SARS-CoV-2 Treatments

Good preventative measures for preventing and treating SARS-CoV-2 include raw ginger (which is antiviral), other vanilloids (capsaicin), rigorous hygiene, regular exercise, optimal vitamin D levels, optimal hGH levels, berberine, ivermectin, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) (and having standard injection supplies (sterile syringes, needles, bacteriostatic water, prep swabs, alcohol, etc.) on hand, to administer it at home).

Individual health varies and so do measures to treat it. One-size-fits-all solutions, such as with anything from the government, usually fail in specific cases and always fall short of the ideal. Not everything in this article applies to all persons, some of it will apply to most persons, some will apply to few.

Rest & Recovery

Sleep and the circadian system exert a strong regulatory influence on immune functions. Sufficient, regular sleep is essential. Optimize sleep.

Sleep and immune function.

Lung Health and Breathing

The worst cases of COVID-19 are those with lung damage. This is caused by excessive inflammation as a response of the immune system. Breathing exercises, in addition food and medicine, can improve lung condition.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is exercise training and breathing techniques for people suffering from respiratory conditions.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is a feasible, safe and effective therapeutic option in COVID-19 patients independent of disease severity.

Cleanliness & Personal Hygiene

SARS-CoV-2 accumulates in the nasopharyngeal area. The viral load can be reduced by physical washing with fresh ginger or iodine by gargling and neti pot.

For oral hygeine, use a tongue scraper, brush inside the mouth, gargle and use a water flosser.

It is important to clean all areas of the body, nose, ears, throat, and anal/rectal area.

The Claim: Gargling With Salt Water Can Ease Cold Symptoms (New York Times)

In a randomized study published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2005, researchers recruited almost 400 healthy volunteers and followed them for 60 days during cold and flu season. Some of the subjects were told to gargle three times a day. At the end of the study period, the group that regularly gargled had a nearly 40 percent decrease in upper respiratory tract infections compared with the control group, and when they did get sick, “gargling tended to attenuate bronchial symptoms,” the researchers wrote.

Nasal and sinus

Use a neti pot or, if you don’t have one, pour salt water in one nostril until it comes out the other side.

Saline Nasal Irrigation for Upper Respiratory Conditions
SNI may be effective adjunctive treatment for mild-to-moderate allergic rhinitis, rhinitis of pregnancy and viral URIs.

An article published in the journal Lung India stated:

“hypertonic saline gargles and nasal wash may work in preventing the disease and may also be useful in reducing nasopharyngeal viral load to provide symptomatic relief. Further, it may reduce viral shedding and reduce the transmission of the illness. This may break the chain of infection. COVID 19 disease is mild in eighty percent of patients and resolves spontaneously. Therefore, nasopharyngeal wash may be useful especially in subgroup of the population at high risk such as subjects with comorbid conditions and above 60 years of age.”

While this is not hard evidence to strongly conclude anything about the effects of neti pot usage, it provides reasonable scientific explanation of how it would helpful. It is a low cost treatment with no adverse side effects.

Exercise

Moderate-intensity exercise protects against respiratory viral infection. Overtraining reduces immune function.

Photobiomodulation

Photobiomodulation with red and near infrared light has been scientifically shown to significantly decrease pulmonary swelling, neutrophil influx, and generation of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Ginger & Capsaicin

Fresh Ginger is a mild anti-viral. It can be used to be used to purge the virus in the naso-pharyngeal area and consumed to fight respiratory viral infection.

Fresh, but not dried, ginger dose-dependently inhibited viral attachment of human respiratory syncytial virus to human upper and lower respiratory tract.

Fresh ginger extract can be prepared by grating the fresh ginger rhizome with a small-holes cheese grater and repeatedly squeezed and soaking it in water for further extraction, and filtering it to separate the pulp. The fresh ginger extract can be mixed with honey and warm water or juices, such as apple or cherry, if desired.

An Indian analytical study published in Future Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FJPS) found ginger (Z. officinale), used as a viral purge, indicated good potential in reducing viral load and shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in the nasal passages. (See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7794642/)

Vanilloids such as capsaicin desensitize the TRPV1 receptor.

The TRPV1 receptor is responsible for the overexpression of inflammation in respiratory infections.

Administration of capsaicin is proven to desensitize the TRPV1 receptor leading to reduced overreaction to respiratory infection.

