Hello family, friends, and patients:

I have been asked about an update for immune boosting for the fall. I sent a Prolonews out in March for immune boosting for respiratory virus and COVID prevention.

Those recommendations are below partially reprinted from that March Prolonews.

There has been more information about vitamin D being preventive among other things. The main supplements recommended by articles below include:

• Vitamin D
• Vitamin C
• Zinc
• Magnesium
• Quercetin (Quercetin may be more effective than when first thought as a prevention)

There have been many successful treatments using natural medicine and other interventions that we are not hearing about in the news. The Orthomolecular article below discusses a number of effective treatments, and Dr. Shallenberger’s article explains a simple home treatment for respiratory viruses.

Article from Orthomolecular News: “COVID 19 How can I cure thee? Let me count the ways.“

Shallenberger article: “This At-Home Treatment Can Knock Out Any Virus Including Coronavirus.“

March 2020 Prolonews

Some patients have asked if I had recommendations about supplements for immune boosting. There is a lot of information, some fairly common knowledge for immune boosting, and others more specific for virus prevention. This is just some, and of course there are many other supplement and approaches for prevention and treatment available elsewhere. Many of my patients are already taking basic immune boosting supplements.

Recommendations from the physicians of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service and the International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine urge a nutrient-based method to prevent or minimize symptoms for future viral infection. They recommend the following inexpensive supplemental levels for adults; for children reduce these in proportion to body weight:

• Vitamin C: 3,000 mg (or more) daily, in divided doses.
• Vitamin D3: 2,000 International Units daily. (Start with 5,000 IU/day for two weeks, then reduce to 2,000)
• Magnesium: 400 mg daily (in citrate, malate, chelate, or chloride form)
• Zinc: 20 mg daily
• Selenium: 100 mcg (micrograms) daily

Vitamin C, Vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, and selenium have been shown to strengthen the immune system against viruses.

The basis for using high doses of vitamin C to prevent and combat virus-caused illness may be traced back to vitamin C’s early success against polio, first reported in the late 1940s. Many people are unaware, even surprised, to learn this. Further clinical evidence built up over the decades, leading to an anti-virus protocol published in 1980.

Recommendations from other natural medicine doctors, Dr. Mercola and even Dr. Oz suggest some similar supplements. A probiotic also boosts the immune system.

If getting sick increase vitamin D, some recommend 50,000 units a day for 3-days and then back to the usual dose of 5000 IUs per day (the level needed to attain optimal vitamin D levels 50-80 adjust accordingly).

Increasing vitamin C to 2000-3000 mg every 2-4 hours if getting sick, consider adding quercetin 500 mg a day (this can also be preventive), beta glucan 250 mg a day and Elderberry syrup, increasing zinc to 80 mg a day has also been recommended.

This is general education information and not specific recommendations for any one individual and does not constitute medical care. Seek the advice of your health care practitioner of course for your individual needs.

In Addition – Vitamin A has been used -as described below in Dr. Shallenberger’s Second Opinion Newsletter article on virus prevention and stopping viral infections with vitamin A. Please read the entire article before considering adding vitamin A. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not add vitamin A.

I hope this is helpful. Keep positive, keep smiling, keep having fun- it helps our immune system. Keep praying for our country and the world, we will get through this. I hope you find this information helpful.

God bless you and your family,
Dr. George Kramer and Kristin

Article from Dr. Frank Shallenberger:

Completely Stop Viral Infections Without Help From Your Doctor

When you get a bacterial infection, conventional doctors typically give you antibiotics. But when you get a virus, like the common cold, they might still give you antibiotics (even though they won’t help). Or they will tell you to rest, drink fluids, and wait it out. There’s usually not much they can offer. They tell you to just wait until your immune system takes over. This might cost you a few days of missed work, but usually it’s not a big deal – unless the virus is serious. When it is, there still isn’t much conventional doctors can do, other than support your immune system in its battle.

