“Daily consumption for nuts and seeds was associated with a lower prevalence of NAFLD in non-Mediterranean, US adults, although the benefits seem to be greater in females across all categories of nut and seed consumption groups compared with nonconsumers. Both males and females presented with lower prevalence of NAFLD with intakes of 15–30 g/d.”
“Are we in the midst of mass formation psychosis?”
Are you ready to give up on the vaccines? Despite brisk uptake of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines starting in early 2021, there were more U.S. COVID-19 deaths in 2021 than in the first year of the pandemic, 2020. Are you gonna blame the un-vax’d, like Biden, Fauci, and CNN? Right now we’re seeing the highest “case rates” we’ve ever seen, despite 62% of the population being fully vaccinated.
We just need a more people vax’d, right? We’ll have herd immunity when 75% of us are vax’d, right?
The founder of an anti-vaccine mandate group of Mississippi physicians said he was fired from his job at Yazoo City hospital emergency room on Friday. Dr. John Witcher, an emergency physician working at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Yazoo City, said in a video his firing came after taking three patients off FDA-approved COVID-19 medication and replacing it with ivermectin. Baptist Memorial says he was working as an independent physician and was not a hospital employee.
They say Dr Witcher was working as an emergency physician in the emergency room. In my part of the world, it would be highly unusual for an ER physician to stop an active order for remdesivir ordered by another physician. Once the decision is made to admit the patient to the hospital, care is turned over to another physician and the emergency doc is out of the picture. I don’t think we have the full story here.
I received the following comment recently from a reader in Africa, on a column I wrote a while back regarding natural immunity. It captures the essence of my daily inner dialogue.
“Arguments from privileged countries. We in Africa have little access to vaccines, boosters, etc. The question we should be asking is, how is Africa managing? You people have already caused mayhem over Omicron. Our good doctors from South Africa have told us not to panic, but the rest of the world is in the highest panic mode yet … your countries’ have over 70% vaccinated, boosted etc. You should be at peace … you will die of fear.”
* * *
There are four basic conditions which need to be met in order for a society to be vulnerable to mass hypnosis. The first of which is a lack of societal bonding. It is easily argued that members of Western society struggled with loneliness long before the pandemic, and then with the ongoing lockdowns, isolation, and general fear of one another, this lack of community has continued to a dangerous degree.
The second condition is met when the majority of people view their lives as being without purpose or meaning. A recent poll of young people in the UK revealed that 89 percent of those aged 16-29, “believe that their lives have no meaning or purpose.” Desmet also cites studies showing that half of all adults believe that their jobs are completely meaningless and are basically “sleepwalking” through their day.
Free floating anxiety is the third condition for the rise of mass formation. A quick count of the number of anxiety/depression medications prescribed each year, confirms that there is no arguing the crushing levels of anxiety prevalent in our communities.
And the fourth condition is high levels of frustration and aggression, with no discernible cause. If you spend any time driving or on social media these days, you will experience the open hostility present in the world today.
Posted onJanuary 6, 2022|Comments Off on COVID-19: Rogan Interviewed Robert Malone, M.D.
You have to choose. Will it be the red pill or the blue pill?
If you believe the current political/media/globalist propaganda on COVID-19, this three-hour interview may change your mind. I don’t know how you can see the interview without opening a Spotify account and downloading their app. After that, search for The Joe Rogan Experience podcast then search for Dr Robert Malone. The interview was in Dec 2021. You can speed up the interview so it doesn’t take three hours. I listened at 1.5 x speed.
Herein, Dr Malone recommends against vaccination if you’ve already had COVID-19 because that that would increase your risk of an adverse effect from the vaccine. Which you don’t need anyway because the immunity you develop from being sick with COVID is better than the immune response to the vaccine.
Posted onJanuary 5, 2022|Comments Off on The Next Epidemic: NASH?
Stages of liver damage. Healthy, fatty, liver fibrosis, and cirrhosis.
Experts are predicting an epidemic of NASH: non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. In other words, fat build-up in the liver with associated inflammation and scarring (fibrosis). Which is related to it’s precursor, NAFLD: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. These are significant issues particularly for folks with type 2 diabetes. From Diabetes Care:
“The clinical burden of both NAFLD overall and NASH specifically has increased steadily since the 1980s. NAFLD currently affects 25% of the global population and >60% of patients with T2D [type 2 diabetes]. Studies evaluating the prevalence of NASH suggest that it may involve an estimated 1.5%–6.5% of the general population and as many as 37% of people with T2D. Prevalence of NASH is expected to increase by 63% between 2015 and 2030. Although these numbers seem substantially lower than those for NAFLD overall, they still translate to 4.9 million to 21 million Americans and more than 100 million individuals worldwide. Modeling data estimate that the number of patients with NASH-related advanced fibrosis will likely double by 2030, resulting in 800,000 liver-related deaths.”
