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According to a British observational study1 posted July 6, 2020, on the preprint server medRxiv, ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure appears to lower COVID-19 mortality rates.
As reported by News Medical Life Sciences,2 environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and UV irradiation are known to play a role in other infectious diseases, including seasonal influenza, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that SARS-CoV-2 — the virus responsible for COVID-19 — can be affected in a similar manner.
I’ve written extensively about the importance of vitamin D and its influence on COVID-19 specifically, but this research suggests there are other benefits to sun exposure besides vitamin D production.
The researchers looked at UVA measures and COVID-19 death statistics in 2,474 U.S. counties, 6,755 Italian municipalities and 6,274 areas in England between the months of January and April 2020, which is when vitamin D production due to low sun exposure tend to be minimal. According to the authors:3
“Our fully adjusted model showed an inverse correlation between UVA and COVID-19 mortality with a Mortality Risk Ratio (MRR) of 0.73 … per 100KJ/m2 increase UVA in the USA, 0.81 … in Italy and 0.51 … in England. Pooled MRR was 0.68 …
This represents a halving of the average risk of death across the lower and narrower range of UVA experienced across England and across the higher and wider range across Italy and the USA …
Our analysis suggests that higher ambient UVA exposure is associated with lower COVID-19 specific mortality. This effect was independent of temperature and UV within the vitamin D action spectrum.
Relatively higher UVA, across a country experiencing lower average levels of UVA during and immediately preceding the pandemic (England), is associated with greater falls in mortality risk compared to countries (Italy and the USA) with a higher average level suggesting an exposure tolerance effect …
We have been able to show a possible benefit from UV at wavelengths that do not cause synthesis of vitamin D. this suggests that explanations for seasonal and geographic variations in COVID-19 prevalence need to consider mechanisms other than just vitamin D.”
The researchers hypothesize UV exposure “may have a direct effect on the viability of SARS-CoV-2 virus in airborne droplets,” as well as the virus’ ability to stay viable on various surfaces, thus reducing overall infection rates and lowering the initial inoculation load in those infected, which in turn might reduce the risk of severe illness.
Another mechanism of action may involve nitric oxide. UVA radiation triggers the release of nitric oxide in your skin, mobilizing it into your circulation. This lowers blood pressure by causing your blood vessels to expand. This, the researchers say, is one important metabolic benefit of UV exposure that does not involve vitamin D.
“As cardio-metabolic disease and possibly hypertension increase the risk of death from COVID-19, any UV driven improvements in these risk factors would be expected to reduce mortality,” the researchers note.
What’s more, nitric oxide may help mitigate the endothelial damage seen in severe COVID-19 infection that leads to organ failure. While not mentioned in this study, nitric oxide also improves your immune function, thins your blood and decreases blood viscosity, which in turn decreases platelet aggregation. As such, nitric oxide helps reduce your risk of developing a life-threatening blood clot.
Previous research has also found nitric oxide inhibits replication of the SARS virus (SARS-CoV), and the researchers hypothesize that, since the spike proteins of the two viruses are similar, nitric oxide may have a similar effect on SARS-CoV-2. If correct, this could be yet another mechanism of action by which nitric oxide helps reduce disease transmission and severity.
So, to summarize, not only does exposure to sunlight lower COVID-19 mortality, but just about any strategy that boosts nitric oxide production may also have a similar effect. Examples of such strategies include the Nitric Oxide Dump workout and consuming nitrate-rich foods such as beetroot juice, arugula and cilantro.
In related news, another study4 posted on medRxiv, July 2, 2020, asks whether lockdown orders might do more harm than good by decreasing the protective role of UVB radiation — the kind that triggers vitamin D production in your skin — which has also been shown to lower COVID-19 mortality rates. As noted by the authors:
“Recent studies indicate that measures such as lockdowns may have slowed down the growth of COVID-19. However, in addition to substantial economic and social costs, these measures also limit the exposure to Ultraviolet-B radiation (UVB).