But there’s very simple treatment that you can do at home without the help of your doctor. This simple treatment can wipe out a viral infection and get you back on your feet quickly. Unfortunately, some conventional researchers make fighting viruses all too difficult. For example, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine working with mice discovered a way to both increase their immune system and attack a protein that helps viruses replicate. While this one-two punch helped the mice fight off a serious virus, it’s really not this difficult. In their study, published in Nature Immunology, the researchers figured out a way to strengthen the body’s interferon signaling system, which plays a major role in the immune system’s ability to fight off viruses.

While they’re still a ways off from developing a cure for the common cold, this research is promising, as viruses can be a major health hazard when they’re severe. As I’ve said in the past, drugs may play a role in fighting extremely serious viruses. But for most cases of the common cold, you really don’t need this complicated science. It’s really much, much easier to fight a virus.

Treating a Virus Naturally
Viruses are pieces of genetic code that invade your cells and use the DNA in your cells to replicate themselves. That’s how they cause infections. Of course, an intact immune system will eventually stop this replication process. When that happens, the infection is over. The good news is you can take an inexpensive, safe, and easily obtained vitamin that can stop viral replication faster. And when you stop viral replication, you get better much faster.

One of the most basic ways that your immune system stops viral replication is through the action of special molecules called cytokines. Your immune cells make a variety of cytokines. They are the key to an optimally functioning immune system. Perhaps the most important cytokine in respect to viral infections is interferon, and it turns out that vitamin A stops infections by stimulating interferon.

Here’s How the Researchers Made the Discovery
They took a culture of cells treated with vitamin A and exposed them to the measles virus. As expected, the virus was unable to infect the cells because the virus was unable to replicate.

Then they did the experiment again, only this time they exposed the cells beforehand to antibodies that prevented the cells from making interferon. They found that these cells became infected and that the immune-enhancing effects of vitamin A were wiped out. Their conclusion was that vitamin A prevents the measles virus from replicating by stimulating the production of interferon.

But it doesn’t stop with the measles. Large doses of vitamin A work in all viral infections. This is because the replication for all viruses is inhibited by interferon. This includes flu viruses, cold viruses, herpes viruses, and even hepatitis viruses. All of them.

As a result, I recommend that you take vitamin A every day. I take 25,000 units per day. Children should take less, about 5,000 units per day. Just doing this simple thing will reduce your chances of getting the viruses that are always going around. But I have to tell you two warnings about vitamin A.

The first is that some people are very sensitive to vitamin A even in these doses. It is uncommon, but it does happen. If you are taking this dose of vitamin A and several weeks or months later you start getting headaches, nausea, bone aches, or a rash, you may be one of those people. I have seen it happen twice in my career, so I know it can happen, but it is very uncommon at a dose of 25,000 units.

Here’s Some More Comforting Information
Chronic vitamin A toxicity is not lethal and is completely reversible 100% of the time. All you have to do is to reduce the dose. So as long as you feel good while taking it, there is no reason for concern. Additionally, while I am on the topic of vitamin A, let me also mention beta-carotene.

Beta-carotene is a vitamin A precursor. That means that it can be converted into vitamin A after you eat it. But even though it can be converted into vitamin A, it cannot cause vitamin A toxicity. That is because the body will stop converting it to vitamin A once the levels start to get high. The only thing that excessive beta-carotene can do is to temporarily turn the skin a mild orange color. This will revert to normal once the dose is decreased.

One last thing. Pregnant or nursing women should not take more than 5,000 units per day. Doses higher than 8,000 units have been associated with birth defects. This association has not been seen with beta-carotene. And, finally, people with liver or kidney disease should take no more than 5,000-10,000 units.

Also, it’s still possible that you may get a viral infection even if you’re taking preventive doses of vitamin A. If you do, the next thing you need to do is to immediately start taking very large doses. I recommend 100,000 units, three times a day for 7-10 days, or until the infection is over. Although this is a very large dose of vitamin A, it is entirely safe because you will be taking it only until the infection is gone. And studies show that the acute toxic dose of vitamin A is over five times greater than this dose. I have been successfully using this strategy for over 30 years with no problems (other than the aforementioned sensitivities).

Yours for better health,
Frank Shallenberger, MD

Reference:  Article by Dr Mercola – Quercetin and Vitamin D – Allies Against Coronavirus?