Tag Archives: Ebola

Defend Against Viral Diseases—Including Zika

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zikaMuch of the tropical world is being attacked by insect- and otherwise-transmitted diseases.  This includes diseases like Ebola, chikungunya, dengue fever, West Nile, and leishmaniasis (A disease from a parasite carried by sandflies that is showing up more in America.).  Significant fear is now in the American medical community for the surge of cases reported without significant available treatment and prevention. Per the CDC, Zika is now considered a level 2 threat (practice enhanced protection and some are calling it a full blown infection with transmission by mosquitos and sexual activity) in Puerto Rico. The US Congress is so concerned that it recently approved a $1.1 billion Zika funding bill.  With the struggle to find immediate effective prevention and treatment, the nutraceutical Metadichol® may provide a solution.

Metadichol®, a nanoemulsion of policosanol has been found to be effective in vitro of eliminating the infections from cells.  It has also been found effective in two case studies of patients with dengue fever.  Policosanol is long chain lipid alcohols found in many foods like rice, sugar cane, wheat, and peanuts.  The reason that Metadichol® is so effective is because it is better absorbed as the nanoemulsion.

With the favorable findings for other tropical diseases, Metadichol® was tested against the Zika virus with very positive results. Link here for published paper in Journal for Immunological Techniques in Infectious Disease:  In vitro Inhibition of Zika Virus by Metadichol®, A Novel Nano Emulsion Lipid   From the abstract: “Conclusion: Metadichol® is a safe and effective inhibitor for enveloped viruses in humans. Since it is known to bind to the vitamin D receptor (VDR), its action mechanism likely involves the competitive displacement of virus particles from VDR’s on host cell membranes. Metabolism studies of long chain alcohol in fibroblasts suggest that very long chain fatty alcohols, fatty aldehydes, and fatty acids are reversibly interconverted in a fatty alcohol cycle [3]. Metadichol consists of natural components of common foods (classified as GRAS), Metadichol has no known negative side effects. The inhibition of Zika virus by Metadichol® is not surprising, given that we have recently published the results of Metadichol® which showed broad-spectrum antiviral activity against Dengue, Ebola, H1N1, SARS, Chikungunya and other enveloped viruses. (4)”

Discoverer of Metadichol®, Dr. P. R. Raghavan, believes that Metadichol® could be used as a preventive for the many diseases.  He states in his conclusion at the end of the paper: “Metadichol® could serve as a preventive agent for Zika given that it strengthens the innate immunity through VDR binding, and represent the first key step in preventing diseases. Metadichol® is ready for large scale testing in areas which are ravaged by viruses. Once proven on large populations, Metadichol® could be used as a preventive nutritional supplement in countries where viral fevers are widely prevalent. Metadichol is being sold as a nutritional supplement in a few Asian countries for the last two years and is extremely well tolerated. So far, there have been no reports of any adverse side effects.”

In discussions with Dr. Raghavan, Metadichol, through binding to nuclear receptors, allows the physiology of the human body to act at its highest level.  This is especially true of the immune system.  I believe that we are headed to a new and ancient understanding of how food is critical to health.  It is interesting in how the lipid alcohols act along vitamin D pathways.  It is well established how infections tend to block the action of the VDR.  With Metadichol allowing the body to operate at its optimum, it is even more critical that we have the nutrients necessary to raise our immune system.  The short list is Vitamin D, Vitamin A, vitamin C, Vitamin E, zinc, and magnesium.

It is now time to stop the insane madness of trying to create only synthetic drugs with the many destructive side effects to treat disease. The medical community should look to nutrition first through food and supplementation for the treatment of chronic and infectious disease.