Emerging observational evidence indicate the protective role of UVB and vitamin D in reducing the severity and mortality of COVID-19 … In this observational study, we empirically outline the independent protective roles of lockdown and UVB exposure as measured by ultraviolet index (UVI), whilst also examining whether the severity of lockdown is associated with a reduction in the protective role.”
According to their calculations, mortality rates could have been reduced by an average of 21% had lockdown orders been accompanied by instructions to get regular sun exposure.
As reviewed in several previous articles, vitamin D appears to impact virtually all COVID-19 related risks, including your risk of testing positive for active infection, disease severity and your risk of death. For example:
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Research5 posted on the preprint server medRxiv, May 13, 2020, found low vitamin D status at the time of COVID-19 testing was a risk factor for a positive result. Compared to those with sufficient vitamin D levels, those with deficient levels were nearly twice as likely to test positive for COVID-19 (21.6% versus 12.2%). |
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A study6 from the Philippines found that for each standard deviation increase in serum vitamin D, the odds of experiencing only mild disease rather than severe illness was 7.94 times greater, and the odds of having a mild clinical outcome rather than a critical outcome was 19.61 times greater. |
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Research7,8 posted on the preprint server MedRxiv June 10, 2020, reports a combination of vitamin D3, magnesium and B12 inhibited the progression of COVID-19 in patients over the age of 50, resulting in “a significant reduction in proportion of patients with clinical deterioration requiring oxygen support and/or intensive care support.” |
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A study9 from Indonesia found COVID-19 patients with a vitamin D level between 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L) and 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L) had a sevenfold higher risk of death than those with a level above 30 ng/mL. Having a level below 20 ng/mL was associated with a 12 times higher risk of death. |
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A study10 that looked at data from 20 European countries found that “the probability of developing COVID-19, and of dying from it, is negatively correlated with mean population vitamin D status, with both probabilities reaching zero above about 75 nmol/L,” (30 ng/mL). |
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A paper11,12 posted on the preprint portal medRxiv May 18, 2020, found a strong correlation between severe vitamin D deficiency and higher mortality rates in countries across the globe. The researchers attribute this to a connection between low vitamin D and high risk for cytokine storms. The analysis suggests higher vitamin D levels among the general population could cut mortality in half by reducing complications.13 |
COVID-19 certainly isn’t the only disease influenced by vitamin D. As noted in a study14 published July 4, 2020, in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, higher vitamin D levels are “non-linearly linked to lower risk of all-cause, [cardiovascular disease] CVD, and cancer mortality.”
Interestingly enough, this study found the risk for CVD and all-cause deaths tapered off at a vitamin D level of just 24 ng/mL (60 nmol/L). Cancer deaths leveled off at a mere18 ng/mL (45 nmol/L).
This is surprisingly low, considering large-scale studies suggest the cutoff for optimal cancer protection is around 40 ng/mL (100 nmol/L), with a level of 60 ng/mL to 80 ng/mL (150 nmol/L to 200 nmol/L) being ideal for health and disease prevention. You can learn more about this in “For Optimal Health, Make Sure You Have a Vitamin D Level of 60 ng/mL.”
According to a scientific review15,16 published in 2018, as many as 50% of Americans taking vitamin D supplements may not get significant benefit as the vitamin D simply gets stored in its inactive form, and the reason for this is because they have insufficient magnesium levels, and magnesium is required in the conversion of vitamin D into its active form.
Research17 published in 2013 also highlighted this issue, concluding that higher magnesium intake helps reduce your risk of vitamin D deficiency by activating more of it.
More recently, research18 by GrassrootsHealth reveals you need 146% more vitamin D to achieve a blood level of 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L) if you do not take supplemental magnesium, compared to taking your vitamin D with at least 400 mg of magnesium per day.
