Doctors for Disaster Preparedness Newsletter – Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1
A COVID-19 medical kit also needs to be a general medical kit, because after two years, we not only still have COVID, but worsening shortages of essential items owing to supply-chain breakdown—and of available medical personnel.
Our May 2020, September 2020, and May 2021 issues are still pertinent, and our updated medical kit (https://ddponline.org/medkit/) very much needed. The government and medical establishment’s hostility to early off-label treatments and physicians who prescribe them has only intensified. Gene-therapy vaccines are the only accepted and often mandated option aside from monoclonal antibodies (now being rationed) or the new, still mostly unavailable Pfizer and Merck “wonder drugs” Paxlovid and molnupiravir.
Diagnostic supplies every household should have include a blood pressure monitor, preferably the kind that goes on the upper arm. Check its accuracy at the doctor’s office. Get a clinical thermometer and be sure that it works before you get sick. Some digital thermometers don’t, and the old mercury thermometer, which lasted forever and needed no batteries, may be unobtainable. Have at least two pulse oximeters so you can compare questionable readings, and check your baseline oxygen saturation.
It is good to have a nebulizer, preferably one that plugs into the wall unless you need a portable one for travel. One internet source is https://justnebulizers.com/. Many pharmacies have them, but some require a prescription. It is better to have an unused one in the closet, along with mouthpieces and tubing for multiple users, than not be able to get one if you need it.
A very large number of drugs and nutraceuticals have been recommended. Most have not been evaluated in large randomized controlled studies, particularly not in combinations. In sick patients, one may want to use a combination of drugs with different mechanisms of action, guided by how the patient is doing instead of by a meta-analysis. Note that much “expert” guidance comes from “in silica” (computer) models, not from in vitro (laboratory) or in vivo experiments or from real-world patients.
As Dr. Richard Urso pointed out at a recent meeting (tinyurl.com/mvt92963), “We are always going to be faced with new and untreatable disorders, and often the answers are already in our toolbox.” Although an ophthalmologist, he previously worked in tissue-culture laboratories, has successfully used repurposed drugs to prevent scarring in eye procedures, and has treated more than 1,000 COVID patients.
Dr. Urso’s “new favorite drug” is cyproheptadine (Periactin), an H1 histamine antagonist commonly used to treat allergy symptoms. It also has anti-platelet actions and blocks serotonin more quickly than fluvoxamine. This may be important for cells in the lung that may be responsible for the hypersensitivity pneumonia. Another favorite is fenofibrate, most commonly used to lower cholesterol and triglycerides. It also has antiviral, antithrombotic, and antitumor effects. Other repurposed drugs that Dr. Urso discussed at the 2021 annual meeting of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (https://tinyurl.com/2p9btabd) include montelukast (Singulair), dutasteride (Avodart), colchicine, and melatonin. (https://tinyurl.com/23kyzn32, seeaaps-21-urso.pdf).
AAPS has posted many videos pertaining to COVID (rumble.com/c/AAPS).
RECIPES
Dr. Peter McCullough’s COVID preparedness kit contains zinc tablets (50 mg), vitamin D3 (5,000 iu), vitamin C (3,000 mg), quercetin (500 mg), and a home-made gargle/ mouth rinse/ nasal spray. To prepare this, add 2 tsp of 10% povidone iodine (Betadine), or hydrogen peroxide if allergic to iodine, plus a pinch of salt, to 6 oz water, preferably distilled. Nasal atomizer spray bottles are available on amazon. Or you can use a Q-tip to apply some to the nasal mucosa. Use twice daily for pre-exposure prophylaxis or every 4 hours for post-exposure prophylaxis or treatment. In one study, this regimen reduced hospitalization and death rates by more than 80%. Dr. McCullough suggests following with Listerine or Scope mouthwash (https://tinyurl.com/274da77k). Others have suggested adding the 10% Betadine to the mouthwash, 3 Tbsp per 1 liter bottle.
Nebulized hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is used or recommended by a number of physicians, in varying concentrations from 0.04% to 3% (it should not irritate your nose), and is condemned by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (https://tinyurl.com/yz965brc). Start with 3% food-grade peroxide, and dilute with normal saline, which you can prepare by adding 1 tsp unprocessed salt (e.g., Himalayan salt) to 1 pint distilled water. Half and half peroxide and saline would give a concentration of 1.5%. When the nebulizer is filled with the diluted peroxide solution, you might add 2 drops of Lugol’s solution. Some do about four treatments a day when feeling sick with a respiratory virus, and one treatment after being in a high-risk environment (tinyurl.com/84p7un6j).
Drxmd.com suggests considering nebulized vitamin C and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) as a less harsh alternative to peroxide, and offers commentary on nutritional measures and off-label drugs. The FDA has made it much more difficult to obtain NAC. It may still be available online, though not from amazon.com, and grocery stores such as Natural Grocers in Tucson may carry it. It is a precursor to glutathione, which is depleted by Tylenol—keep this in mind when treating COVID symptoms.
A small series showed safety and possible benefit (https://tinyurl.com/2p9dvk2y). Thomas Levy, M.D., describes anecdotal success in Colombia (tinyurl.com/5n7yfn29).
The idea of inhaling warm moist air as a way to denature respiratory viruses, presented by Dan Lee Dimke, was considered so dangerous that it was disappeared from popular internet sites, but still can be found (tinyurl.com/wrydz8r). In a rare comment from an independent physician that appeared in the July 2021 e-newsletter of the Pima County (Arizona) Medical Society, Tucson oncologist Suresh Katakkar writes: “Since the COVID-19 pandemic started I have been using the fabric steamer [to steam my face, nose, and throat] for two minutes after coming home from an outside trip, such as shopping, etc. I have asked my neighbors who are also elderly like me to do the same. We all have had no infection despite the outdoor essential trips in the crowded areas.” He also uses an ultraviolet wand to disinfect his clothing (https://tinyurl.com/yfrhrcs5).
OZONE
Ozone has many therapeutic applications, including in viral diseases, seldom considered by mainstream physicians (https://tinyurl.com/yc88bnzy), but as a disinfecting agent it is well established in the wine, food-processing, and other industries. It deserves consideration for rapid, safe disinfection of airplanes, trains, buses, hospital rooms, and many other areas (https://tinyurl.com/4jhkstj7).