From eNewsletter 6/10/2020
DID YOU KNOW that a a randomized, double-blind trial reported in BMJ Military Health resulted in a lower risk of contracting the common cold among members of the military in the Republic of Korea who received daily vitamin C supplements. Military training centers have a high incidence of communicable respiratory diseases. Soldiers who received 2000 mg. vitamin C had a 20% lower risk of acquiring a cold compared to the placebo group.
PREVENT AND FIGHT CORONAVIRUS 2.0 If you missed our recommendations about how to prevent and fight the coronavirus, especially now that things have re-opened, the information is available here. RE-OPENING PROCEDURE Since Illinois has moved to Phase 3, if you are local, please read our re-opening guidelines. BLOODWORK UPDATE Biotrition Food Intolerance Test We cannot give you a firm date when NICL will be accepting patients for blood draws. Unfortunately, this means we cannot perform screenings for Biotrition food intolerances at this time. Our Regular Bloodwork Requirements For those looking to do our New Client Wellness Evaluation bloodwork without going through your physician, you can do this through Quest Diagnostics. You can place the bloodwork order yourself at quest.com. After placing the order, you set up the blood draw at the closest Quest location to where you live. You will have access to the results without a doctor looking at them first. Here is the breakdown of what you should order at questdiagnostics.com: -Basic Health Profile ($149) -Iron, TIBC, Ferritin Profile ($59) -Thyroid Profile ($39) -Vitamin D profile ($69) -Inflammation Marker C-Reactive Protein ($59) Total = $375 -ABO blood type ($39) if you don't already know it Total = $414 Any questions about Quest bloodwork should be directed to Quest Diagnostics as we have no connection to them.
COVID-19 UPDATE
Steve & Bonnie: Here's the latest coronavirus research you need to know about:
Alzheimer's Gene and COVID-19
ApoE4 gene is known for increasing the risk for dementia. New analysis from Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences suggests that it may also increase the risk for more severe outcomes from COVID-19, double that of those with the ApoE3 gene variants. There are a growing number of genetic connections for worse COVID-19 outcomes. Knowing these, such as if your blood type, glutathione gene mutation, and now ApoE4 help further assess risk.
Athletes Who Test Positive
Athletes who test positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, should take at least two weeks off from intense or competitive exercise and even more if they show signs of myocarditis, according to two new reports from European Heart Journal.
Baking Soda
The ability of kitchen paper towels, laboratory paper towels, and surgical mask filters to block tiny particles was dramatically improved by salt and baking soda soaking, researchers report in the American Journal of Infection Control. Another do-it-yourself preventive technique will also extend the life of your mask.
Speaking of paper towels, they were found to be 10 times more effective at keeping one's hands from contaminating other surfaces than a dryer after hand washing, according to a study to be presented at the European Congress on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
Cross Reactive Immunity
Two recent papers from Cell and a preprint German collaboration suggest a significant portion of the population already has some immune cell responses. Scientists looked at blood samples collected between 2015 and 2018- pre SARS-CoV-2- and detected immune responses in about half of the samples. They suspect that exposure to other, common cold-causing coronaviruses may be the cause. The German study stated that immune cells that recognized the spike protein in blood from 83 percent of COVID-19 patients and 34 percent of healthy people tested.
Glutathione
A study from this month's ACS Infectious Diseases found higher rates of serious illness and death from coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infection in those with impaired antioxidant function. They hypothesize that glutathione deficiency is the most plausible explanation. For those who did Pure Genomics screening: a yellow or red GSTP1 gene may warrant glutathione supplementation.
Another study from Respiratory Medicine Case Reports found oral and IV glutathione, glutathione precursors (N-acetyl-cysteine), and alpha lipoic acid may represent a novel treatment approach for addressing "cytokine storm syndrome" and respiratory distress in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.
Plasma Therapy
The country's first convalescent plasma transfusion trial results have been published and show 19 out of 25 patients improved with the treatment, and 11 were discharged from the Houston Methodist Hospital. It was the first academic medical center in the nation to transfuse plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients into critically ill patients. With no adverse side effects caused by the plasma transfusion, the study concluded that convalescent plasma is a safe treatment option for patients with severe COVID-19 disease.
Psychosocial Interventions
A study from last week's JAMA Psychiatry found strong evidence that psychosocial interventions are associated with positive changes in immune system function, including improvements in beneficial immune system function and decreases in harmful immune function that persisted for at least 6 months following treatment for participants randomly assigned to a psychosocial intervention vs a control group. These associations were most reliable for cognitive behavior therapy.
Vaccine-Derived Immunity
Dr. Anthony Fauci said he worries about the "durability" of a potential coronavirus vaccine, saying there's a chance it may not provide long-term immunity. If Covid-19 acts like other coronaviruses, "it likely isn't going to be a long duration of immunity," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told JAMA Editor Howard Bauchner.
Virus Load
Minimizing the amount of SARS-CoV-2 you are exposed to is critical, and something that has not been well elucidated during the pandemic. Public health health experts refer to it as viral load. The higher the viral load exposure, the more likely you are to get a serious infection. This is why masks and social distancing will continue to be important as the country re-opens.
Vitamin D Deficiency
Add the country of France to countries endorsing vitamin D supplementation and addressing vitamin D deficiency. The opinion of the French National Academy of Medicine recommends addressing vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D supplementation of different strengths to all age groups.
FARMER'S MARKET INSPIRED RECIPES
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