Welcome To The Land of COVID Confusion

COVID-19 continues to impact our lives in ways that were seriously unfathomable just 4 weeks ago.

As such we’re doing another deep dive into some of the more important information out there to help you understand more.

So Is Hydroxychloroquine a Miracle Drug?

Do These Meds Actually Work Against COVID-19?

Here’s What We Know

Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) and chloroquine are two medications that have recently been making a lot of headlines as possible treatments for COVID-19.

Hydroxychloroquine is a medication first approved to treat malaria, an infection caused by a parasite typically carried by mosquitoes.

It’s similar in structure to chloroquine, which was first approved by the FDA in 1949.

Hydroxychloroquine, approved in 1955, is typically preferred over chloroquine because it has fewer side effects.

Both are available as pills that are taken by mouth.

Hydroxychloroquine is also approved for long-term use in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

How Do They Work For COVID-19?

Recent in vitro studies (studies done in a petri dish or test tube rather than in animals or humans) have shown that both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine may have antiviral properties against COVID-19.

In studies these medications worked by interfering with the pH levels of human cell membranes. This blocked the virus from entering and multiplying inside the cells.

“pH” is a scale used to specify how acidic or basic (alkaline) a liquid is.

Remember, COVID-19 and other viruses need the components found inside a human cell in order to replicate.

To get inside the cell viruses have to get transported inside the cell through a process called endocytosis.

Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine both seem to have the ability to raise the pH inside cells making the process of endocytosis much more difficult.

Before Hydroxychloroquine

After Hydroxychloroquine

What The Studies Are Saying

Study 1 – March 16, 2020. Researchers from China reported that over 100 people with COVID-19 had been treated with chloroquine. These patients had less severe disease and a shorter illness duration compared to those who did not receive chloroquine.

Study 2 – March 20, 2020. A VERY small study in France reported that people who got 600 mg of hydroxychloroquine had a lower amount of the virus in the body.

Of the 26 people who initially got hydroxychloroquine, 6 people (23%) had to stop treatment because of nausea, worsening disease, leaving the hospital, or death.

6 people in this study also received azithromycin (a common antibiotic) with hydroxychloroquine. These individuals had even lower viral loads at the end of the study compared to those who only got hydroxychloroquine.

Overall Test Results

As you can see by this chart below, the amount of virus decreased much faster using hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin (green line), versus none at all (black line), or just using hydroxychloroquine alone (blue line).

Just remember this is still a VERY small sample size – but is still promising!

Study 3 – March 24, 2020. A small Shanghai study of 30 people with COVID-19, half got 400 mg of hydroxychloroquine for 5 days while the other half did not.

Unlike the two studies above, this study suggested that hydroxychloroquine did not actually make any difference in recovery. 

So while some of the studies look promising, the fact is, studies with many more people are needed to help us understand whether improvements were because of the combination of medications or other factors.

More information on safety is also important, because taking azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine together can also increase the risk of serious side effects i.e. irregular heart rhythm and in some cases even death.

Regardless, based on these early findings, some hospitals worldwide have begun using hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for patients with COVID-19.

As well, the FDA has fast-tracked approval of these medications to help hospitals if needed.

This does not mean that the FDA has approved these medications for the treatment of COVID-19.

What it basically means is that the FDA is willing to allow increased access to these medications by hospitals if deemed viable by the doctors in charge.

Data here is still extremely limited and many questions still exist:

• What’s the right dose?
• When to give it and for how long?
• What’s the true risks and benefits of these medications?
• What’s the true success rate of using these versus other options?

So Should I Be Getting My Hands on Some?

The answer at this time is probably not…

First, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine both require a prescription from your doctor.

Due to the recent increase in demand both medications are currently in short supply.

This has also made it difficult for patients with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus who previously used these medications to get hydroxychloroquine, putting them at increased risk of complications.

As well hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine come with some very SERIOUS potential side effects including:

• headaches / loss of appetite
• diarrhea / upset stomach / stomach pain
• skin rash or itching / hair loss
• mood or mental changes
• blurred vision / reading or seeing difficulties (words disappear, seeing half an object, misty or foggy vision)
• difficulty hearing / ringing in ears
• muscle weakness
• drowsiness
• vomiting
• irregular heartbeats
• convulsions
• difficulty breathing
• And oh ya, permanent heart damage.

