By Cat, March 2020 and ongoing

Article was previously moved from its original home: Notes on Natural Health Topics, A – C.

The coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 and related disease COVID-19 that started in Wuhan, China in December 2019 is now affecting people around the globe. As I learn more about this virus and the disease it causes, I will add notes and references here. 

As I’ve learned more about COVID vaccines, I’ve moved the “Vaccines” section to a separate article: Coronavirus: Notes on Vaccines for COVID-19. 

I’ve divided the original article into 2 articles (because it was too long): “About” and “Prevention & Treatment.”

• Includes:
  • About: (This article) 1. General Info on Coronaviruses; 2. Is COVID-19 Made in a Lab? 3. COVID Reset: A Day of Reckoning is Coming; 4. Effect of Social Distancing, Isolation; 5. Factors Affecting Risk of Getting COVID-19 and Related Diseases; 
  • Prevention & Treatment: (Part 2 article)  5. Conventional Medicine; 6. Natural Medicine
• See also: 1. Notes on Natural Health Topics Menu; 2. Coronavirus: Notes on Vaccines for COVID-19 

General info on coronaviruses

The common cold*, influenza (respiratory flu), SARS, MERS, and COVID-19 are all caused by coronaviruses.  All incubate in the sinuses before moving down the respiratory tract to settle in the lungs. The SARS-CoV2 is a variation of the original SARS virus, and is the cause of COVID-19 disease that started in Wuhan China, and is now spreading around the globe. See a 4½ minute YouTube video about the two types of SARS-CoV2 (L- and S-Types) that cause COVID-19 (3a).

‘* NOTE: some varieties of the common cold are caused by other viruses such as rhinovirus.

One way to treat coronavirus early-on is to use a Neti pot to clean the sinuses; see my article on Ancient Remedies for Every Home, which includes instructions for using a Neti pot.

COVID Origin: Is it Made in a Lab?

Ever since I heard a news item on CBS news back in 2020, that researchers found a COVID-19 DNA segment that duplicates an HIV DNA segment (HIV is AIDS). While I believe it was intentionally engineered as a bio-weapon, this is still an open, unresolved topic. While there’s plenty of proof it was made in a lab, the intent of that experiment is still unknown/unproven.

See Mercola articles [NOTE: He closes down articles after 48 hours; however, some of his articles may be copied on other sites; I recommend searching for the article title…

• May 2020: Judy Mikovits Suggests Retroviruses Play a Role in COVID-19 
  (articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/05/03/is-the-new-coronavirus-created-in-a-lab.aspx) Link no longer valid
• March 2021: ‘Highly Probable’ Military Developed COVID, Leaked From Lab  (articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/03/29/highly-probable-covid-leaked-from-lab.aspx) Link no longer valid
• May 2021: The Truth About COVID-19 (articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/05/16/mikhaila-peterson-the-truth-about-covid-19.aspx) Link no longer valid
• July 2022: SARS-CoV-2: A Biological Warfare Weapon?(articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/07/10/is-coronavirus-a-biological-weapon.aspx; I’ve saved a copy: HEALTH-NUTRITION / PODCASTS-ARTICLES / MERCOLA > COVID- A Biological Warfare Weapon.html or pdf; and the video can be found at bitchute.com/video/BGW232tvrj1H/

Here’s his Story at a Glance (COVID-A Bio Warfare Weapon?):

• • Francis Boyle, who drafted the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, believes COVID-19 is a weaponized pathogen that escaped from Wuhan City’s Biosafety Level (BSL) 4 facility
  • A Lancet paper published by physicians who treated some of the first COVID-19 patients in China showed that patient zero, the one believed to have started the transmission, was nowhere near the Wuhan seafood market. What’s more, there were no bats sold in or even close to the market
  • SARS-CoV-2 appears to be a benign bat coronavirus modified to integrate spike proteins that allows the virus to enter human cells by attaching to ACE-2 receptors
  • The virus also appears to have been modified to integrate an envelope protein from HIV called GP141, which tends to impair the immune system. A third modification appears to involve nanotechnology, which allows the virus to remain airborne longer

COVID Reset: A Day of Reckoning is Coming

This is a 10/29/22 Mercola article: articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/10/29/covid-reset.aspx. Because he closes down his articles after 48 hours, I’ve saved a pdf version: Health-Nutrition / Podcasts-Articles / Mercola-Articles > COVID Reset_DayOfReckoningIsComing_MCL_102922a.pdf. It also includes a 6minute video you can view separately on Rumble: rumble.com/v1nx71o-a-day-of-reckoning-is-coming.html