©2016 Mark Pegram

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Inhibition of Deadly Viruses by a Food Substance

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New research shows that an effective antiviral can be made from a food substance.  Policosanol made into a nanoemulsion has the possibility of becoming a significant tool to inhibit the spread of some very serious viruses that include: Ebola, Dengue Fever, H1N1, and SARS.  Published in the April 2016 edition of the Journal of the Science of Healing Outcomes is the paper, “Inhibition of Dengue and Other Enveloped Viruses by Metadichol­®, a Novel Nano Emulsion Lipid,” by P. R. Raghavan, PhD. (dengue-paper – AUTHORS PRE PRINT COPY)

In this paper the author shows case studies of dengue fever recovery of a female 34 and a male 35 in just a few days without any drugs. Also shown in the paper are positive results of in vitro testing for dengue fever as well as many other viruses.  It is the hope that Metadichol® acts toward the other viruses as it has toward dengue fever.  Imagine the less fear that would have been developed during the recent outbreak of Ebola. About 40% of the world’s population is exposed to dengue viral infections with 50 to 100 million infections each year and 22,000 deaths.

Even more important to the average person is the hope that Nano-policosanol is an effective antiviral toward the flu.  Imagine the impact if we could recover very swiftly from the flu with an antiviral that is very effective without side effects.  The very important highlight of policosanol is that it is nontoxic to the human body.  We consume policosanol every day in our foods.  The Nano-emulsion version is easier to absorb and become effective in our immune response. Unfortunately, the part of the plants where policosanol is concentrated is usually thrown away as waste.  Have we lost the avenue toward better immune systems by not chewing the husks from food?

There are over 1,400 pathogens identified to cause disease in humans. There are many more mutating to adjust to an-every changing environment.  How many times in the past year have you heard someone say our use of antibiotics is creating new dangerous bacteria or the vaccine is only 40% effective against this year’s flu?  This is to say nothing to the damage that antibiotics and vaccines may be doing to our microbiota which represents over 100 trillion cells in the human body or ten times human cells.  The use of food with its vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and genetic expressing processes is a natural way of boasting the immune system that has evolved over the ages with our environment.  This may be the answer in our ever persistent battle against pathogens.  We cannot create enough vaccines or anti-pathogen formulas to handle the constant surge of pathogens.

In conversations with the author, Dr. P. R. Raghavan, it was interesting to learn that the finding for the use of Metadichol® against viruses arose out of the use as a supplement. “Chinese and Indians have used herbs and foods to treat illnesses for hundreds of years. My experience in years of developing toxic drugs that do not work, forced me to look for a better alternative. Knowing the importance of vitamin D on human health has ultimately led me to the invention of Policosanol Nanoparticles.” Metadichol® can act along vitamin D pathways and help to restore proper immune health. He continues, “this is not surprising given that policosanol can be considered an open chain form of vitamin D. Policosanol’s main ingredient is Octacosanol which has 28 carbon atoms and vitamin D3 also has 27 Carbon atoms and both are long chain alcohols.”

Potato Skin

Dried Potato Skins

Metadichol has been shown to be effective for many biomarkers (US patents 8,722,093 and 9,006,292) in the nanoemulsion form, and for viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites as well. Dr. Raghavan states that he has some very interesting in vitro results for all of these pathogens. He also states that it is very effective in wound healing. “This is not surprising given the fact that dried potato skin was used for skin healing in India. It turns out that potato skin is a good source of the ingredients of Metadichol. In addition, Metadichol also works against Malaria, a parasite, and bacteria like MRSA (see US patent 9,006,292). Recently completed work also has shown that Metadichol inhibits in vitro T-Brucei, a parasite that causes sleeping sickness, T-Cruzi that causes Chagas disease, and Leishmania, a parasite carried by sand flies that leads to Leishmaniosis with symptoms of ulcers of the skin, mouth, nose, etc. All these parasites affect many developed countries in the tropics.  Metadichol® is the only one known in vitro to be active against bacteria, parasites and viruses. This allows researchers for the first time a simple solution that is ready to be tested and deployed world wide to prevent these viruses, bacteria and parasites that affect a large swath of humanity.”

You will have to forgive me, but this reminds me of the explorer movies of the jungle and suddenly there is an illness or injury. The medicine man chews up some leaves and spits it into a poultice.  The person with the illness is healed in just a day or so.  Great stuff for the movies, but there must have been some basis for the fiction. Maybe we have arrived at a time when nutraceuticals are more effective that drugs.

