Health for Life

Always happy to see breakthroughs like this! While many know me mainly as a "gut guy," my scope of interest is actually quite wide and I also enjoy troubleshooting cardiovascular cases. In fact, cardiovascular disease was the subject of my doctoral dissertation and the primary interest that brought me into the naturopathic field.

I loved reading this story. Dr. Horowitz is a respected and well-known physician in my circles, and I remember reading this case report a couple days after it was published in Respiratory Medicine Case Reports last month ("Efficacy of glutathione therapy in relieving dyspnea associated with COVID-19 pneumonia: A report of 2 cases" -- https://bit.ly/3dGYexX). I didn't realize at the time that one of Horowitz's coauthors was actually the son of the woman with COVID-19 in the ca...Continue reading

Southern latitudes have lower COVID mortality rates, with the cutoff being around the 35th parallel -- right around where vitamin D production starts declining (for those to the north).

There are some incredible findings coming out lately regarding vitamin D and COVID-19. In this paper, those with higher levels of vitamin D were almost 8 times more likely to have a mild outcome instead of a severe outcome, and almost 20 times more likely to have a mild outcome instead of a critical outcome from COVID. "The results suggest that an increase in serum 25(OH)D level in the body could either improve clinical outcomes or mitigate worst (severe to critical) outcome...s, while a decrease in serum 25(OH)D level in the body could worsen clinical outcomes of COVID-2019 patients. In conclusion, this study provides substantial information to clinicians and health policy-makers. Vitamin D supplementation could possibly improve clinical outcomes of patients infected with COVID-19." As social distancing guidelines are beginning to be relaxed, it is important to realize that this virus is still with us and is still able to cause significant illness, especially in vulnerable populations. Basic preventive measures should be continued, and this includes paying attention to vitamin D status and intake, which appears to vastly reduce the risk of developing significant disease from this viral infection.

Fairly hot off the press. This meta-analysis published in the Journal of Intensive Care found "strong evidence" that vitamin C significantly shortened the needed duration of mechanical ventilator use in critically ill patients. The sicker they were, the better it worked, underscoring the fact that the need for vitamin C goes up in the context of serious illness. In those requiring ventilation for over 10 hours, ventilation time was reduced by an average of 25% even with relat...Continue reading