And here’s his Story At-A-Glance:

• “We have a long list of challenges facing us at the moment. There’s the global economic crisis, the European energy crisis, runaway inflation and the threat of escalating war, just to name a few. On top of all of that, the “COVID industry” is gearing up for another round of “biosecurity” tyranny
• The global response has been nothing short of disastrous, and following the same playbook once more is pure insanity. There’s only one reason to return to strategies proven harmful, and that is because the harmful outcomes are actually desired
• October 7, 2022, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo issued new COVID jab guidance, recommending men between the ages of 18 and 39 abstain from the COVID jab, as data show an 84% increase in heart related death among men within 28 days of injection
• The crimes committed by the “COVID military-industrial complex” — which includes governments, Big Tech, media, Big Pharma and the bioweapons research industry worldwide — are now so numerous and so egregious in nature, it’s hard to fathom they’ll get away with it forever
• A day of reckoning is coming. It seems our public health authorities fear this as well, which is why they’re fighting tooth and nail to prevent the release of COVID jab data. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spent 15 months fighting a legal battle to prevent the release of V-Safe data, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now refusing to release autopsy results of people who died post-jab”

Damage from COVID & Spike Protein Bioweapons (Vaccines)

Mercola has an interesting article (10/21/22): “Regression of Humanity, How Big Pharma Is Risking Everything,” but his link gives it a different title: COVID Vaccines are Bioweapons. I’ve saved it as a pdf: Health-Nutrition / Podcasts-Articles / Mercola-Articles / COVID > COVID-VaccinesBioweapons_SpikeProteinDamage_MCL_102122.pdf.

Here’s his Story At-A-Glance:

• “Media are reporting that pregnancy complications have spiked during the COVID pandemic, but claim the cause is unknown
• Most blame the virus itself. But even then, they fail to address the fact that it’s the spike protein that is the most likely culprit. The obvious reason for that is because the spike protein is also what your body produces in response to the COVID shots
• Around the world, women are reporting abnormal menses and vaginal hemorrhaging, both post-COVID and after exposure to the jab or someone who got the shot. Birth rates have significantly dropped, and we’re seeing upticks in preeclampsia, miscarriages, premature births and early puberty, as well as maternal and infant deaths
• Despite the clear risks of vaccinating during pregnancy, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a whooping cough vaccine for newborns that is given to mothers in the third trimester. This is the first vaccine aimed at infants that is to be preemptively given to the mother during pregnancy
• While U.S. media celebrated the FDA’s authorization of COVID shots for infants under the age of 5 last summer, European countries had long since stopped caring about the pandemic, and the head of public health in Denmark admitted it was a mistake to vaccinate children between the ages of 5 and 11“

See also: 

Mercola: LongCOVID: ElephantInRoom; 100% of mRNA Jab Recipients Suffered Heart Injury; saved as pdf: health-Nutrition / Podcasts-Articles / Mercola-Articles > LongCOVID_ElephantInRoom_100%-of-mRNA-JabRecipientsSufferedHeartInjury_MCL_111422.pdf.

Here’s his “Story At-A-Glance:”

• “Long COVID refers to symptoms that persist for four or more weeks after an initial COVID-19 infection. Many are also reporting long COVID symptoms after getting the COVID shot
• Symptoms of long COVID include but are not limited to brain fog, memory problems, headaches, blurred vision, loss of smell, nerve pain, heart rate fluctuations, dramatic blood pressure swings and muscle weakness. The feeling of “internal electric shocks” are also reported
• The primary difference between post-jab long COVID and long COVID symptoms after infection is that in people who get it from the infection, early treatment was withheld and the resulting infection severe. Post-jab long COVID, on the other hand, can occur either after very mild breakthrough infection or no breakthrough infection at all
• Several different theories about the mechanisms behind long COVID are reviewed, as are treatment options
• Swiss research has found the rate of subclinical myocarditis is hundreds of times more common than clinical myocarditis after mRNA injection, and ALL mRNA shot recipients had elevated troponin levels, indicating they had some level of heart injury, even if they were asymptomatic“

Mercola: Weaponizing COVID to Promote Collectivism (or Are We Staring Down the Barrel of Forced Vaccination), Analysis by Barbara Loe Fisher; article saved as pdf: Health-Nutrition / Podcasts-Articles / Mercola-Articles / COVID_WeaponizingToPromoteCollectivism_MCL-111522.pdf. Here’s the Story At-A-Glance: 