“One good nutraceutical can wipe out the drugs.” Dr. Stephen De Felice

©2016 Mark Pegram

The Sun, Infectious Disease, or What Happens in the Dark

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Gen: 1:2 NIV, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…”

We have been scared out of the sun for the last fifty years. It has been constantly screamed at us about the danger of sun exposure. We have slathered huge amounts of sunscreen on our bodies when we do go into the sun. Also, with the invention of TV and computers, we have spent significantly more time inside than out during the recent decades. This has presented the question, “Have we created an opportunity for a major pandemic because of the reduction of vitamin D from low sun exposure?”

I thought a unique way of determining the answer to this question is to look at past pandemics. I also decided to look at just bubonic plague outbreaks as this is well documented over the last fifteen hundred years. There have been three major outbreaks.

First Outbreak

The first outbreak of bubonic plague began in Europe, Constantinople, in approximately 542. There was a significant event just prior that cause the solar incidence to be significantly reduced. This event occurred in approximately 536. The reduced sun and resulting cold and crop failures went on for many years. Michael the Syrian, who wrote “the sun became dark and its darkness lasted for one and a half years… Each day it shone for about four hours and still this light was only a feeble shadow…the fruits did not ripen and the wine tasted like sour grapes.”

Robert A. Dull of the University of Texas believes that this reduce solar incidence occurred because of a volcanic eruption in El Salvador. The volcano is named Llopango and its caldera forms Lake Llopango that is 11 x 17 km near the city of San Salvador. There is enough scientific evidence that Dull is certain the ash cloud from this eruption was the cause.

It is interesting to note that the disease was carried by rats, a nocturnal animal. It is easy to understand that nocturnal animals would have a much lower opportunity to receive vitamin D from any source. It is estimated that the plague killed approximately 50 million people in the Roman Empire alone.

Second Outbreak – The Black Death

This outbreak was believed to have begun in Mongolia in the earlier 1330’s. It then spread to Europe as merchant ships arrived from the Crimea in approximately 1347. It is reported that approximately a third of the population was killed in Europe. In looking for volcanic activity, I found that Mount Tarawera (New Zealand) erupted around AD 1315. The ash thrown from this event may have dropped temperatures around the globe and precipitated the Great Famine of 1315–1317 in Europe. This was also the start of the Little Ice Age. Again, we find significant reduction in solar incidence. Also, I would imagine people started to wear more clothing because of the cold. It is interesting to note that the world’s population increased in areas other than Europe.

Third Outbreak

The third outbreak started again in Eastern Asia in approximately 1855. It was mostly localized. It then spread to the rest of China and India in the 1890’s where approximately 12 million people died. I found volcanic activity from another major eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886 and Krakatoa in 1883(Sunda Arc). Again the eruptions occurred just a few years before a major outbreak.

Are we a population of sun deficient, vitamin D deficient people waiting for another major pandemic to occur? This is a very unnerving scenario. We can only hope that the current outbreak of Ebola is localized to West Africa. Ebola is a disease that is believed to have originated with bats, a nocturnal animal. Have we discovered enough science to arrest the disease? With this concern, the incidence of sun cancer should be the least of your worries. Responsibly spend time in the sun. Don’t let your skin burn, but stay long enough to build your vitamin D3 stores. If you live in northern latitudes or stay inside, then supplement. It is not as good as the sun, but better than no vitamin D3. – Pandemic Survivor

NOAA “A New Look at the 1918/1919 El Nino Suggest Link to Flu Pandemic”
Earth Magazine   AAG: Eruption of El Salvador’s Llpango Explains A.D. 536 Cooling
Wiki Timeline of Volcanic Eruptions
Wiki Mount Tarawera (New Zealand)

Treating and Preventing Viral Infections

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Modern medicine has solutions to many things that can be treated with drugs or surgery. However, when it comes to viral infections, medicine takes a back seat to the body’s innate immunity.   We have very effective drugs for treating bacteria and fungus infections. When it comes to viruses the best thing seems to be to prevent the disease. This is typically done through acquired immunization. Sometimes the vaccines are not very effective. Have you ever had the flu vaccine and still got the flu? The many varieties of the common cold virus and its constant mutations have prevented the development of a vaccine.