NASH is already the number 1 indication for liver transplantation in women, patients older than 54 years, and Medicare recipients. Beyond the significant impairment of quality of life experienced by individuals with NASH and advanced fibrosis, Younossi et al. estimated in 2017 that the overall lifetime direct costs of NASH in the United States would be $222.6 billion, and approximately $95.4 billion over the next 2 decades, suggesting a substantial economic burden.”
Loss of excess weight is one way to combat or avoid non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Let me help you.
The doses vary, depending on body weight, age, tolerance to the drug. Generally, the higher doses are for younger and heavier folks. If one gets plentiful sunlight exposure, the oral vitamin D may not be needed.
Other strategies during disease surges (or always?):
Regular exercise
Lose excess weight, especially if obese (BMI over 30)
Maintain normal blood sugars (if diabetic, keep HgbA1c under 6.5%)
Avoid close, prolonged contact with coughing and sneezing people, especially in enclosed spaces
Frequent hand-washing if exposed to public doorknobs, elevator buttons, or other potentially contaminated surfaces, or if around sick (coughing and/or sneezing) people
Avoid sick people who are coughing and sneezing
Eat healthful food
Did you notice I haven’t mentioned masks? I’m not a big believer. Do I wear an N-95 mask when I’m seeing a COVID-19 patient at the hospital? You bet. And the mask was fit-tested. Is that testing available to the general public? Not that I’m aware.
Do I have great data to support all these strategies? No, but some. Are they recommended by the CDC or NIH (Nat’l Institutes of Health)? I don’t know or care. I’ve lost faith in them. I’m afraid they’ve been bought and paid for by Big Pharma (and others?).
I don’t know about your personal health and medical history. I’m not your doctor. If you’re considering any of these recommendations, consult your personal physician before implementation.
The patient is wise to look away. If you watch the needle go in, it’ll hurt more.
I was motivated to write this post by the failures and risks of the rushed vaccines. Vaccination might be helpful if you are sickly, over 65, or have underlying conditions such as diabetes, active cancer, a poor immune system, obesity (especially BMI over 35), or some other co-morbidities. I see both very healthy, vigorous 65-year-olds, and sickly 65-year-olds. Which one are you? If you’re over 80, you may have nothing to lose by vaccinating. Average U.S. life expectancy is 79 years, less for men, longer for women.
“So, yes back to my thoughts on Omicron – please keep taking that vitamin D3 and get your levels tested, if you haven’t already. Use a formulation that combines the D3 with Vitamins A and K. Please keep up with the zinc, vitamin C and magnesium. Work on weight control, glycemic control and please exercise! All are important.”
No scientific references provided. He’s smarter than me.
Erectile dysfunction primarily occurs when small arteries lose the ability to dilate and allow proper blood flow. It is more common in men with hypertension or declining testosterone levels.
“In our study, consuming a Mediterranean diet was linked with better exercise capacity, healthier arteries, and blood flow, higher testosterone levels, and better erectile performance,” says Angelis.
Creating a “National Pandemic Emergency” provided justification for such sweeping actions that override individual physician medical decision-making and patients’ rights. The CARES Act provides incentives for hospitals to use treatments dictated solely by the federal government under the auspices of the NIH. These “bounties” must paid back if not “earned” by making the COVID-19 diagnosis and following the COVID-19 protocol.
The hospital payments include:
A “free” required PCR test in the Emergency Room or upon admission for every patient, with government-paid fee to hospital.
Added bonus payment for each positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
Another bonus for a COVID-19 admission to the hospital.
A 20 percent “boost” bonus payment from Medicare on the entire hospital bill for use of remdesivir instead of medicines such as Ivermectin.
Another and larger bonus payment to the hospital if a COVID-19 patient is mechanically ventilated.
More money to the hospital if cause of death is listed as COVID-19, even if patient did not die directly of COVID-19.
A COVID-19 diagnosis also provides extra payments to coroners.
CMS implemented “value-based” payment programs that track data such as how many workers at a healthcare facility receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Now we see why many hospitals implemented COVID-19 vaccine mandates. They are paid more.
Because of obfuscation with medical coding and legal jargon, we cannot be certain of the actual amount each hospital receives per COVID-19 patient. But Attorney Thomas Renz and CMS whistleblowers have calculated a total payment of at least $100,000 per patient.
By no means do I agree with everything written and implied in the AAPS article. For instance, at my hospital we do everything we can to avoid intubation, and do it only if we think the patient is about to die in the next few minutes or couple hours if not intubated. If we thought intubation was futile, we wouldn’t do it.
The in-hospital mortality rate of intubated COVID-19 patients worldwide ranges from approximately 8% to 67%, but in the US, it is between 23 and 67%. There is substantial variability in the disease process, such that some patients rapidly deteriorate and die of severe respiratory failure or multiple organ failure within 1 to 2 weeks after intubation, while others recover, despite requiring mechanical ventilation.
