How to survive Covid 19

Discussion in 'Coronavirus Pandemic Discussions' started by Golem, Aug 4, 2020.

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  1. Golem

    Golem Well-Known Member Donor

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    There's a simple thing you can do to increase your chances to survive Covid 19: Try to not get infected. Yeah... I know it's obvious. But there is more to it than just the obvious.

    The source of this is not any particular article or study. It's just a summary of everything I have been reading since February. And I am not knowledgeable at all about the matter. I'm just summarizing what I've read on this from February to date. So please do not extrapolate from this any form of treatment or medical advice whatsoever.

    My Point:
    My point is that doctors have made enormous progress in understanding how to treat Covid19 If you contracted Coronavirus in February, you would have had a lot less of a chance to survive than if you contracted it today. On the same token, if you contract it a week from now, or a month from now, or six months from now... you will likely have immensely more chances to survive it than you have now. That's why you need to try to not get infected for as long as you can. The longer, the better chances that a new better treatment will be found. If you understand this, you don't need to read the following section. Which is where I describe what I've read as I understand it. Just read the titles in bold, and the description only if it interests you.

    History:
    The large majority of deaths in the U.S. happened between February and April. Not because there were more people infected, as there are actually more now than back then. But because it was so new that doctors didn't know what to do.

    Say no to Ventilators (it's NOT pneumonia):
    All they could do was treat the symptoms. Doctors believed that the cause of death by Covid 19 patients was pneumonia. That's the reason why doctors thought ventilators was the proper treatment. I suspect that, when all this is over, we'll learn that ventilators killed more people than they saved. They are now used only in the final stages. When everything else has failed. Chances to survive for patients on a ventilator ar not good.

    It's the blood clots that kill you:
    But now we know that it's the blood clots the virus produces what causes death. These blood clots block blood flow in blood vessels and lungs. Basically they deprive the body of oxygen. So the trick is to dissolve those blood clots. For this, doctors use anticoagulants. Like aspirin. Now, don't go out and empty the dollar store shelves of aspirin. Ask your doctor first. There are also contraindications to aspirin use. Careful! Don't give yourself an ulcer.

    Get an oximeter or drop dead!
    There are stories of people who just.... drop dead on the street, or while they're on their way to the hospital. This is because many people are asymptomatic until their oxygen levels fall to levels as critical as 70%. This is a condition known as "Happy Hypoxemia" (you're happy... and then you die). With a 90% oxygen level, you'll feel breathless. As if you had run a mile (200 feet, in my case). People should be taken to the hospital when their oxygen saturation level drops to 93%. This gives doctors enough leeway to correct the problem. You can get an inexpensive oximeter for under $30 on Amazon or at your local Walgreens.

    Favipiravir and Remdesivir are great. But more to come:
    These are the only two medications available today to treat coronavirus. They're not a "cure", but they reduce the amount of time needed to recover and ameliorate the symptoms. We didn't have these in February. We have them today. And we will have many more, and better in a month, even better in two, way better in three... So you might want to stay alive until then.

    Weathering the storm on steroids.
    Another reason recently discovered is that many people die is a condition called a Cytokine Storm. This is a condition caused by and excessive response in the immunological system. This response kills the virus, but also kills the patient. This condition can be easily controlled with readily available steroids. But doctors didn't know this in February. They know this now. And it's saving many many lives.

    Flat on your face
    Another thing we didn't know in February is that lying on your stomach improves breathng and helps combat hypoxemia. I'm thinking a CPAP machine might also help. But that's just me. Again, ask your doctor first.

    Bottom line
    Again, stay healthy for as long as you can. Doctors learn more and more about how to treat this virus better, and avoid the long-term consequences. So the more time you fend off the disease, the better your chances not only of surviving, but getting out of it unscathed. So wear a mask, keep social distancing, don't go to closed places like indoor bars and restaurants. Pay no attention to pseudoscience, to fake remedies, to absurd claims about herd immunity, ... In the end, the only real remedy will be a vaccine.

    If I'm getting infected, I would much rather it be in 6 months. Who knows... I'm hoping that by then they'll just give you a pill and send you home.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2020
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  2. MJ Davies

    MJ Davies Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for typing all that.
     
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  3. Golem

    Golem Well-Known Member Donor

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    Bottom line the secret is to stay healthy just long enough that doctors find a better way to save your life.
     
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  4. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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  5. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Good post. If you want a more technical "ask the doctor" protocol, you can consult what a very, very excellent doctor (Dr. Paul Marik) has been recommending, in his outstanding and life-saving MATH+ protocol that is progressively being adopted by more hospitals (you'll recognize some of your own advice there):

    https://www.evms.edu/media/evms_pub...cine/EVMS_Critical_Care_COVID-19_Protocol.pdf
     
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  6. Golem

    Golem Well-Known Member Donor

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    Wow! That's an interesting document. I just started reading it, but it looks like something everybody should have on hand. It's a long document so I'm going to take my time and read it thoroughly.
     
  7. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Yes, I sent this to my entire family and said, if you get sick, give a copy to your attending physician and say "that's the treatment I want." Hospitals that have adopted this protocol saw a 90% drop in mortality for their hospitalized patients.
     
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  8. LangleyMan

    LangleyMan Well-Known Member

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    Yes, and if you're young, you may stand a better chance of avoiding long-term health problems.
    I hope for the sake of our economic wellbeing we get to this point soon. We don't seem willing to help businesses survive while we wait for effective treatments, a vaccine, and perhaps a send-you-home pill.
     
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  9. LangleyMan

    LangleyMan Well-Known Member

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    Thanks. Very interesting.

    Would you think most major hospitals treating COVID-19 patients are operating at this level of sophistication?
     
  10. Golem

    Golem Well-Known Member Donor

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    I'm a bit weary of telling doctors what to do. After all, they treat hundreds of these cases every day (at least here in Florida they do), and are likely aware of this out of personal experience and that of their colleagues. They probably learn more every single day they come to work. I would show them the document and ask "have you considered this?"

    But one thing I do find extremely valuable about this document are the parts about preventive treatment, and treatment at home. They look like simple precautions that don't appear too difficult to implement.
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2020
  11. doombug

    doombug Well-Known Member

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    Take care of your immune system as well. Vitamin D, Zinc and Vitamin C supplements help.
     
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  12. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Usually, the major medical centers linked to top medical schools are very sophisticated. Obviously small regional hospitals are not as sophisticated.

    It is interesting that this protocol came from a medical school that isn't one of the highly ranked ones. I've seen for example, protocols done by the Yale Medical School and by the Duke University School of Medicine, both very highly ranked schools, and I found their protocols less good than the Eastern Virginia Medical School's, although a COVID-19 patient at Yale New Haven Hospital or at Duke University Medical Center would still get outstanding treatment, maybe as good as what they'd get at the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital which is the primary teaching hospital for the EVMS.

    The EVMS is ranked 49th in primary care and in the 94-122 block for research, and still, came up with this gorgeous protocol, showing that medical centers that might not qualify for the full implications of the label "major" can still do very well. I think the lowish ranking of the EVMS partially stems from the fact that it is an isolated medical school that is not linked to a university. It is an interesting school though, with many original initiatives (e.g. in international health), and Dr. Paul Marik, the creator of this MATH+ protocol, already had a very good reputation for his HAT protocol to treat sepsis. Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia is a physician who attended the EVMS.
     
  13. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Yes, your approach is more diplomatic and that's actually how I should have phrased it. Thanks.

    Yes, I'm following the preventive treatment for myself and my family, both nuclear and extended, everybody got on board with this. They are not only simple to implement, but also very harmless so why not? Dr. Paul Marik does say that the evidence to support these first two phases is weak but his ideas on this do make sense and again, are cheap, available, and harmless so it doesn't hurt to adhere to this, and there are some odds that it may actually prove very helpful.

    The advanced parts of his protocol (for later, more severe phases of the disease) on the other hand are much more supported by evidence-based medicine and are pure genius. I think Dr. Marik deserves an award for putting this together. Not quite the Nobel Prize, haha, but some sort of public health medal.

    Do re-visit the page from time to time because he updates the protocol when new science comes in. The current version is the August 1st version, last I checked.
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2020
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  14. LangleyMan

    LangleyMan Well-Known Member

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    Small can be beautiful. :)
     

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