Why are these approaches being ignored? Could it be because there is little profit to be made from them? Action Alert!
With Ebola panic taking hold of the country, we hear very little about the natural ways to guard against the disease. This becomes even more important when you consider that these natural ways are less expensive and can often be self-administered. Self-administration could be of special importance if there were a widespread pandemic. Doctor’s offices might not be available and hospitals overwhelmed. In addition, hospitals would not allow any natural approaches.
Furthermore, natural approaches often build up the immune system, and people susceptible to Ebola are more likely to have compromised immune systems.
As we discussed last month in our article on Ebola and natural remedies, the “Catch-22” of drug economics—that no one will spend the exorbitant sums needed to run clinical trials if the product can’t be patented and turned into a huge money-maker—practically ensures that natural prevention or treatment will be ignored.
The status quo in which government creates and protects drug company monopolies was always outrageous. Now with the threat of major and deadly pandemic in sight, it is completely unacceptable. It is essential that voters become aware of what is going on behind closed doors in Washington so they can speak up and move the political system—before millions of lives are needlessly lost and our economy also dealt a savage blow.
In our earlier article, we discussed how silver has been used as an antimicrobial for thousands of years and has the ability both to attack viruses and to inhibit their transmission. We also showed how intravenous vitamin C would be a tremendous benefit to patients in hospitals and clinics who have already contracted Ebola.
New research has suggested these natural interventions for Ebola:
- According to an important study published in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, the Ebola virus seems to be selenium-dependent—that is, the virus rapidly drains its host of the mineral selenium, making the patient vulnerable to high levels of oxidative stress, which in turn contributes to hemorrhaging and a breakdown of the immune system. Patients who are already selenium deficient—as people in developing nations often are, due to food and nutrition insufficiencies—are most vulnerable to Ebola.Multiple studies have looked at selenium yeast—the organic form of selenium, which is superior in terms of bioavailability and metabolism when compared with inorganic forms of dietary selenium such as selenite—as having a profound impact on the incidence and progression of a variety of infectious and degenerative diseases. There is no question that selenium yeast is associated with increased ability to counteract oxidative stress.
- Intravenous vitamin C may be useful in hospitals and clinics, but it isn’t offered there, and many patients won’t get that far or might not even be welcome if they did. Such patients might be given high doses of vitamin C in a liposome version—it is gentler on the body, and can be gotten to patients in rural areas where medical facilities may be lacking. Glutathione—also in a liposome version, if taken orally—helps recirculate vitamin C and helps strengthen the immune system. NAC, a precursor of glutathione, might be also be helpful. Liposomal forms of oral C are not a substitute for IV C, but any form of C could help tremendously if given to bowel tolerance.
- Vitamin D is a vital necessity for our immune system to fight off viruses. Unfortunately, the darker one’s skin is—that is, the more melanin one has—the more sunlight one needs for the body to make its own vitamin D, so supplementation is critical. Megadoses would be indicated for patients who have already come in contact with the Ebola virus. Of course, at the moment, the dosages the government describes as megadoses barely get a patient into the upper range of “good” on a blood test. The current reference range in conventional medicine for adequate vitamin D in the blood is 30-100 ng/ml. Many people need 10,000 iu a day of supplemented D just to get above 60. Vitamin D in the blood is thought by many experts to be most antiviral around 70 ng/ml.
- Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, can down-regulate the “cytokine storms” that are often the immediate cause of death from Ebola and other pandemic viruses. A cytokine storm is the potentially fatal immune reaction caused by a positive feedback loop between cytokines (small proteins that affect normal cell behavior) and white blood cells. The primary symptoms of a cytokine storm are high fever, swelling and redness, extreme fatigue, and nausea.In addition to curcumin, omega-3 fatty acids can also down-regulate the cytokine storm.
- Other natural antivirals being studied include zinc, vitamins A, B12 (the latter as an adjunct to other antiviral therapies), and melatonin. Some of the best integrative doctors consulted by ANH-USA recommend vitamin A at high doses (over 100,000 iu a day) for viral infections in general.
ANH-USA staff know a patient who had ultraviolet blood irradiation in conjunction with intravenous peroxide (among other things) for Lyme and viral co-infections several years ago, and it was very effective. The treatment was used in the 1940s and ’50s, though it is very difficult to find information on it as the FDA considers it illegal! Given its mechanism of action, this treatment might be effective for Ebola. Ozone taken intravenously or rectally also might work, but faces similar government hostility since it would threaten existing drug monopolies. In a related article, we discuss the use of ultraviolet therapy in a medical device to disinfect hospitals of Ebola.
Action Alert! Write to both FDA and Congress. Ask them to review natural treatments for Ebola without the lengthy drug approval process. Send your message today!
* Editor’s note: This article was amended on October 23, 2014.
