Posted on by Californiacontrarian

So Why Not ?

Many years ago at one point I caught part of a Rush Limbaugh radio broadcast in which he was commenting that he got very very few colds after flying. At this point in his career Rush stated that he flew quite a bit, and then related his “secret.” Note that Rush was a lot of things, but he was not a physician and never pretended to be. His advice about cold prevention was totally anecdotal, and was well before Covid. Rush’s   preventative strategy was well before Covid. He relied upon Zinc and Vitamin C.

Today I happened upon an article from BMJ Open from Australia titled 

“Zinc for the prevention or treatment of acute viral respiratory tract infections in adults: a rapid systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials”

The conclusion in this article was :

In adult populations in which zinc deficiency is unlikely, our review found when zinc was used for prophylaxis, there was a lower risk of contracting a clinical illness consistent with a community-acquired viral RTI (Respiratory Tract Infection). When used for treatment, zinc was found to shorten the duration of symptoms and reduce day 3 symptomatic severity, but not overall daily symptom severity. While there was an increased risk of non-serious AEs (Adverse Effects) that may limit tolerability for some, the risk of serious AEs was low.

This meta analysis review of the literature was addressing viral URIs (Upper Respiratory Infections) in general, and it was noted that it was not specifically talking about Covid, but of course, Covid is also caused by a virus.

Furthermore just today I listened to a presentation by an experienced primary care physician from Israel. In his practice he stated that he had approximately 2000 patients, and although some had contracted Covid, and a few had gone to the ER, none had been hospitalized. He attributed his success at keeping his Covid patients out of the hospital to his recommended prophylactic regime of both Zinc and Vitamin D. To all of his patients he recommends 25mg/d of Zinc and 4000IU of Vitamin D (increased dose for his obese patients).

My take on prophylactic Zinc is similar to my take on Ivermectin … a potentially effective treatment with minuscule side effects, so why not? 

I am starting my zinc tomorrow.

1/12/22

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