Two great minds of our time are author Malcolm Gladwell and Dr. Thomas Sowell. Gladwell, who wrote the bestseller “The Tipping Point” and other books, was born in Jamaica. Dr. Sowell, who is a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, was raised in Harlem back in the day.
One thing these two great minds have in common is their ability to figure things out, not accepting things just because they may appear a certain way, but really figuring them out. I thought about Dr. Sowell’s phenomenal book “Ever Wonder Why?” as I sat down to write this article.
Dr. Sowell does not simply accept what he sees on the news or hears from politicians or others. He truly does wonder why, and figures out why and how things happen.
In my medical practice, we are forever wondering why and how we can always make things better for my patients. If you are like many of my patients, you are tired of COVID-19 and all the restrictions and confusion in its wake.
As the pandemic winds down, there will be a number of things up for debate. More importantly, there are a few critical lessons we have learned and want to share.
As a well-trained and highly experienced medical doctor, I was long ago taught that science is not about anyone’s opinion. It’s not even what a group of doctors or researchers think. Science is solely about the facts. Unfortunately, many times facts can be hard to nail down.
We may long debate the value of lockdowns, masks, and social distancing. How much did they help? How much did they actually hinder? Some states never locked down and did very well. Overall, the jury is still out on these measures.
But three extremely important lessons were learned by those of us on the medical front lines. I am still horrified that many of my fellow physicians simply followed political pronouncements and government orders and sat back and let patients infected with COVID-19 stay home until things either got better or took a dangerous turn for the worse.
That is simply not how we medical doctors are trained to care for our patients. It is our sacred duty to use safe, effective and reasonable treatments whenever possible.
In my medical practice we began researching COVID-19 and possible treatments immediately after we learned of its existence well over a year ago, and we continue to do so to this day. The three most critical lessons we learned were:
- Don’t be a helpless victim. Constantly strengthen and fine tune your amazing immune system. It is your front line of defense.
- Follow basic science, not political science. One leads to greater health. The other leads to someone else’s agenda.
- Vitamin D deficiencies are a leading cause of serious viral infections.
Protect your immune system
Like a fine-tuned military fighting force, the immune system is an amazing system of organs, tissues, cells, and “good” bacteria that can hunt down and destroy invaders that can harm us. To protect it, reduce your stress. Stress weakens your immune system. Pray. Meditate. Do yoga. Exercise.
Take a good amount of vitamin C to rebuild the immune system. World vitamin C expert Thomas Levy, MD, JD suggests that we take vitamin C to develop “bowel tolerance.” Different for each of us, that level can easily range from 2,000 to 6,000 mg daily divided into three doses throughout the day.
When someone tells you that’s dangerous, let them know that a male goat, which unlike a human being can produce his own vitamin C, can produce 13,000 mg daily! And far more if stressed.
Also avoid excessive use of antibiotics, which can harm the protective, friendly bacteria that actually protect us. Use probiotics if antibiotics are necessary.
Follow basic science, not political science
Over a year ago, renowned French physician, professor and microbiologist Dr. Didier Raoult published a study that confirmed that early use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a drug I have safely prescribed for decades for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, was highly effective against COVID-19 when used with zinc and an antibiotic. For that, he was brutally trashed in the American press.
We tried it short term and it worked great when used early with zinc and azithromycin. And without any noted side effects.
Likewise, another cheap medicine was shown early on to positively treat COVID-19, and once again the big media and political guns did everything to attack this medicine. Each time these and other positive treatments were revealed, political pundits found a way to minimize or trash the results. In my estimation, that was criminal.
Social disparity or vitamin D deficiency?
Military commanders must be able to communicate with their soldiers on the battlefield to wage war against the enemy. Likewise, the immune system must be able to communicate with itself to fight against invading bacteria, viruses or cancers.
Vitamin D, which is actually a prohormone, is critical for cytokines, small protein communicators, to allow the immune system to communicate with itself. Think of cytokines as tiny cell phones that can snap off text messages to each other. Without Vitamin D, the texts stop and bad things happen.
Mayo-trained pathologist Ryan Cole, MD is experienced in immunology and virology. Dr. Cole states that the evidence is clear that the main reason most succumbed to COVID-19 is a vitamin D deficiency.
One cause of vitamin D deficiency is living above the 36th Parallel in the winter. That means all northern tier states. In the winter, the angle of the sun, critical for our own vitamin D production, is not able to help us create Vitamin D. On top of all of that, for those of us with darker skin, we require more daily exposure to sunshine than lighter-skinned people to generate enough vitamin D.
Another serious problem is that vitamin D is fat soluble. It is absorbed into our fat. For those who are obese, it takes far more vitamin D to keep the immune system communicating.
Dr. Cole agrees that there are indeed social disparities. However, he states that the key reason we darker-skinned people may suffer more serious issues from COVID-19 is not social disparity. It is a serious vitamin D deficiency.
So what do we do?
I often check my patients’ vitamin D levels, and I often find serious deficiencies that can take a month or more to correct. Many of my patients go on high-dose vitamin D for six weeks or more until their levels rise.
If you are not sure about your vitamin D levels, find out what they are. Vitamin D is a cheap supplement that could save your health, or even your life.
Many still have fond memories of a time when we in our community relied more on each other to share and care for each other. Instead of jumping to conclusions that may often be wrong, learn to think like Malcolm Gladwell and Dr. Thomas Sowell. Wonder why something is happening.
When it comes to your health, first wonder why. Find and follow facts, not agendas.
Stay healthy. Stay strong. Stay blessed.
Dr. Alyse Hamilton is the founder and medical director of the Advanced Health and Vitality Center in Edina, Minnesota. Dr. Hamilton offers her patients positive results from her exceptional professional training and an extraordinary passion to provide safe, proven and effective treatments for adrenal insufficiency, thyroid disorders, chronic fatigue and pain, menopause, andropause (male menopause), fibromyalgia and age-related conditions.
She partners with her patients to guide them to true health from the inside out. Her goal is to ensure that her patients reclaim their energy, memory and vitality so that they can once again enjoy the things that are missing in their lives. Her practice also offers IV nutritional support with the Myer’s Cocktail and Glutathione, Alpha Lipoic Acid, and the Riordan protocol for high dose vitamin C infusion therapy.
"follow" - Google News
June 12, 2021 at 10:49AM
https://ift.tt/3gwEK1Y
As COVID-19 winds down, find and follow the facts - MSR News Online
"follow" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35pbZ1k
https://ift.tt/35rGyU8
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "As COVID-19 winds down, find and follow the facts - MSR News Online"
Post a Comment