Bats harbor more than 400 coronaviruses, which are thought not transmissible to humans until the virus infects an intermediate, amplification host. The intermediate host allows re-assortment or drift in the virus, which makes it transmissible to humans. Past intermediate hosts have included horses, pigs, primates and pangolins. Bird viruses can also hide inside host bacteria and parasites, making the viral infection worse and more difficult to treat in patients with chronic illness. The history of emerging bird viruses shows…..
Social distancing in New York, to slow covid-19, may be particularly difficult. The city is densely populated and has thousands of high rise apartments and commercial buildings. Two weeks ago hundreds of passengers returning from overseas were crowded together at customs, in NY, facilitating spread. People in New York City are going outside, walking, exercising, and still maintaining their social distance. However, most people in NY are required to use elevators to get in and out of buildings. Elevators are…..
Covid-19 presents the greatest risk to patients with chronic diseases and the elderly. Chronic chlamydia pneumonia is common in patients with heart and lung disease, and in the elderly, as are other forms of chronic infection. Viruses can hide and live inside other pathogens; and chlamydia species, other bacterial pathogens, and parasites can harbor viruses and can cause a variety of chronic diseases. Chronic chlamydia pneumonia is known to attack endothelium in the heart and lung. Covid-19 patients require…..
We are excited to share the link to a 90-minute interview we did with Jeremy Cornish, Lac, last September. We hope you watch and enjoy the entire podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbG6mzYUnyU&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR07cSRiUzBpr1LyW6_XXDtifWuQI9z0N3RTdP37Hv9HXv6oyu1qvRAe1gg
John Rosemond, Ph.D., a well-known psychologist and author, said giving a name to a disease or disorder is not the equivalent of understanding and knowing what to do about it. The statement was intended to apply to the field of psychology, but also applies to many medical specialties and many chronic diseases—describing symptoms and naming diseases is not the equivalent of understanding and knowing what to do about the chronic disease. Identifying root causes is the way forward, in understanding…..
A 2016 NIH article reviewed causes and treatments for cytokine storms, caused by H1N1 and H5N1 influenza. H1N1 and H5N1 caused severe disease and significant mortality, from cytokine storms. The article reported macrolides acted against pathogens, had anti-inflammatory effects, and improved mortality. Gamma globulin is used to boost immunity, in a variety of chronic diseases. Macrolides and immunoglobulins were found helpful in severely ill H1N1 and H5N1 patients, and reduced mortality. For many years, Dr. Merchant used azithromax and…..
Medical science has amassed vast amounts of knowledge about the human body and disease, which has led to important discoveries. Medical knowledge has been sub-divided by medical, surgical, and research specialties; and by body parts, diseases, and treatments. Chronic diseases are defined by symptoms and findings, with each new symptom or finding becoming a newly named disease or sub-type of an existing disease, making it difficult to recognize commonalities in chronic disease and the connection between chronic diseases and co-morbid…..
In 1898, Friedrich Loeffler and Paul Frosh found evidence that livestock foot-and-mouth disease was caused by an infectious particle, smaller than a bacterium; which was the first clue to viruses. Viruses are acellular, meaning lacking a cell wall. Some viruses have a protein coat or “capsid”, some have a membrane on the surface, and some are enclosed in an envelope of fat and protein molecules, which protect the virus from the immune system. (Covid-19 is enclosed in fat and protein…..
Hydroxychloraquine, a/k/a plaquenil, is an anti-parasitic drug that has been used to treat uncomplicated malaria and for prevention of malaria during travel. Historically, soldiers who took anti-malarial medicines reported improvement in their rheumatoid arthritis and lupus symptoms. Today, hydroxychloroquine is used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis; and it is being tested in covid-19. If hydroxychloraquine successfully treats and/or mitigates symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, we should ask whether rheumatoid arthritis and lupus are caused, in whole or…..
We discussed the evolution of pathogens and danger to humans from animal pathogens, in “The Origin of Disease: The War Within”. We discussed the danger of bird pathogens, the possibility of a co-epidemic of psittacosis during the Spanish Flu pandemic, and the danger of co-infections. We discussed the Zika virus, in Brazil, and how scientists searched country-wide for patients with the Zika virus; but failed to test for co-infections common in Brazil, to determine if co-infections increased the risk of…..