But what about treatment for really serious viral infections like the flu or the present concern over the Ebola virus. It seems that the best course of treatment for these two very serious diseases is to maintain nutrition and hydration as the disease runs its course. I find it odd that we don’t have a vaccine for many of the common bacterial infections that we treat with antibiotics, but we have vaccines for viral infections that we have no drug for treatment. Is there an economic factor in the development of drugs versus vaccines with different types of infections?   Would it not be great to have a vaccine against the streptococcus bacterium? Of course it would “kick the crap” out of the antibiotic economics because of reduced need. Would it not be great to have a vaccine for antibiotic resistant diseases like MRSA? MRSA diseases do account for about fifteen thousand deaths each year in the US.

When there is not a drug to effectively treat an infection, the best course of action is to assure that your innate immunity or your body’s natural immune system is running at peak performance. So how do you accomplish this peak performance to prevent and treat virus infections? I will tell you how I have gone for ten years without getting a cold or the flu. I had one bacterial lung infection during this period that was most likely caused by not wearing a respirator when entering a very nasty crawlspace under an old home. I also had a MRSA infection that was brought home from a hospital by a family member. It seems that our natural immune systems are much more effective at taking care of viral infections versus bacterial infections. Since I have not had a cold or the flu during this period except for the time I tempted fate by not taking my normal course of vitamins and minerals, we have to believe that proper nutrition and exercise to keep the body healthy is the best course of action against viral diseases.

Vitamin D, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, zinc, and iodine: These vitamins work together for producing many effects in the immune system. This includes boosting your white blood cells and the differentiation into the many types of natural pathogen “killers”. Also vitamin D and vitamin A work together to allow the body to make a very effective pathogen killer called cathelicidin antimicrobial peptides. This family of anti-pathogens is very effective against bacteria, viruses, and fungus. The amounts of these nutrients in the body are very critical to their effectiveness.

I read one story about how during a research project, the serum vitamin D of the subjects was being taken once per week. It was noted that one of the subjects had a 25(OH)D level above 60ng/ml one week and the next week the level had dropped to below 20 ng/ml. The next day this subject came down with the flu. When a viral infection becomes active in the body, the immune system can use up its stores of nutrients very rapidly. To repeat, the amount of important micronutrients is extremely critical. For example, you should increase the amounts of vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin C, and zinc if an infection is present.

It may be that you need to take 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 for a couple of days or the amount you would make at the beach in the sun for a week. You may also want to consider the amount of vitamin C that you are taking. A good way for short term increase in vitamin C is to take liposomal vitamin C. I do not think that you should take this form on a regular basis as it will be too much. One gram, 1000mg, of liposomal vitamin C may act as taking as much as 20 grams or more IV. Antidotal cases have shown that vitamin C is a very effective disease fighter. On a regular basis, you should get at least 3 to 4 grams per day. Zinc is another disease fighter that you may also want to increase. You might increase your intake to as much as 50 mg/d until the virus symptoms recede. Also, folate from leafy greens or as supplement of methyl folate with vitamin B12 is critical for the methylation cycle for proper genetic expression. All of the above nutrients can be depleted rapidly during disease.

Since there is not an effective method for treating Ebola, I wonder why nutritional techniques are not practiced on a disease where the death rate is 50 to 70 percent and sometimes higher. I guess modern medicine has simply decided to remove these efficacious tools. It seems that they do understand the need for hydration and the replacement of minerals, but what about all of the other nutrients that get depleted.

Protect yourself this winter as common viruses start to invade the population. Be sure that you are getting enough of the important nutrients. – Pandemic Survivor

Further Reading: Linus Pauling Institute Oregon State University – Immunity: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/immunity.html

Dr. David Brownsteins Blog Ebola: A Scurvy-Like Illness: http://blog.drbrownstein.com/ebola-a-scurvy-like-illness/

List of viral diseases – CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/disinfo/disease.htm