• “The fallout from destructive federal COVID response policies on the mental health, child development and economic stability of our nation is still being assessed
  • In October 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention once again extended the COVID pandemic public health emergency declaration, this time until January 11, 2023
  • The mRNA COVID shots are associated with many ugly side effects, especially ones that compromise the blood and heart and can cause death
  • With vaccine-induced immunity off the table and vaccine adverse reactions viewed as a good thing, by the end of October 2022 the global mass vaccination campaign had convinced about 70% of the world’s population to get at least one COVID shot
  • The Lancet published a report in September 2022 called “The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic;” it calls for “prosociality” reorientation so global populations can be controlled by a central authority, especially during global pandemic responses
  • If the state can tag, track down and force individuals against their will to be injected with biologicals of known and unknown toxicity today, then there will be no limit on which individual freedoms the state can take away in the name of the greater good tomorrow”

Variants

BA.5 Variant

See Mercola: articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/07/21/covid-ba5-variant.aspx; saved: Health-Nutrition / Podcasts-Articles / Mercola / COVID > COVID-BA.5_KingOfVariants_072122.pdf. Here’s his Story At-A-Glance:

• • Rapid mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was expected and predicted, as vaccinating against any highly mutable virus, such as the coronavirus, pressures the virus to adapt. Omicron initially arose in “fully vaccinated” patients, raising suspicions that the mass vaccination campaign itself was driving the rapid mutation of the virus
  • One of the latest variants, BA.5 — now believed to be the cause of nearly all COVID infections — is tied with (and may even surpass) measles in terms of its infectiousness and transmissibility. That makes it the most infectious of all SARS-CoV-2 variants, and one of the most infectious viruses known to man
  • Fortunately, it’s also considerably less deadly than the original Wuhan strain
  • Even if you’ve had COVID before, got the jab and all your boosters, and even if you have hybrid immunity (meaning you’ve had both past infection and the COVID jab), chances are you’ll probably catch BA.5, as it seems particularly adept at circumventing all previous defenses
  • The likelihood of reinfection is the fodder fearmongerers needed to reignite calls for COVID restrictions such as lockdowns and stripping people of their inherent rights and freedoms, and, of course, more boosters

Effect of Social Distancing/Isolation

Our government bodies and many health practitioners are recommending social distancing and even social isolation, to keep the disease from spreading and reduce your risk of getting it from others, or giving it to others. But such behavior can also increase mortality (not necessarily caused by exposure to the disease, but rather by depression and other issues that result from avoiding social interaction). See an interesting article on Green Med Info: 13 [Scientific] Studies Reveal How Scoial Distancing (i.e. Social Isolation) Can Increase Mortality (2a).

Factors Affecting Risk of Getting COVID-19 and Related Diseases

Nutrients to Improve your Immunity to COVID

hmm, not sure what happened to this text. Hmm, although I lost the original text, I can add new text as follows.

Importance of Fermented Foods, Consumed Daily

If you are not familiar with fermented foods (different from “pickled” foods), check out my Curing, Culturing, Fermentation & Tonics Menu, and my article: Pickling and Lacto-Fermentation (About) 

From Mercola: Fermented Foods May Lower Risk of Death, especially to COVID. I’ve saved a pdf version of his article at HEALTH-NUTRITION / 2-PODCASTS-ARTICLES / MERCOLA > FermentedFoods-MayLowerRisk-Death_122321.pdf.

• • “Countries that consume higher amounts of traditionally fermented foods have lower COVID-19 mortality rates. According to German researchers, significant changes in the microbiome caused by modern life and low fermented food consumption may have increased the spread or severity of the disease
  • For each gram-per-day increase in the average national consumption of fermented vegetables, the mortality risk for COVID-19 decreased by 35.4%”

Fermented foods may also be helpful against depression and anxiety:

• • “A review of seven small clinical trials found probiotics and/or prebiotics may be helpful for those struggling with depression and anxiety
  • Two types of gut bacteria in particular, Coprococcus and Dialister bacteria, have been shown to be “consistently depleted” in individuals diagnosed with clinical depression
  • Gut bacteria associated with good mental health synthesize the dopamine metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, while those associated with depression produce γ-aminobutyric acid.”

I love fermented fruits, such as blueberries mixed with orange (including the pith) and pecans; see my recipe: Fermented Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries or Fermented Orange or Other Citrus. I eat a spoonful every morning with breakfast (or I add it to my smoothie), or with dinner.

