Page 15 - IMCJ April 2020

An Ounce of Prevention. – Start with nutritional
support Risk / benefit Analysis of Plaquenil and Zithromax
Because of how new this virus is, it is helpful to For perspective, about 250 Americans die each day
extrapolate from studies of earlier coronaviruses. Basically, from Advil related medication.
research suggests that taking a high potency multivitamin Although the studies are small, the French study had
with vitamin C, vitamin A (preferably retinol), vitamin D, a control group, and an objective outcome measure of the
B complex and zinc are especially important. With zinc viral test being negative at day 6 in 75% of the treated
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being the most important. group, vs 0% of the control group. This is quite significant,
even in a small study. In vitro studies also show Plaquenil
My recommendations? to be highly effective against the Coronavirus.
1. I recommend a high potency multinutrient powder So doing the math for a risk benefit assessment, the
that contains 15 mg of zinc, 500 mg of vitamin C, risk/costs are exceedingly low vs the potential benefit. We
2000 – 5000 units of vitamin A, and 1000 units of don’t have the luxury of waiting 3-6 months for the results
vitamin D. All of these can have dramatic immune of a large RCT.
benefits. The one that I use in my practice is called
the Energy Revitalization System vitamin powder The treatment group also clinically did much better.
(by Enzymatic Therapy). I recommend people start The pills retail for both Zithromax and Plaquenil
on this now, and stay on it long term. totals less than $20. So If everyone over 20 had the option
2. In addition, I have people take zinc 50 mg a day for of receiving them, the cost in the US would be under
one month. I suspect that this will turn out to be the $4 billion. With the contagious period cut from an average
most important nutrient for COVID 19. Zinc is of 20 days to 3-6 days, the effect could be powerful at
poison to the coronavirus, and is basically like cutting the lockdown time and decreasing the spread of
doing spay or neuter on the virus, decreasing its the virus.
ability to reproduce. Zinc also kills coronavirus on Although we do not have this research yet, I suspect
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contact. So when I am out and about, I keep a zinc there is a significant probability of slowing viral growth
lozenge in my mouth. and length of infection decreasing the risk to progression
3. Although there is some debate about Elderberry, in to pneumonia and ARDS ( shock lung ) by 25% or more.
my practice I am recommending both Elderberry This could easily save 250 000 lives. Used as directed, there
and Andrographis (400 mg of a 20% extract 1-2 would likely be almost zero deaths from plaquenil and
twice a day- still available from EuroMedica) to about 47 arrhythmia deaths per million people using it
those who want to add additional treatment. from Zithromax 13 (largely preventable by an EKG
4. Getting good sleep is also critical for optimizing looking for prolonged QT interval and assessing risk with
immune function. the Tisdale score). These mostly in those with underlying
5. In treating thousands of people with CFS and heart disease at the highest risk of dying from Coronavirus.
fibromyalgia, I find that those with adrenal fatigue This compares to an estimated 10 000 to 30 000 deaths per
have much more difficulty with viral infections. So million people who get the virus. So there only needs to be
in those who get irritable when hungry, suggestive an ~0.2% likelihood of this treatment working to make it
of suboptimal adrenal function, I do give adrenal worthwhile . The data suggests a far greater than
support using Adrenaplex (EuroMedica). 50% probability.
6. It is important to also stay hydrated. The IgA
antibodies that are our first line of defense work From a financial analysis:
poorly on a dry environment. We are currently looking at costs of $2 trillion to blunt
the initial effects of the lockdown. So a potential 25 000+%
The importance of social distancing, handwashing, financial return on the investment. Prevention of recession
and other routine precautions has been discussed at length has major health benefits as well.
elsewhere. So I will not go to into that further here. By the time even 3 months passes waiting for large
It is also important to caution people not to take study results, and optimistically one month to increase
ibuprofen related medications, as they have been production of the meds, we will likely have already seen
implicated in being associated with increased progression most of the damage. With viral spread being logarithmic,
to pneumonia and lung failure. now is the time to proceed, before the bulk of the damage
is done. Even if the treatment does not pan out, imho there
Treatment – Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) and is little relative cost/risk vs the probability of major
azithromycin (Zithromax) benefits.
You may have heard a lot of arguments about whether
we should be using Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) and
Zithromax. Imho, the science and common sense very

Teitelbaum—COVID 19 Integrative Medicine • Vol. 19, No. 2 • April 2020 13