A lot of attention in the press right now regarding the Corona Virus has to do with an anti-malarial drug called hydroxychloroquine. It is also known under the name Plaquenil. It is not a new drug and in fact has been around for about 75 years in the form of hydroxychloroquine. It also has enjoyed a lot of success in the treatment of various autoimmune diseases. Most recently, it has come under discussion as a drug for the treatment of COVID-19 or Corona Virus.
First let me state emphatically, that no double-blind placebo-controlled study, the gold standard to determine if a drug is effective against a certain problem or disease, has yet been done on anything involving the Corona virus. It is too new. These will not be completed for at least a year, and probably longer than that. Of course, people are dying of this virus and everyone is now aware of the problems it is causing and the fear it is engendering.
Recently, President Trump has talked about findings coming out of China, South Korea and other countries that have been dealing with the virus the last 3 months, of the use of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19. It appears that it has been successful in getting people over the acute stage of the virus much quicker than in people not taking the drug. (1)
Hydroxychloroquine does not actually kill the virus itself but acts as an ionophore. An ionophore is a substance that carries an ion across a cellular membrane. In other words, it functions by carrying the mineral zinc inside the cell where the virus replicates. Viruses do not have the ability to reproduce on their own but must hijack the machinery inside the hosts cells to make more viruses. Zinc when it is inside the cell blocks this action. (2)
What is exciting and the reason for me writing this article, is there are other natural products that also help carry zinc inside cells so that it can block and hinder viral replication of Corona viruses. These substances are Epigallocatechin-gallate or EGCG which is the active ingredient in green tea and the bioflavonoid quercetin. These are supplements that have found great use in the treatment of allergies for years with people and are widely available. (3)
For my patients who I have communicated with, I had been suggesting the following preventative course from a supplement standpoint:
- Vitamin D – 10,000 IU’s per day.
- Vitamin A – 10,000 IU’s per day.
- Zinc 15-30 mg, twice per day.
- Selenium – 200mcg per day.
- Vitamin C – up to 5000mg per day. Some people will develop loose stools on high doses of Vitamin C. So, start at 1000mg per day and add a 1000mg per day to your dose until you reach 5000mg. If you develop loose stools before you get there, drop back to the previous dose you could handle. I prefer Vitamin C with bioflavonoids in them, or a combination of one with bioflavonoids and one with higher doses of C.
To this I am now adding:
- Quercetin – 500mg twice per day between meals as a preventative. 1-3 grams per day if exposed or mildly sick.
- Drink lots of green tea every day. If green tea bothers you due to caffeine content, get EGCG – double the bottle recommendations.
These suggestions are meant as an approach you can take before getting the virus, to help prevent it from becoming a severe case. At the onset of symptoms, you think maybe related to Corona Virus, please contact your doctor. When symptoms begin to get moderate or worse, you may need to be hospitalized.
For those who are interested in the science, here are links to papers on the above points.
- https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/hydroxychloroquine-and-azithromycin-as-a-treatment-of-covid-19/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21079686
- https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf5014633
A lot of attention in the press right now regarding the Corona Virus has to do with an anti-malarial drug called hydroxychloroquine. It is also known under the name Plaquenil. It is not a new drug and in fact has been around for about 75 years in the form of hydroxychloroquine. It also has enjoyed a lot of success in the treatment of various autoimmune diseases. Most recently, it has come under discussion as a drug for the treatment of COVID-19 or Corona Virus.
First let me state emphatically, that no double-blind placebo-controlled study, the gold standard to determine if a drug is effective against a certain problem or disease, has yet been done on anything involving the Corona virus. It is too new. These will not be completed for at least a year, and probably longer than that. Of course, people are dying of this virus and everyone is now aware of the problems it is causing and the fear it is engendering.
Recently, President Trump has talked about findings coming out of China, South Korea and other countries that have been dealing with the virus the last 3 months, of the use of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19. It appears that it has been successful in getting people over the acute stage of the virus much quicker than in people not taking the drug. (1)
Hydroxychloroquine does not actually kill the virus itself but acts as an ionophore. An ionophore is a substance that carries an ion across a cellular membrane. In other words, it functions by carrying the mineral zinc inside the cell where the virus replicates. Viruses do not have the ability to reproduce on their own but must hijack the machinery inside the hosts cells to make more viruses. Zinc when it is inside the cell blocks this action. (2)
What is exciting and the reason for me writing this article, is there are other natural products that also help carry zinc inside cells so that it can block and hinder viral replication of Corona viruses. These substances are Epigallocatechin-gallate or EGCG which is the active ingredient in green tea and the bioflavonoid quercetin. These are supplements that have found great use in the treatment of allergies for years with people and are widely available. (3)
For my patients who I have communicated with, I had been suggesting the following preventative course from a supplement standpoint: