Chaos to Clarity

Naturopathic MD

3 weeks ago

The best artists steal-Right Paul?
Corona are old viri. The mutation doesn’t change much in that respect (yet) and as to elderberry and cytokine storms it’s a non issue. See below from my research colleague:
From Heather Zwickey PhD.
I’m hearing a lot of misinformation floating around, so I thought I’d talk about whether or not to use herbs to prevent COVID19. (Everything is referenced.)
Prevention: As NDs, you are all aware of how to prevent upper respiratory infections. You’re going to increase Defensins (vitamin D) so that any virus landing on the skin or in the mouth are killed on contact. 1,2
For upper respiratory herbs, I like the combo of 5.
Astragalus (for lungs) is adaptogenic. It reduces inflammation, but can also drive Th1 if you’re exposed to an infection or have lung cancer. It’s also anti-viral.3,4
Goldeneal and Oregon grape root are directly toxic to viruses (research on flu) and bacteria (think of killing secondary pneumonia). It’s also adaptogenic. It drives Tregs, but can elicit a Th1 response in the right microenvironment.5–10
Echinacea works best at the beginning of an infection and is adaptogenic. Echinacea induces inflammatory cytokines at the beginning of infection and help with resolution post infection. There’s also a meta-analysis showing that it reduces upper-respiratory infections, especially in those susceptible to them.11,12
Elderberry is also adaptogenic – increasing cytokines in some situations and decreasing them in others. The reason I include it is that it’s anti-viral. There’s research showing it blocks viral uptake. Again, so much research on this that there’s a meta-analysis.13
I actually developed a supplement with this combo. It’s called Immune and you can find it here: www.zamialife.com... – not that anyone needs to buy it. You can combine the herbs yourself. It’s just more expensive to buy 5 bottles of herbs.
If people get an infection and you need additional support, Fungi Perfecti has a product called Comprehensive Immune Support that can further increase a Th1 response.14,15 (The Guggenheim article is about cancer but goes through many of the Th1 stimulating studies.)
Do these therapies increase cytokines? Yes. But NOT to the level of cytokine storm. You have to work hard to trigger a cytokine storm. I have not yet seen a situation where an herb can trigger a cytokine storm. We see cytokine storms with super-antigens like staph enterotoxin A, or TSST-1. And in fact, the scientific literature suggests that herbs (including Echinacea) actually decrease cytokine storms.12,16
So yes, wash hands, don’t touch your face, and sneeze/cough into your elbow. And if you want to use herbs, use what you already know. There is evidence.
1. Pinheiro da Silva F, Machado MCC. Antimicrobial peptides: clinical relevance and therapeutic implications. Peptides. 2012;36(2):308-314. doi:10.1016/j.peptides.2012.05.014
2. Beard JA, Bearden A, Striker R. Vitamin D and the anti-viral state. J Clin Virol. 2011;50(3):194-200. doi:10.1016/j.jcv.2010.12.006
3. Li X, Qu L, Dong Y, et al. A Review of Recent Research Progress on the Astragalus Genus. Molecules. 2014;19(11):18850-18880. doi:10.3390/molecules191118850
4. Hsieh H-L, Liu S-H, Chen Y-L, Huang C-Y, Wu S-J. Astragaloside IV suppresses inflammatory response via suppression of NF-κB, and MAPK signalling in human bronchial epithelial cells. Arch Physiol Biochem. February 2020:1-10. doi:10.1080/13813455.2020.1727525
5. Yan Y-Q, Fu Y-J, Wu S, et al. Anti-influenza activity of berberine improves prognosis by reducing viral replication in mice. Phytother Res. 2018;32(12):2560-2567. doi:10.1002/ptr.6196
6. Kim TS, Kang BY, Cho D, Kim SH. Induction of interleukin-12 production in mouse macrophages by berberine, a benzodioxoloquinolizine alkaloid, deviates CD4+ T cells from a Th2 to a Th1 response. Immunology. 2003;109(3):407-414. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2567.2003.01673.x
7. Cecil CE, Davis JM, Cech NB, Laster SM. Inhibition of H1N1 influenza A virus growth and induction of inflammatory mediators by the isoquinoline alkaloid berberine and extracts of goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis). Int Immunopharmacol. 2011;11(11):1706-1714. doi:10.1016/j.intimp.2011.06.002
8. Javadi B, Sahebkar A. Natural products with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities against autoimmune myocarditis. Pharmacol Res. 2017;124:34-42. doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2017.07.022
9. Jamshaid F, Dai J, Yang LX. New Development of Novel Berberine Derivatives against Bacteria. Mini Rev Med Chem. January 2020. doi:10.2174/1389557520666200103115124
10. Qin X, Guo BT, Wan B, et al. Regulation of Th1 and Th17 cell differentiation and amelioration of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by natural product compound berberine. J Immunol Baltim Md 1950. 2010;185(3):1855-1863. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.0903853
11. Schapowal A, Klein P, Johnston SL. Echinacea reduces the risk of recurrent respiratory tract infections and complications: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Adv Ther. 2015;32(3):187-200. doi:10.1007/s12325-015-0194-4
12. Vimalanathan S, Schoop R, Suter A, Hudson J. Prevention of influenza virus induced bacterial superinfection by standardized Echinacea purpurea, via regulation of surface receptor expression in human bronchial epithelial cells. Virus Res. 2017;233:51-59. doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2017.03.006
13. Hawkins J, Baker C, Cherry L, Dunne E. Black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) supplementation effectively treats upper respiratory symptoms: A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled clinical trials. Complement Ther Med. 2019;42:361-365. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2018.12.004
14. Immune Modulation From Five Major Mushrooms: Application to Integrative Oncology. - PubMed - NCBI. www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.liboff.ohsu.edu/pubmed/26770080. Accessed March 2, 2020.
15. Antiviral activities of various water and methanol soluble substances isolated from Ganoderma lucidum. - PubMed - NCBI. www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.liboff.ohsu.edu/pubmed/10624872. Accessed March 2, 2020.
16. The cytokine storm of severe influenza and development of immunomodulatory therapy. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4711683/. Accessed March 2, 2020. ... See MoreSee Less

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