A paper published in Medical Drug Discovery found:—

This most recently published review ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medidd.2020.100033 ) looks at the tantalizing possibility of TRPV1 (The transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1, also known as the capsaicin receptor or the vanilloid receptor 1) playing a substantial role in the prognosis of viral infections and in particular with COVID-19. Preclinical data suggest, and the authors posit, that COVID-19 pulmonary changes are linked to a strong immune response and an inability to ablate or dampen the immune response. Available data also indicate that inhibition of afferent activity in particular removal of TRPV1+ afferent fibers from the lung and airways can have a beneficial action on the compromised lung function and clearance of infection. Moreover, inactivation of the TRPV1+ innervation could also be “beneficial for the prevention or treatment of ventilator-associated lung injury”.
Standing out from the crowd in treating COVID-19

The Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA2LEN) studies comorbidities and etiology of asthma. In seemingly informal testing, they found “Oral capsaicin induces a very fast improvement in COVID-19 symptoms suggesting TRPV1 channel desensitization”.

Capsaicin and ginger are TRPV1 agonists (this is scientifically established).

Berberine

Berberine is an alkaloid found in several plants. It is available in supplement form over the counter.

A Polish study, “Antiviral Activity of Berberine“, found,

“Many viruses can target the MAPK pathway to manipulate cellular functions and control viral replication, leading to host cell death. These pathways are also involved in inhibitory effect of BBR. In addition, BBR can inhibit inflammatory responses triggered by viruses.”
Antiviral activity of berberine

A 2021 study examined the effects of Berberine on SARS-CoV-2 found,

In conclusion, our study puts forth two small molecule compounds, BBR and OLX, as repurposed antiviral molecules against SARS-CoV-2, in doses lower than that previously shown to be safe in human clinical trials. While OLX is effective at early steps of the viral life cycle, likely interfering with entry processes, BBR acts on the later stages and it likely reduces the infectivity of newly produced virions. BBR and OLX are effective in a physiologically relevant cell culture model at low micromolar concentrations and it could be considered for further assessment.
Berberine and Obatoclax Inhibit SARS-Cov-2 Replication in Primary Human Nasal Epithelial Cells In Vitro

Another 2021 study, this one out of China, titled “Berberine reduces circulating inflammatory mediators in patients with severe COVID-19.” found,

berberine exhibits direct anti-influenza virus effects in vitro, inhibits lung inflammatory injury, and reduces the release of oxygen radicals in mice suffering from pneumonia associated with influenza virus.
Berberine reduces circulating inflammatory mediators in patients with severe COVID-19.

Berberine also lowers blood sugar. Berberine’s cytotoxic effects make it useful to fight cancer.

Ivermectin

Ivermectin is evidently an effective treatment and prophylactic. Especially if you want to protect front line healthcare workers or anyone who has likely come in to close contact with infected persons.

“Two-dose ivermectin prophylaxis at a dose of 300 μg/kg with a gap of 72 hours was associated with a 73% reduction of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers for the following month.”

Recommended dose of Ivermectin for adults is 0.2 mg/kg orally, per day. (See: https://www.drugs.com/dosage/ivermectin.html)

https://covid19criticalcare.com/guide-for-this-website/how-to-get-ivermectin/

Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide

Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) is an effective treatment for critical COVID-19 cases with comorbidities. VIP blocks replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, inhibits cytokine synthesis, and upregulates surfactant production in human pulmonary cells.

Participants received 3 successive 12-hour intravenous infusions of VIP at 50, 100, and 150 pmol/kg/hr.

Setting up an IV infusion is more complicated than IV injections.

Buy VIP

Growth Hormone

Human growth hormone (hGH) stimulates thymic release of lymphocytes, increases antibody and T cell production, and reduces inflammatory cytokines.

Growth hormone (GH) secretagogues such as Tesamorelin and CJC-1295 can be used to optimize GH levels.

See:

Growth hormone can affect development, so it should only be used by adults. Older persons who have lower levels of GH may find increased benefit from a short course of a GH secretagogue.

Fermented Foods

A 2021 European regional study headed by Jean Bousquet proposed that fermented cabbage prevents the severity of COVID-19. The authors postulate many possible reasons for the regionally-observed effects, as they pertain to their area of focus, fermented cabbage.

Fermented foods inhibit nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) expression nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells NFK2 activation, citing sulforaphane, a component also found in broccoli and garlic, as a strong NFK2 inhibitor.

Bousquet, in another multi-university study, Spices to Control COVID-19 Symptoms: Yes, but Not Only… concludes that fermented foods are agonists of NRF2:—

Fermented vegetables and spices are agonists of the antioxidant transcription factor nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2), and spices are transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 and vanillin 1 (TRPA1/V1) agonists. These mechanisms may explain many COVID-19 symptoms and severity. It appears that there is a synergy between Nrf2 and TRPA1/V1 foods that may explain the role of diet in COVID-19. One of the mechanisms of COVID-19 appears to be an oxygen species (ROS)-mediated process in synergy with TRP channels, modulated by Nrf2 pathways. Spicy foods are likely to desensitize TRP channels and act in synergy with exogenous antioxidants that activate the Nrf2 pathway.
Spices to Control COVID-19 Symptoms: Yes, but Not Only…