Believe It…

From an Ohio newspaper: “A man has died and his wife is under critical care after the couple, both in their 60s, ingested chloroquine phosphate, an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks”

Don’t ever self-medicate without a doctor’s input. That’s pretty much medical Russian roulette.

What’s The Deal With Ventilators?

With confirmed cases of COVID-19 passing the 1 million mark, the enormous scale of the crisis has cast the ventilator as the most necessary armament in the fight against this new, insidious foe.

“Ventilators are to this war what missiles were to World War II,” New York governor Andrew Cuomo said at a recent press conference. 

So What’s a Ventilator?

Simply put, a ventilator takes over the body’s breathing process when disease has caused the lungs to fail.

This gives the patient time to fight off the infection and recover.

Today we’re seeing rates with COVID-19 whereby 1 person in 6 becomes very ill and can develop serious breathing difficulties.

In these severe cases, the virus causes damage to the lungs. The body’s immune system detects this and expands blood vessels so more immune cells enter.

But this can cause fluid to enter the lungs making it harder to breathe causing the body’s oxygen levels to drop fast.

To alleviate this, a machine called a ventilator is used to push air, with increased levels of oxygen, into the lungs.

Ventilators also have a humidifier mechanism built in which modifies and adds both heat and moisture to the air to match the patient’s body temperature.

How A Ventilator Works

Ventilator Demand Is Through The Roof

According to the New York Times (Mar 30th), there are about 170,000 ventilators in the US, while the American Hospital Association estimates 960,000 people will need them over the course of the pandemic.

This is why public health experts continue to recommend that people do whatever they can to slow the spread of the virus so that not all patients need ventilators at the same time.

According to the Financial Post (Mar 26), Canada’s numbers are harder to identify, with reports of between 5000 – 6000 units already in Canada, the demand will be closer to 32,000 – 36,000.

Another issue related to this is having enough of the right staff in place to manage all the ventilators that will be needed. …Ugh…

 USA Ventilator Scenario As End of March

 Canada Ventilator Scenario As End of March

Ventilators Also Have Risks

Using ventilators on patients also comes with serious potential risks.

It’s not like you get super sick, can’t breath well, and boom you get a ventilator and after another 2 days all is good again.

“A ventilator is a complex beast – it can cause a patient trauma if not set up properly,” he said. “The technical aspects are challenging. People have knowledge on varying types of ventilator in other specialities, but may need support in using them in intensive care if they’re unfamiliar with this.” Dr Shondipon Laha

Spending several days or longer on 100 percent oxygen can seriously damage the lungs.

With high pressure from the ventilator, unhealthy lungs tend to become stiffer, so it takes more pressure to expand them, which can cause permanent lung injury.

As well, there can be increased risk of bacterial infection from the open, moist ventilator tubes flowing into the lungs.

The Best Thing Here Is Still PREVENTION

With all of these issues where the cure (for lack of a better term) may be worse than the disease itself, the key here is always prevention. 

Social Distancing Is Vital!!

The key to reducing spread is through serious adherence to social distancing rules.

The Math Behind Social Distancing

 If you think social distancing is silly or not really needed, think again.

The math is clear, 1 person in a non-socially distant environment can infect up to 400+ people in 30 days or less.

In a socially distant environment that can fall to approx. 15 people. It’s not even close. 

So Flattening The Curve Is Critical

By limiting our exposure to the virus right now, we can help prevent the sharp spike in cases that’s already in some areas overwhelming medical facilities and personnel.

If not, we will see a sudden steep increase in cases that exceeds hospitals’ capabilities to respond, a gradual increase over time – “flattening the curve” – will ensure that supply better matches demand for care during this dangerous time.

We’ve actually been here before.

In 1918 the great influenza pandemic swept the globe killings tens of millions if not more.

Have a look at the death rates between Philadelphia and St Louis.

Over this time St Louis moved – within 2 days –  on its social distancing roll out. Philly did nothing for 3 weeks.

Look at the difference in deaths! It’s simple math, fast action and adherence WILL save lives.

1918 Flu Pandemic – Philly Vs. St. Louis

So How Are We Doing?

