In last week's post entitled "Three Little Known, Unconventional Antiviral Approaches For Boosting Your Immune System", I laid out a fully comprehensive, novel, and alternative health strategy to tackle health issues related to viruses and immune system enhancement—strategies that often go beyond simple pharmaceutical pill-popping or conventional medicine (similar to my previous posts on issues I've personally dealt with in the past, such as MRSA, and Giardia).

In that article, I dove into natural ways I've been strengthening my immune system for my hefty amount of airline travel, even in the face of recent viral outbreaks that have made me have to be even more careful and thorough in my approach.

Two friends of mine, Dr. Matthew Cook and Dr. Matthew Dawson, are true experts in the realms of functional and precision medicine, and both were kind enough to offer me their advice when it comes to boosting immunity and fighting viruses. I've included their audio in this podcast for your listening and learning pleasure.

My first guest, Dr. Matthew Cook, has been on the following podcasts:

• Killing Mold & Mycotoxins For Good, The Craziest IVs You Can Get For Energy, Fixing Knees & Back Without Surgery & Much More.
• Immortal Cells, Biohacking Pain, Killing Lyme, Stem Cell Confusion, How Ketamine Works & Much More
• What You Didn’t Know About CBD & THC, Fixing Lyme Disease, The Full Body Blood Change Reboot, Peptides 101, Hyperthermia & Much More

Dr. Cook founded BioReset Medical Corporation and, as acting President, operates a regenerative and pain medicine practice that offers leading-edge non-surgical solutions in orthopedic medicine, sports medicine, regenerative pain medicine, and stem cell medicine. He is a board-certified anesthesiologist with over 20 years of experience in medical practice. Currently, Dr. Cook is president of California Anesthesia and medical director of the National Surgery Center, Los Gatos, CA. In addition, he sits on the scientific advisory board of several high profile medical companies including BM Doc, FREmedica & Vasper Systems. Dr. Cook’s early career as an anesthesiologist and medical director of an outpatient surgery center that specializes in sports medicine and orthopedic procedures provided invaluable training in the skills that are needed to become a leader in the emerging fields of musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging, nerve hydrodissection, and stem cell medicine.

My second pair of guests, Dr's Matt Dawson and Michael Mallin of WildHealthMD, have been on the following podcasts:

• How To Use Precision Medicine To Enhance Athletic Performance, Defy Aging, Balance Hormones, Fix The Heart & Much More.
• Why Your DNA Is Worthless (& What You Need To Focus On Instead)
• CBD & Cannabis Special Episode: How CBD Affects Hormones, Fat Loss, Athletic Performance, Sleep, Recovery & Much More

Dr. Matt Dawson is a precision medicine physician in Lexington, KY, co-host of the Wild Health Podcast, and has been obsessed with performance optimization as long as he can remember. He received scholarships to play two sports in college even with “minimal talent” because of his voracious reading and implementation of any fitness or nutritional techniques that would give him an edge.

Dr. Dawson continued that obsession in medical school, and as a physician, he has won national awards for education, innovation, and leadership. He has lectured in over 20 countries and trained thousands of other physicians through live lectures, online education, two textbooks, and an educational app.

Dr. Dawson combines his training in genomics and functional medicine to give personalized, precise medical guidance. His obsession with performance optimization has morphed from, initially athletic, to now mental performance and longevity. Whether it's a professional athlete or a grandparent optimizing their mental clarity and mobility to keep up with their grandkids, Dr. Dawson is passionate about helping everyone perform at their absolute peak.

Dr. Mike Mallin is a physician in Bend, OR who is obsessed with health performance and precision medicine and is co-founder of the Wild Health Podcast. He completed medical school in South Carolina and trained in Emergency Medicine in Salt Lake City, UT where he competed in several ultramarathons and found his love for the mountains and performance. Mike currently practices in Bend, OR and Lexington, KY in his precision medicine clinics. He is also co-founder of the Ultrasound Podcast, an educational podcast that has taught thousands of physicians all over the world how to use ultrasound.

