Facemasks and CV19

I am not on ventolin myself, but I know someone who needs it occasionally and uses a less powerful asthma inhaler regularly, so I'd be interested to know how you did it.

There was a study done of Vitamin D levels in people admitted to hospital with CV-19, and a high proportion were found to be low on that vitamin. Furthermore, those who progressed to intensive treatment showed an even more prominent lack of vitamin _D!
The conclusion was that this was interesting, and might help researchers to work out the mechanism by which it worked, but that people shouldn't go off and dose themselves with Vitamin-D, which is obviously what I and my partner now do! How crazy can they get in the midst of an epidemic.

There is an NHS doctor who lives a few miles from us, and he blogs about cardiovascular problems, and other things like COVID-19 as they come up. It is worth reading his book, provided you are willing to tolerate (or skip) some statistical arguments:

https://www.amazon.com/Doctoring-Data-medical-advice-nonsense-ebook/dp/B00TCG3X4S/

He and a large following of other doctors basically follow this:

1) Cholesterol levels have nothing to do with cardiovascular disease, except possibly extremely high levels that are way out of the range where doctors want to treat you.

2) Saturated fats are good for you - better than polyunsaturated products, and the main food to avoid is sugar, and excessive consumption of carbohydrates (because they break down into sugars as you digest them).

3) The treatment for high cholesterol, statins, is very effective at lowering cholesterol, but causes a range of other problems. The only time as an adult that I have had any serious medical problem was with statins. Obviously I don't take them any more. It was only because of my problems with statins that I found Dr Kendrick's blog.

https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/

4) Many type-2 diabetics can be recover and be free of medicine if they eat a high fat, low carb diet. What is the official advice to such people - you guessed it - a low fat, high carb diet.

Most of the reason for this state of affairs seems to be that the pharmaceutical companies make billions out of selling their drugs.

Unless they read around a bit, I don't think many doctors realise what is wrong - after all they pass on what they learned in medical school, and their time is occupied with the job. Above all, it is the people who produce the guidelines and the medical charities that support research and get huge grants from the pharmaceutical companies!

The string theory stuff is impossible for me to read, but after studying it for 40 years, physicists are starting to realise string theory doesn't lead anywhere.

Cosmology absolutely depends on Hubble's law (it isn't a law just an observation), which translates the red shift of stars and galaxies into the speed they are travelling away from us, and hence their distance. That is where those statements about the age of the univerese being 13.8 billion years come from. Then along came Halton Arp, a student of Hubble, who produced a lot of evidence that those red shifts sometimes come from another cause. If true the whole ediface of cosmology would collapse! Guess what they did - they tried to stop him getting telescope time, and hindered his work in any way possible. Unfortunately, he died in 2012.

I have come across that guy, and I have to say, I think he is a bullshitter, but that saying is attributed to Terence McKenna I think.

Honestly, even if they had, I wouldn't have believed it by now!

Finally, of course, you have the implacable resistance of science to any concept of psychic phenomena.

Science is in a real mess. I think at some stage someone will have to scrap a large chunk of research 'results' after (say) 1960, and start again.

David
This has worked for me but isn’t a guide for everyone. I researched for months and tweaked things along the way.

I was on Ventolin, Atrovent, Seretide and Zoloft. My blood sugar was high, not a diabetic but heading that way.

I consume foods that adhere to ketogenic principles. This isn’t paleo, a lot of people think they are the same but Keto is about low carbs, lots of vegetables and lots of natural fat. Paleo is more about meat. As I had been a vegetarian for most of my life, I couldn’t do that but I’ve seen this dramatically heal others.
I don’t eat wheat or sugar. They are inflammatory.
I eat clean, meaning organic, free range and filter fluoride and chloride out of my water. I don’t want weed killers and toxic substances in my food.
It isn’t that expensive since I don’t buy processed junk anymore. Also my meds had cost one weeks food allowance per month.

I’ve primarily been taking Vitamin D3, Vitamin K2, Zinc, Kelp, Trace minerals and Magnesium for over a year. These are the ones I’ll stay on for life.
I take Camu Camu for vitamin C or eat a red capsicum a day. They contain whole vitamin C not a synthetic like absorbic acid. This way my body doesn’t need to take other elements from within to make the Vit C work.

Slowly, over months I introduced intermittent fasting and now eat once a day. (I don’t get hungry as I did this gradually.) This is for autophagy. There’s a plethora of medical studies backing the results. It makes sense, our primal ancestors didn’t eat 3 meals with snacks. I think clearer, have better focus & more stamina.