The same source found the mortality rate of intubated COVID-19 patients within the two weeks after intubation at their hospitals was 45%. Unfortunately, the report doesn’t say what percentage of the initial survivors eventually died of COVID-19 anyway. That’s important information. The study at hand was done in New York early in the pandemic in 2020. I’d like to think we’re better at treating the disease now, 21 months later.
An Italian study, also done early in the pandemic in 2020, found that 43% of ICU (intensive care unit) COVID-19 intubated patients died in the hospital. If 57% survived intubation, that’s far from futile care.
If you find significantly different death rates in published studies, please share with a link in the Comments. I didn’t do an extensive search.
As far as I know, none of my hospitalist colleagues have ever been pressured to list COVID-19 as the cause of death when that was notactually the cause of death. Our death certificates are filed by us directly online with the State of Arizona.
What is very fishy about this illness is the degree to which hospital administrators, politicians, bureaucrats, and others have dictated how most physicians have to treat the illness and muzzled or attempted to muzzle dissident voices, disregarding the underlying science. In forty years of medical practice, I’ve never seen anything else like it.
Four out of 10 COVID-19 “cases” have no symptoms. I’m uncomfortable calling you a “case” of illness if you never have any signs or symptoms of being sick. The article authors are concerned that asymptomatic “cases” can and will spread infection and make others sick.
COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, was first reported in December 2019.1 Globally, as of January 28, 2021, there have been 100 455 529 confirmed cases, including 2 166 440 deaths.2 The disease course of COVID-19 ranges from asymptomatic to mild respiratory infections to pneumonia and even to acute respiratory distress syndrome.3 Patients with no symptoms at screening point were defined as having asymptomatic infections, which included infected people who have not yet developed symptoms but go on to develop symptoms later (presymptomatic infections), and those who are infected but never develop any symptoms (true asymptomatic or covert infections).4,5 Owing to the absence of symptoms, these patients would not seek medical care and could not be detected by temperature screening. Presymptomatic transmission will also make temperature screening less effective.6 Only extensive testing and close contact tracing could lead to identification of more asymptomatic infections.7
Unlike SARS [sudden adult respiratory syndrome], which had little known transmission from asymptomatic patients, evidence showed that asymptomatic patients were a potential source of transmission of COVID-19.3,6 A previous study8 showed that the upper respiratory viral loads in asymptomatic patients were comparable to those in symptomatic patients. Meanwhile, the highest viral load in throat swabs at the time of symptom onset indicated that infectiousness peaked on or before symptom onset.9 Moreover, studies showed that asymptomatic infections might have contributed to transmission among households, nursing facilities, and clusters.10–13 As the pandemic has been contained in many countries and regions, travel restrictions have been lifted and public places have reopened. Asymptomatic infections should be considered a source of COVID-19 infections that play an important role in the spread of the virus within community as public life gradually returns to normal. The management of asymptomatic carriers was essential for preventing cluster outbreaks and transmission within a community.
Among nonhospitalized patients who were at high risk for Covid-19 progression, a 3-day course of remdesivir had an acceptable safety profile and resulted in an 87% lower risk of hospitalization or death than placebo.
I’d have more faith in this study if it weren’t funded by the maker of remdesivir, Gilead Sciences.
Participants who received a booster at least 5 months after a second dose of BNT162b2 had 90% lower mortality due to Covid-19 than participants who did not receive a booster.
This study was done in Israel in August and September 2021, when the delta variant was rampant.
Multiple studies published this week have suggested Omicron is far less dangerous than Delta, with a UK Health Security Agency report from Thursday saying the mutant strain is 70 per cent less likely to cause hospitalization than Delta, and 45 per cent less likely to require an emergency room visit.
Dr Robert Malone predicts that the Omicron variant will help end the pandemic because so many people will develop immunity by being mildly infected.
Stained glass window created by F. Zettler (1878-1911) at the German Church (St. Gertrude’s church) in Gamla Stan in Stockholm, depicting a Nativity Scene.
The oral drug is for those with documented COVID-19 infection who are at risk for severe COVID-19, meaning those at risk for hospitalization and death. It’s not for those already in the hospital. The drug allegedly reduces hospitalization and death by ~90%. Potential users are aged 12 years and up. Pediatric patients must weigh at least 88 lb or 40 kg.
Paxlovid is a combination of nirmatrelvir (two 150 mg tablets) and ritonavir (100 mg tablet) by mouth twice daily for five days. The drug prevents viral replication.
The most common side effects seem to be altered taste, diarrhea, high blood pressure, and achy muscles (myalgias).
The drug should be taken within five days of symptom onset.
Prescribers should be aware of potential drug interactions, and there are many common drugs that cannot be used with Paxlovid. Use with caution, if at all, in those with liver or kidney disease. Patients with moderate kidney disease may need a dose reduction.
Advanced Mediterranean Diet 