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During this podcast, you'll discover:

Part 1 w/ Dr. Matt Cook of BioReset Medical (Begins at 5:25)

-Dr. Cook's history w/ virology...7:10

• Studied feline immunodeficiency virus, a model for HIV
• Anesthesiologist w/ an interesting approach to pain management
• Began to successfully treat patients w/ complex illnesses
• Many patients have viral infections, chronic illnesses w/ a viral overlight

-A brief history of viral epidemics..9:08

• Influenza pandemic from 1918-1920 (Spanish flu) infected over 500 million people worldwide; 17-50 million people died
  • Fear of affecting morale of WWI soldiers; publicity was censored in Germany, U.S., U.K.
  • The virus created an extreme inflammatory response
  • Young people were especially susceptible
• SARS and MERS occurred more recently
  • Both respiratory viruses
  • Mortality rate from SARS was 9.6%; MERS was 34.4%
  • Current mortality rate of COVID-19 is unclear right now
• Pattern of viral infections that create an exaggerated response, particularly in the lungs
• 3 categories of patients:
  • 80% will get the virus and recover w/ no complications
  • Patients w/ preexisting conditions are at greater risk
  • Healthy patients get a viral infection, have an overreactive immune response

-What is a "coronavirus?"...15:00

• Viruses are extremely small
• Cold climates are ideal for viruses; they are very rare in tropical climates
• How are viruses transmitted?
  • Respiratory droplets and other bodily fluids
  • Stringent approach to maintaining cleanliness for prevention and treatment
• Pneumonia, fever, cough, shortness of breath; affects both lungs
• Symptoms can be in GI tract, low white blood cell counts
• Most common symptoms: fever, dry cough, tiredness; often there are no symptoms
• Most common complication is pneumonia
• Best practices for avoiding the virus:
  • Avoid traveling to infected places
  • Careful hand washing
  • Avoid touching T zones
  • Avoid crowded areas
  • Keep your living area clean
• Majority of cases are relatively mild
  • Small number can have complex problems
• Common symptoms:
  • Fever
  • Coughing
  • Muscle pain
  • Confusion
  • Shortness of breath

-What is the cytokine storm?...22:30

• Primary target is the respiratory system
• Virus can't replicate itself w/out getting into a cell
• Body responds by making chemical messengers to create inflammatory response to fight the virus
• Inflammatory process is out of control; doesn't take effect

-Immunology 101...25:30

• Best known inflammatory cytokine is tumor necrosis factor A (TNF-A)
  • Turns on other cytokines, promote an exaggerated inflammatory response
• Factors that drive the cytokine storm:
  • Nuclear factor kappa beta (nuclear factor kappa bad)
  • Block nuclear factor kappa beta, turn on NrF2 (helps modulate inflammatory response to a stress)
• Status of testing:
  • Quest diagnostics will offer a test for the current viral outbreak
  • Gates Foundation working on an at-home test
• How to treat influenza:
  • Hand-washing is one of the greatest medical concepts of our time
  • Patients w/ mild illnesses can self-quarantine

-Treatment options for viruses...33:45

• Most important factor is containment
• Improve your hygiene
• A great job done w/ the 80% of mild cases gives hope that it will be beat
• Steroids have done more harm than good in the past
• Be aware of anti-viral medications
  • Remdisivir
  • Kelapra
• Antioxidants:
  • NAC (antiviral effects)
  • Vitamin C
  • Glycyrrhizin
• Plant-derived antioxidants w/ antiviral effects
• Upregulate NrF2
  • Ozone therapy may be an activator

-A functional medicine approach to wellness...40:18

• Plato: "The part can never be well unless the whole is well"
• Systems approach is the best way to optimize immune system
• Immune system is centered in the gut
  • Problems come with age because diversity in microbiome goes down
  • SIBO leads to leaky gut
• Difficulties in fighting chronic illness is due to multiple systems in the body dysfunctioning
• Increasing overall wellness provides the best defense against viruses
• Effective supplements for immune system wellness:
  • Vitamin C administered intravenously
  • Vitamin D (pro-survival molecule) helps dampen chronic reactions
  • Curcumin and quercetin has been found to inhibit kappa b
  • Probiotics may balance the GI tract
  • X-Viromin Apex Energetics
  • Life Extensions Zinc Lozenges
  • Quercetin Vitamin C combo
  • Vitamin A helpful to immune system, Vitamin D offsets some of the toxicity (cod liver oil)
  • Quicksilver "The One"
  • Lauricidin
  • Apex Energetics Turmero
  • NAD Gold from Quicksilver
  • Royal jelly
  • Raw honey
  • Oleuropein (derivative of olive leaf)

