress appetite leading to less overall consumption of food (& weight loss) they have many other benefits.
Have you ever seen the difference between cuts of beef from the U.S. vs. Brazil or Argentina? The corn fed beef US beef is marbled with large amounts of fat…not unlike most of us, while the S. American beef industry is mostly grass fed which produces very lean cuts of meat. Grass fed has a good omega 3 ratio. The best meats are wild caught fish such as salmon, mackerel, or sardines. Farmed fish actually has reverse omega 3–6-9 ratios and is probably just the opposite of the healthy wild caught, and cause inflammation. Grass fed chicken meat & eggs are also superior.
The main problem with processed food is that most of its good fiber has been removed no matter what the package says. Fiber is the main thing that inhibits absorption of sugars and simple carbohydrates in the gut. This is why much of the fructose in fruit isn’t absorbed. Having said that, fruit should probably be a minority of your intake. I personally eat a wide variety in an effort to get the good nutritional benefits, but limit anything past this point.
I changed my diet 12 weeks ago. The first week was the most difficult & was fairly easy thereafter. The traditional Western diet is not unlike an addictive drug, and there will be some withdrawal. I lost 8lbs the first 6 weeks, and had a stellar improvement in my lab work. I have lost another 11lbs over the past 6 weeks since. I had labs drawn this week, and they are currently pending. I had classic metabolic syndrome, and will have to eat a healthy diet forever or it will come back.
Almost more importantly than the health benefits, I feel better, sleep much better, have an improved sense of calmness, and have much more energy. To me, this is what real healthcare should be. I’m actually considering a career change working with people wanting to pursue health rather than trying to fight keeping people from dying at the end of the road.