Meh… Still aways to go here in North America, and this is why we are still 2 – 3 weeks away (minimum) from an apex (or peak) in deaths and cases. 

USA Social Distancing Stats To End of March

Canada Social Distancing Stats To End of March

The 1 Big Thing You Can Control

Keeping Your Immunity Levels High ↑

Any doctor will tell you that the best defense is your own internal natural defences – a strong immune system.

Even ventilators are there to simply keep you breathing while your immune system fights back.

It’s the alpha and the omega.

Just like social distancing, a HUGE key to winning this battle – other than proper, frequent hand washing-  is keeping your natural immunity strong and at the ready.

In the past, we have talked about ginger and zinc as immunity boosters, but we wanted to spend a but more time on a true super combo…

Vitamin C and MSM

The Ultimate Immunity Supporting Duo

So What Exactly Is Vitamin C?

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is a primary water-soluble, non-enzymatic nutrient / antioxidant.

Vitamin C is a remarkably versatile nutrient. It plays an important role in a wide range of different systems and processes throughout your body.

From helping to heal cuts and bruises, to supporting your adrenals when you’re under stress… Vitamin C has a part to play across so many different functions.

This vitamin is best known as an immunity superstar, and for good reason.

Vitamin C – has been shown to support a vast number of immune mechanisms in your body.

For example, your white blood cells are a vital component of your immune system that battle, trap and destroy invading bacteria and viruses.

You have several different types of white blood cell, each of which helps to fight off illness-causing viruses and bacteria in a different way.

Vitamin C helps to stimulate both the production and function of all types of white blood cells.

Vitamin c also helps your body to produce important antibodies which are proteins that bind to invading microbes to help neutralize them.

Vitamin c also has powerful antioxidant properties also help to protect certain white blood cells from the very toxic compounds they produce in their fight against pathogens.

Vitamin C And COVID-19

Reports coming out of China have claimed they have successfully treated a number of COVID-19 patients with high-dose vitamin C.

The Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University recently registered a phase 2 clinical trial to test the efficacy of vitamin C infusions for the treatment of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) associated with the novel coronavirus.

“We need to broadcast a message worldwide very quickly: Vitamin C (small or large dose) does no harm to people and is the one of the few, if not the only, agent that has a chance to prevent us from getting, and can treat, COVID-19 infection.

Richard Z. Cheng, MD, PhD, International Vitamin C China Epidemic Medical Support Team Leader

Some North American hospitals have also been successfully improving the symptoms of severely ill coronavirus patients by immediately administering 1,500 milligrams of intravenous vitamin C, and repeating this 4 times daily. 

Now as the epicenter switches to the USA, the New York Post released an article on March 24th, showing that some New York hospitals were turning to large doses of Vitamin C to treat very ill COVID-19 patients.

“patients who received vitamin C did significantly better than those who did not get vitamin C. It helps a tremendous amount, but it is not highlighted because it’s not a sexy drug.”

Dr. Andrew Weber, Critical Care Specialist, Northwell Health New York

Now to be fair, the success of this high-dose vitamin c is certainly dependent on the prior health of the patient and the severity of their current illness, but treating mild to moderate cases of this disease with high-dose vitamin C seems to be helping and is acting as a safe and effective support option.

This also means it can surely help those trying to stay well and fight off COVID-19.

However others in the media downplay the use of vitamin C claiming there is little evidence to support its use? So what to believe?

At Happy Body, we’re all for doctors and science, but we’re also realists.

We know that there is little funding for large scale research studies for natural options like vitamin C in mainstream medicine and health mainly because these natural options CANNOT be patented, and therefore the profitability / business case to fund these types of large studies is rarely considered.

That is a sad fact, and a key downside of our current medical system.

Vitamin c IS being used effectively and should be considered an important immune support option for many.

How To Best Get Vitamin C For This Use Case?

For battling viruses, the question is do I use supplements versus natural food sources?

In normal life, natural sources may be a good solution.

Best Natural Sources of Vit C

However for many, optimal levels of vitamin C intake – like Organic Sulfur – are an issue.

Thus supplementation is the best choice for many.

Unfortunately many supplemental forms of vitamin C are not absorbed that well.

In hospitals they have access to injectable vitamin C which goes straight into the bloodstream.