-About ozone therapy...1:06:35

• Used by naturopaths and more and more doctors
• Nikola Tesla patented first ozone generator in 1896
• Ozone has antiviral, anti fungal, antiparasitic effects
• Stimulates NrF2
• Decreases cytokines
• Ozone is an oxidative therapy (helpful used w/ anti-oxidative treatments)
• Ozone can oxidize sulfhydryl groups on the virus (may block ability of the virus to get into the cell)
• "Oxidative preconditioning"
• Pretreatment w/ ozone could be beneficial before exposure to a chronic infection
• How is it administered:
  • Ozone generator
  • Ozone enema
  • Sauna treatment
  • Mix w/ blood, reinsert into body
  • Ozone dialysis
• Proponents of ozone therapy:
  • Dr. Frank Schallenberger, world's foremost authority on ozone therapy
  • Dr. Johann Lahodny (high dose ozone therapy)
  • Dr. Robert Rowen
• Longevity ozone generators

-How exosomes affect the immune system...1:28:30

• Exosomes are the secretion of stem cells
• The person who invented the term "stem cell" changed it to "medicinal signaling cell"
• Exosomes have TGF beta
• Patients w/ COPD have had exosome treatments
• Can be administered via IV or nebulizer
• Trial: Stem cells grown in a lab given to patients with the current virus

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Part 2 w/ Drs. Dawson and Mallin of Wild Health (Begins at 1:48:12)

-What we know about COVID-19 at the time of recording (12 March 2020)...1:50:00

• COVID-19 is the illness not the virus (SARS 2)
• COVID-2 is the virus
• "Coronavirus" is a family of viruses
• Lower respiratory health is affected
• Virus is spread w/out feeling symptoms
• Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
• Case fatality rate reported as 3.4%; varies by country
• Transmissibility rate is the number of people you'll infect on average (2.2 currently)
• Worse on the elderly, mild on children
• The data is changing by the hour

-How COVID-19 compares with pandemics from the past...1:53:47

• 2009 H1N1 infected 25% of global population
• 1918 Spanish flu infected 1/3 of the pop.
• Mortality rate of COVID-19 is 3.4% currently; predicted to be lower
  • H1N1 was very low
  • Spanish flu was the highest mortality rate on record
• COVID-19 has a higher mortality rate than common flu and H1N1
• Higher mortality rate than Spanish flu currently
• It's difficult to test for COVID-19, knowledge of how to quarantine
• It's not if it will be a big deal; it will be a big deal
• Exponential growth: Without containment measures, the virus would double every 6 days
• How to test for COVID-19
  • Quest Diagnostics
  • Lab Corp
  • Genome
  • Send in tests to avoid exposure to infected people
  • Watch Wild Health website for updates

-Ways to improve your immune system...1:59:03

• Standard hygiene
  • Wash hands
  • Don't touch face
• Avoid public contact (self-quarantine)
• Flatten out the curve
• Government interventions (St. Louis vs. Philadelphia w/ the Spanish flu)
• No approved FDA treatments currently
• Focus on your immune system
• No better time to clean up your diet
• Smoking and obesity is a factor for mortality
• Get more and better sleep
• Exercise without overdoing it
• Green smoothies
• Supplements:
  • Vitamin D
  • Zinc
  • Olive leaf extract
  • Four Sigmatic mushroom extract
  • Vitamin C
  • Quercetin
• Peptides:
  • Thymosin A
  • LL-37
  • Pentosan polysulfate
• Ceylon cinnamon

-What to do if you start to feel ill...2:14:19

• Follow CDC and WHO guidelines
• You're best served at home
• Telemedicine (phone consults)
• Don't go to the clinic unless there is a tangible benefit for doing so
• Children are not affected as severely but there is a high risk of communicating it to others (grandparents for example)
• Closing schools may be important for public health

-Specific advice to health care workers...2:21:12

• Have appropriate personal protective gear
• N95 masks
• Understand how to properly don and doff the gear
• Protect yourself first
• Isolate infected patients
• Nebulizers may spread the infection
• Understand intubation procedures
• Shave facial hair for the mask to fit
• Elderly are the most vulnerable
• We don't know how well current tests are performing

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Resources from this episode:

- BGF Article: Three Little Known, Unconventional Antiviral Approaches For Boosting Your Immune System.

- Immune Support graphic from Wild Health

- Wild Health website

- Center for Disease Control - World Health Organization

- Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

- International Peptide Society

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Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Dr. Dawson, Dr. Cook, Dr. Mallin or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!