It’s really important to think of food for its vitamins and minerals. Most people only concentrate on calories, protein etc. Most of the worlds soils are depleted. I recently have added Boron and give it to my mother. It’s improving her arthritis.

Once I was on this path for 6 months I decided to look at my medication. For Asthma, I realised a lot of my reaching for ventolin was ingrained. I began deep breathing exercises with yoga and mind focus. Over time I’ve improved my lung capacity and settled my minds reaction for immediate relief. Obviously if I have an attack, I have asthma meds on standby but for me I relied on it to much.

My blood sugar is perfect, whenever I test it. It’s stable and sits just below the recommended standard which is too high in my opinion (as I’ve researched this) Last blood tests showed my good cholesterol was high. It’s a protein not a fat, most don’t realise this.

Hope this info helps your friend :)

I agree the research and bloated organisations don’t do much. As with many, over time they’ve become corrupted. I never hear medical experts talk about the fundamentals of health. It’s all about pushing things they can make money from. Modern medicine is pushed as our greatest saviour but do they ever talk about how sanitation vs vaccines cured a lot of diseases in the past. If people knew what was in vaccines I wonder if they would be so eager to take them. I’ll stick to the natural way I’m healing and improving myself than take a shot that bypasses my innate immune system. They can keep their poison adjuvants and fetal cells. Also there’s a difference in acute and chronic medical intervention. Chronic is where the main issues are. What’s (not) funny is that the third biggest cause of death is medical mistakes. (Might have been moved to fifth since 2016, just had a quick look to verify) I like how side effects are stated that way. Side? Bullshit, it’s an effect. Anyway, I get ranty on health issues as a cousin of mine died 2 years ago from a doctor that was careless during an ablation.

I had said Nassim but it’s a Rupert Sheldrake quote so I corrected it. I like him and some of his ideas. I’m not science literate so I can’t speak on his methods. He’s definitely on the fringe but some of his predictions have been validated. I get why he’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

Hmm changing the course of science is gunna be as difficult as changing the direction of nearly all dogmatic institutions. I’ve been really into researching megalithic stonework (Brian Foerster has great online videos from around the world) it’s so obvious academic archeologists are mostly wrong. Except for a few who follow evidence & not biases. But when you look into why things and people are this way it all comes back to money and fitting in.
 
Sure. I haven't been interested in where Alex has taken things over the past 2+ years however. I find conspiracy theories to be utterly uninteresting. What brought me here was the "Science at the tipping point" content and, again, it feels like we've moved so far beyond that as to almost be unrecognizable. Its Alex's baby so obviously he's free to do what he wishes, but the recent angles just haven't been my bag.


I get that and certainly can be sensitive to it, but I pick up almost a bias against mainstream "anything" from you (and many others here). It comes back to the notion of conspiracies. This community seems all too eager to glob on to whatever the next conspiratorial thing may be. Almost a hunger or a seeking for it. Just screams bias to me.


Well, I'm not so sure you can say this about the past few years around here as we really haven't been discussing much science. Its been UFOs, and cults, and ritual abuse, etc, etc. None of that fits under the category of "science" for me. YMMV.


If not the exact sheet, one that sounds the same to a scientific materialist listener for sure. :)
Hi Silence,

I also don’t like the focus on evil but one thing it’s made me realise that it’s true. Maybe it’s just me but I used to think it was a tiny thing that occurred with mentally ill people. Now from Anneke Lucus and the suppression by judges & corporate media on Jeffery Epstein, I know it’s not the case. It’s a lot of the elites in our society’s including academia, politicians and celebrities.

Conspiracies are something new to me. I dismissed a lot of them as people with nothing better to do. I’ve been reading Annie Jacobson’s books. She delves into the past of military action. Once you see how much has been done, it’s hard not to believe things are still going on today. I get that it’s not an interest of yours and quite frankly it would help my anxiety issues if I never found out the twisted shit that goes on. I just hope your not judging conspiracy stuff in the same way people say sheeple.
 
Sure. I haven't been interested in where Alex has taken things over the past 2+ years however. I find conspiracy theories to be utterly uninteresting. What brought me here was the "Science at the tipping point" content and, again, it feels like we've moved so far beyond that as to almost be unrecognizable. Its Alex's baby so obviously he's free to do what he wishes, but the recent angles just haven't been my bag.
Do remember that Skeptiko is not just the podcasts. You also have the option of starting a new thread discussing whatever you like - hopefully one of the scientific topics we have just been discussing. For example, if you think that there is a flaw in the theoriy that simple chemicals on Earth assembled over time into something that was self replicating, which in turn evolved by natural selection into all life on Earth, including us - please discuss it!