For the rest of us, we have to depend on available vitamin C pills or powders. 

The issue is that many of these forms of vitamin C while providing more than natural sources, are not absorbed well in the digestive system. According to some studies only about 18% of the vitamin C we get from food is available in our blood stream, and the amount of vitamin C we get from normal capsule or powdered supplements can be far less.

Source: J Pharm Sci. 1982 Mar;71(3):282-5. Ascorbic acid absorption in humans: a comparison among several dosage forms. Yung S, Mayersohn M, Robinson JB.

You can take more vitamin C servings in an attempt to optimize these levels, but this can quickly lead to digestive problems like upset stomach and diarrhea.

Enter MSM…

Organic Sulfur (pure MSM) has been proven in studies to vastly increase the absorption of many nutrients and supplements in 2 key ways:

1. In the small intestine, the addition of Organic Sulfur helps to optimize the absorption rates from the mucosal layer of the digestive tract – which BTW is made primarily from Sulfur. 

2. MSM also makes cell membranes across the body more active and permeable. This allows your cells (including white cells) to vastly increase absorption and uptake of nutrients and oxygen from the bloodstream.

Proven In Studies

In studies, rates of absorption for various compounds were up to 200% greater when applied using MSM versus without. 

This is directly due to MSM’s unique permeability enhancing properties.

Absorption Rates With MSM Vs. Without

Source: Min Zhang, Ira G. Wong, Jerry B. Gin & Naseem H. Ansari (2009) Assessment of (MSM) methylsulfonylmethane as a permeability enhancer. 16:5, 243-248, DOI: 10.1080/10717540902896362

This is why we always suggest Organic Sulfur / MSM daily to go along with all of the other benefits that it provides to immune support and inflammation management.

So How Much Vit C / Day?

The RDA for vitamin c is 60 – 95 mg / daily, but many natural health professionals today consider that too low.

For example in hospitals, doctors are injecting  up to 12 grams (12000 mg) daily.

But before you rush out and start jamming vitamin c in your face, remember this amount is typically injected so it by passes the digestive system.

If you take 12 grams orally you are in for some serious toilet time, as the most common side effect of high vitamin C intake is digestive distress like diarrhea and nausea.

You’re most likely to experience these types of digestive symptoms if you consume more than 2,000 mg at once.

Thus, a tolerable upper limit (TUL) of vit c should be around 2,000 mg max, or based on your health professional’s advice of course.

If you’re experiencing digestive problems as a result of taking too much vitamin C, simply cut back your dose.

Please also note that if you have high iron in your blood or kidney stones, you should always talk with your doctor first before starting (or increasing) vitamin c.

What’s The Best Supplemental Form of Vit C?

Like MSM, additive-free Organic Sulfur is the best form due to its absorption rates and potency.

In terms of vitamin c, the same principles apply, make the best form “liposomal” vitamin c.

This form of vitamin c uses a liposomal layer as transport (or a vessel) for the vitamin c.

This vessel helps your cells better absorb it, and with the added Organic Sulfur, your body will be able to increase absorption even further.

You can find liposomal vitamin c online in places like Amazon or in many health food stores.

So Stay Safe & Be Well!

As always, we wish you wellness and calm in this nutty time. It’s so easy to get lost in the news and all the drama. 

Take time to call family and friends, try some meditation, go for a (socially distant) walk, drink lots of water, boost your immune and keep washing those hands, and have a laugh when you can…

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Questions or Want To Order?

Get In Touch 9:00am – 4:30pm EST (New York Time)

Remember, if we are unable to answer your call, leave a message we WILL call you back asap.

Article Research Credits: 

• World Health Organization
• Wikipedia
• CNN
• The Guardian
• The New York Times
• WebMD
• The Wall Street Journal

Disclaimer: Information presented on this site is of a general nature used for educational and information purposes only, it should NEVER be used as medical advice or as a basis for self diagnosis. Statements or opinions about products and health conditions have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration (The FDA). Products and information stated herein are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. If you have any concerns about your own health or are wanting to use a new mineral supplement, vitamin or herbal supplement, you should always consult with your physician or other healthcare professional first. This is the same for your pet, always first consult with your veterinarian before using any new pet supplement or vitamin first.