I also add Mercola’s fermented greens and fermented beet powders to my daily smoothie.

Glutathione Deficiency May Be Associated with COVID Severity

This topic got my attention because for a very long time, I had glutathione deficiency, primarily because I had trouble with sulfur containing foods such as the onion family, and with certain supplement substances like N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC), Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA), and glutathione because sulfur is part of those molecules. Fortunately, my naturopath recommended I take myo-inositol to help with my insulin resistance, and my acupuncturist who practices NAET (to resolve allergies and food sensitivities); these together resolved my sulfur issues in 20181-2019, and so far, even at the age of 71, I’ve not succumbed to COVID.

See also the Topic “Insulin Resistance” below.

The following is from Mercola’s article: articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/08/14/glutathione-deficiency-linked-to-covid-severity.aspx

From the article’s summary notes:

• • “A glutathione deficiency may be at the root of severe illness, as it leads to significant oxidative stress, lung inflammation and multiorgan failure with COVID
  • One scientist linked glutathione deficiency with many of the comorbid conditions that raise COVID-19 severity, including age, diabetes, gender and smoking
  • The researcher also found data indicating that glutathione deficiency can impact your ability to synthesize vitamin D, another risk factor for severe disease
  • NAC supplementation, foods rich in glutathione precursors, aerobic exercise and strength training can help support healthy levels.”

“Foods that have had a positive impact on glutathione production include cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, green tea, curcumin, rosemary and milk thistle.³⁶ Getting quality sleep may also help.

Different types of exercise* can influence your levels. In one study researchers enrolled 80 healthy but sedentary volunteers to measure the type of exercise that may have the greatest effect.³⁹ They found that aerobic training in combination with circuit weight training showed the greatest benefit.” [* see fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2020/05/01/does-exercise-boost-immune-system.aspx]

Insulin Resistance and Keto

from Mercola: articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/08/02/metabolic-health-impact-on-covid-19-severity.aspx. Here’s quote of his “story at a glance” (bolding the text is added by me)

• Your metabolic health has a significant impact on COVID-19 severity, and at least 9 in 10 Americans are metabolically unhealthy
• One of the classic changes associated with insulin resistance, obesity and metabolic syndrome is overactivation of the innate immune system, with decreasing activity in the adaptive immune system
• When it comes to healthy aging, it’s not your biological age that matters but, rather, your immune and metabolic age, both of which are malleable and can be improved through simple lifestyle changes
• Research shows that when blood sugar is well-controlled and there’s less glycemic variability, people do better when contracting COVID-19. When they have high levels of glycemic variability, which is indicative of insulin resistance, they fare much worse

Mercola also discusses (in a separate article: “Ketones, the Fourth Fuel” (1L)) how going keto (following a ketogenic eating plan) can reduce your risk of getting COVID-19 by avoiding insulin resistance.

I have insulin resistance, but when I started taking myo-inositol supplement in 2018 (at the advice and guidance of my naturopath), my insulin resistance minimized so that I lost 30 pounds in 2 months, and have maintained that.  I highly recommend taking this supplement. My ND recommended starting with 1/16 tsp daily, and slowly increasing to ¼ tsp daily; this is less than the cited dosage on the supplement container. I tried increasing to ½ tsp daily and then to 1 tsp daily, but these increases had no added effect, so I returned to ¼ tsp daily.

For more about myo-inositol and insulin resistance, see my post: Choline, Inositol, and Insulin Resistance.

Blood Type 

from Mercola: articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/06/27/can-blood-type-predict-virus-infection-risk.aspx See his article for references.

“The results from three studies show that blood type O has some protective effect against COVID-19; one scientist believes the factor is small compared to comorbidities”

“23andMe released preliminary results from a study they conducted using the information of more than 750,000 people.⁷ Their early results suggest that a person’s blood type has an influence on their susceptibility to the virus.” … “[They] reported that the percentage who tested positive for COVID-19 by blood type was 4.1% for blood group AB.¹⁰ The differences reported in the study showed that those with type O had a 9% or 18% lower potential for testing positive for the virus when compared to those with blood types A, B or AB.”

Similar conclusions were made by at least two other studies: one in China, one in Spain and Italy.

Mercola also states that blood type is not the most important factor; instead, “optimize your vitamin D level, improve your metabolic sensitivity and reduce insulin resistance with intermittent fasting.“