Do you have any expertise/experience in any aspect of science?

David
 
This has worked for me but isn’t a guide for everyone. I researched for months and tweaked things along the way.

I was on Ventolin, Atrovent, Seretide and Zoloft. My blood sugar was high, not a diabetic but heading that way.

I consume foods that adhere to ketogenic principles. This isn’t paleo, a lot of people think they are the same but Keto is about low carbs, lots of vegetables and lots of natural fat. Paleo is more about meat. As I had been a vegetarian for most of my life, I couldn’t do that but I’ve seen this dramatically heal others.
I don’t eat wheat or sugar. They are inflammatory.
I eat clean, meaning organic, free range and filter fluoride and chloride out of my water. I don’t want weed killers and toxic substances in my food.
It isn’t that expensive since I don’t buy processed junk anymore. Also my meds had cost one weeks food allowance per month.

I’ve primarily been taking Vitamin D3, Vitamin K2, Zinc, Kelp, Trace minerals and Magnesium for over a year. These are the ones I’ll stay on for life.
My guess is that supplements work when the recipient is somewhat short of that particular substance - so one size probably doesn't fit all. However, all those have been discussed on Dr Kendrick's blog. The nice thing about that blog is that although he allows fairly free discussion, he does jump in if he thinks something i
I take Camu Camu for vitamin C or eat a red capsicum a day. They contain whole vitamin C not a synthetic like absorbic acid. This way my body doesn’t need to take other elements from within to make the Vit C work.

Slowly, over months I introduced intermittent fasting and now eat once a day. (I don’t get hungry as I did this gradually.) This is for autophagy. There’s a plethora of medical studies backing the results. It makes sense, our primal ancestors didn’t eat 3 meals with snacks. I think clearer, have better focus & more stamina.

It’s really important to think of food for its vitamins and minerals. Most people only concentrate on calories, protein etc. Most of the worlds soils are depleted. I recently have added Boron and give it to my mother. It’s improving her arthritis.

Once I was on this path for 6 months I decided to look at my medication. For Asthma, I realised a lot of my reaching for ventolin was ingrained. I began deep breathing exercises with yoga and mind focus. Over time I’ve improved my lung capacity and settled my minds reaction for immediate relief. Obviously if I have an attack, I have asthma meds on standby but for me I relied on it to much.

My blood sugar is perfect, whenever I test it. It’s stable and sits just below the recommended standard which is too high in my opinion (as I’ve researched this) Last blood tests showed my good cholesterol was high. It’s a protein not a fat, most don’t realise this.

Chronic is where the main issues are. What’s (not) funny is that the third biggest cause of death is medical mistakes. (Might have been moved to fifth since 2016, just had a quick look to verify) I like how side effects are stated that way. Side? Bullshit, it’s an effect. Anyway, I get ranty on health issues as a cousin of mine died 2 years ago from a doctor that was careless during an ablation.
I think that point is crucial. If you break a leg, conventional medicine will do a good job, but long term medication is almost untestable, but immensely profitable for big pharma.

I am never sure if the concept that "medicine being the third largest cause of death" is completely meaningful. For example, if you have cancer and receive chemo or radiation, then yes that treatment is dangerous.

David
 
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My guess is that supplements work when the recipient is somewhat short of that particular substance - so one size probably doesn't fit all. However, all those have been discussed on Dr Kendrick's blog. The nice thing about that blog is that although he allows fairly free discussion, he does jump in if he thinks something i

I think that point is crucial. If you break a leg, conventional medicine will do a good job, but long term medication is almost untestable, but immensely profitable for big pharma.

I am never sure if that medicine being the third largest cause of death is completely meaningful. For example, if you have cancer and receive chemo or radiation, then yes that treatment is dangerous.

David
Absolutely, everyone needs to look at their ailments and go from there. There’s a few things like vitamin c we all need as our bodies don’t store it. Vitamin D if we spend more time inside than out.
By best friend has issues with her thyroid and takes additional selenium. Her husband has autoimmune issues and eats a carnivore diet for this. It’s all individual but we are lucky to live in an age where we have easy access to information and can streamline our diets. The only thing I’ll add is you have to be willing to really want to heal yourself. I have people in my life that eat crap are sick but don’t want to change habits. Ultimate it’s up to us.

