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Medicine for People!

December

Published: December 2022

Note: This information was current when written. Please check with your own healthcare provider before taking action.

Protect Yourself from Respiratory Illness This Winter

  • How Bad is COVID-19 Now?

  • Protect Yourself from All Respiratory Illnesses

  • Mask and Distance

  • Vaccination

  • Early Treatment

  • Preservative-free Influenza Vaccine

  • Next Year's Vaccine

  • Dr. Rienstra on Vacation

You know from the news that COVID-19 is now the third leading cause of death in the United States. The 9th leading cause is pneumonia and respiratory viruses, including influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Many hospital systems are again overwhelmed.

What's Happened to COVID-19?

This graph <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Timeline_of_daily_new_confirmed_COV ID-19_deaths_worldwide_per_million_people.png> shows the death rate for the entire duration of the pandemic.

As you see, COVID-19 started off deadly and is now petering out into less dangerous mutant versions, just like the Spanish Flu of 1918 petered out into the variants addressed by your annual flu shot. And like the 1918 flu, COVID-19's variations will be with us to one degree or another for decades.

Unfortunately, influenza and RSV are more severe this year. So, while keeping up as normal a life as possible, please remember my secrets for staying out of our overcrowded emergency departments and ICUs.

Protect Yourself from All Respiratory Illness

Mask and Distance

KN95 mask material has the same filtering efficiency as N95 mask material. KN95 masks differ in that they hook behind the ears rather than around the head. They do not fit as tightly but are readily available.

  • KN95s are way better than what you had available at the beginning of the pandemic.
  • Be sure they fit before you buy a bunch.
  • Please keep one in a pocket of every coat that you wear.
  • With friends and family, wear a mask if any of you have a respiratory illness.
  • Any time you are around someone unusually susceptible, wear a mask.

That said, we do need regular exposure to other people <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/03/i-contain-multitudes-ed-yong- review-bacteria-microbes> 's germs to be healthy.

Don't wear a mask all the time. You need to eat, show your face to your loved ones, and breathe easily when you exercise. If you are not immunosuppressed by drugs or illness, no one will consider you suicidal to eat in a restaurant.

Consider a mask something like a seat belt or bicycle helmet: an appliance you use when you need it, something to reduce your risk of harm. Neither seatbelt, helmet or mask is perfect-all are worth using.

Vaccination

Yes, there are people who have reactions to vaccines. Of the ones I've seen, all were minor and temporary. My long-COVID patients aren't so lucky.

The best way to judge the safety of a vaccine is to look at what we call "all-cause mortality". Sure, the vaccine might prevent deaths from COVID, but if more people die from the vaccine, then what's the point? In the case below, researchers identified 12,262 Swedes <https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(22)00162-4/ fulltext> in nursing homes who received three doses of COVID vaccine. They matched them with 12,262 Swedes of the same age and living in the same situation who had received an extra, fourth, booster.

Then they just waited and counted the bodies. This is one of my favorite medical research tools. You don't have to argue about who actually had COVID, or who died from what, or how many had trouble with the vaccine. Even a simple guy like me can understand a body count.

These days, much medical research is behind expensive paywalls, so I couldn't find any better graphics and comparisons than this. But, as you can see, just 7% of the four-dose group needed a coffin after 100 days compared 11% of the three-dose group.

If four shots lead to fewer dead bodies than three, then three shots are certainly better than two or none.

Take a look at the graph and decide which group you want to be in.

Early Treatment

Please see previous newsletters for more detailed information. These measures are effective for most common respiratory viruses including COVID and influenza. The sooner you begin them, the more effective they will be. Except for Paxlovid, they will still help later on.

Paxlovid: if you have tested positive for COVID within the previous five days, this prescription anti-viral is a no brainer. The most common side effect I've seen is sleep loss after a few days, and it certainly knocks COVID on its butt quickly.

Zinc acetate lozenge: Currently the only reliable brand of which I am aware is Life Extension. No other zinc lozenge will help you. Zinc is vital in our immune system's response to COVID-19, influenza, RSV, and other respiratory viruses. These lozenges dissolve extremely slowly, so people often take the lozenge out of their mouths two or three times before they finish it. Remember those jawbreaker candies?

Curcumin: This gives turmeric its color and flavor. It's a powerful immune system modulator. My favorite brand for respiratory protection is Meriva by Thorne.

Vitamin C: I suggest 1000 milligrams (one gram) twice daily.

Preservative-free Influenza Vaccine

These cover four varieties of influenza. We have a few doses left. Please call soon if you wish one.