I’ll have to check on that but I don’t think the studies includes chemo etc. I think it was on medical errors. Like actually administering incorrect drugs, incorrect surgery... that type of thing.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-america.html

I admire doctors who really care about each patient and I have no doubt it’s a tough job but it’s important to be aware and look after yourself to the best of your abilities. I’m unsure if it’s changed but most doctors only get minimal training on nutrition. One day (Info from Dr Jason Fung)
 
I don't wear a face mask, and I won't until absolutely forced to do so. After being here on Skeptiko for years, my fear of death is vastly reduced, and somehow the masks seem to symbolise fear.

As Iconoclast has pointed out, the evidence for the value of wearing a mask is marginal, and there are arguments - made by medics - that they could be negative. For example, these masks result in a lot of re-breathing, meaning that if you harbour a small infection that is asymptomatic, the re-breathing may give the viruses within you an ideal opportunity to make you ill.

Perhaps it is worth listening to an alternative point of view:


Sorry the video is positioned near its end - please rewind if necessary.

(And yes, Silence, this is an academic with lots of medical experience discussing the issue intelectually)

David
I hate the masks but cannot enter a store unless wearing one. I also have to wear one if I'm taking photos of someone else on a photo shoot. I recently had a shoot with a bunch of firemen and EMT workers. Among them were a few people, including a commissioner, who were not photographed. One of these told me that they wear the masks because they are told they have to, but "everyone" among them knew that they were useless.
 
I hate the masks but cannot enter a store unless wearing one. I also have to wear one if I'm taking photos of someone else on a photo shoot. I recently had a shoot with a bunch of firemen and EMT workers. Among them were a few people, including a commissioner, who were not photographed. One of these told me that they wear the masks because they are told they have to, but "everyone" among them knew that they were useless.
I'll add that on a different shoot, I ran into a store owner who said that if someone who didn't feel like wearing a mask entered her store, she'd bodily eject him by throwing him right through the plate glass window in front. Apparently, she cares about the safety of her customers!
 
I'll add that on a different shoot, I ran into a store owner who said that if someone who didn't feel like wearing a mask entered her store, she'd bodily eject him by throwing him right through the plate glass window in front. Apparently, she cares about the safety of her customers!
Hehee.
There’s someone getting information form one source. I’ve just realised those poor people that have to wear them for hours on end :(
I saw a photo of someone that had cut the bottom off a 5L water bottle and wore that :D
I laughed but who knows a spit shield might work better.
 
i guess rules for masks vary considerably in different areas. in Toronto i go out and shop with no mask with no problem. maybe 70% of people have masks. of those at least a quarter do not put the mask to cover mouth and nose. only saw 1 store witb sign mandating masks. the official health instruction here is to "wear mask when distancing is difficult"
 
I hate the masks but cannot enter a store unless wearing one. I also have to wear one if I'm taking photos of someone else on a photo shoot. I recently had a shoot with a bunch of firemen and EMT workers. Among them were a few people, including a commissioner, who were not photographed. One of these told me that they wear the masks because they are told they have to, but "everyone" among them knew that they were useless.
I have read suggestions from medics that if a person who is incubating COVID, or any other virus, wears a mask, this will increase the chance that the virus will triumph over the immune system. The idea is that without the mask you can better clear the air from your lungs and remove a lot of virus particles. Virus particles need to multiply in the body fast enough to win the race against the activation of the immune response.

David
 
i guess rules for masks vary considerably in different areas. in Toronto i go out and shop with no mask with no problem. maybe 70% of people have masks. of those at least a quarter do not put the mask to cover mouth and nose. only saw 1 store with a sign mandating masks. the official health instruction here is to "wear mask when distancing is difficult"
Where I live in New York, masks are mandatory to enter any store. From what I can see, it looks like 70% wear them while driving, with nose and mouth covered, even if they are by themselves. I see about the same percentage of people walking around fully masked on bright sunny days outside.
 
I was out yesterday sharing a bike ride with a couple and their children. The father is a doctor, and I found him to be just as cynical about COVID-19 as I am. He knows about vitamin D, and his whole family take it. Nobody really bothered about social distancing, and nobody wore a mask. He also realises that the reason for the high death toll is that like all flu viruses, people who are very ill - often with a weakened immune system - are much more susceptible.

David
 
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