You can cut your need for oral vitamin D even further — by as much as 244% — by taking it concurrently with both magnesium and vitamin K2, as reported in “Magnesium and K2 Optimize Your Vitamin D Supplementation.”
While oral vitamin D supplementation may be a good idea for most people, it’s important to remember to get your vitamin D level tested first. The reason for this is because you cannot rely on blanket dosing recommendations. The crucial factor here is your blood level, not the dose, as the dose you need is dependent on several individual factors, including your baseline blood level.
I recently published two vitamin D reports, a comprehensive scientific review and a shorter summary, in which I detail vitamin D’s mechanisms of action and how to ensure optimal levels. I recommend downloading and sharing those reports with everyone you know.
>>>>> Click Here <<<<<
Here’s a condensed summary of the key steps to optimizing your vitamin D:
1. First, measure your vitamin D level — One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways of measuring your vitamin D level is to participate in the GrassrootsHealth’s personalized nutrition project, which includes a vitamin D testing kit. You also have the option of testing vitamin D in conjunction with magnesium and omega-3.
Once you know what your blood level is, you can assess the dose needed to maintain or improve your level. If you cannot get enough vitamin D from the sun (you can use the DMinder app19 to see how much vitamin D your body can make depending on your location and other individual factors), then you’ll need an oral supplement.
2. Assess your individualized vitamin D dosage — To do that, you can either use the chart below, or use GrassrootsHealth’s Vitamin D*calculator. To convert ng/mL into the European measurement (nmol/L), simply multiply the ng/mL measurement by 2.5.
To calculate how much vitamin D you may be getting from regular sun exposure in addition to your supplemental intake, use the DMinder app.20 Remember, you won’t need as much oral vitamin D if you also take magnesium and vitamin K2, as discussed above.
3. Retest in three to six months — Lastly, you’ll need to remeasure your vitamin D level in three to six months, to evaluate how your sun exposure and/or supplement dose is working for you.
In an effort to combat “misinformation,” the United Nations has enlisted 10,000 “digital volunteers” to rid the Internet of so-called “false” information that’s supposedly worsening the COVID-19 pandemic.
As news outlet Devex reported, Melissa Fleming, the U.N.’s under-secretary-general of global communications, said, “Good information is how we’re going to overcome the virus,” adding:1
“It is easier to spread misinformation because no direct contact with other people is necessary. You can multiply it by the thousands depending on how many followers you have, and in an environment of generalized fear, it is spreading like wildfire.”
While it sounds altruistic to volunteer your time to combat the spread of misinformation, what the campaign, dubbed the Verified initiative, amounts to is an army of trolls engaging in censorship in an attempt to shut down opposition or opinions that run counter to the status quo.
Upset by the fact that individuals are using social media and their immediate social circles to share information they deem relevant about COVID-19, the U.N. is asking the public to sign up to become “information volunteers” who commit to sharing “U.N.-verified, science-based content to keep their families and communities safe and connected.”2
If you sign up, you’ll get a daily briefing full of information the U.N. wants you to share, centering on three themes:3
1. Science — to save lives
2. Solidarity — to promote local and global cooperation
3. Solutions — to advocate support for impacted populations
The information will come in easy-to-share formats optimized for social media in order to directly counter misinformation or fill an information void. Their primary audience is a vague “those who are being targeted with misinformation,” Fleming said,4 calling COVID-19 not just the century’s largest public health emergency, “but also a communication crisis.” She warns:5
“Purveyors of misinformation are creating storylines and slick content that are filling information voids where science has no answers. They offer promises of cures that have no evidence of benefit or may even be harmful.
They are savvy about using narratives that link to people’s fears and appeal to people’s need for answers or a culprit. While misinformation has always had a dynamic in this crisis, there are signs that its role is dangerously increasing. You have seen the flood of new conspiracy theories in recent weeks.”
The major red flag to the U.N.’s campaign is a lack of detail about what constitutes a “conspiracy theory” or “cure with no evidence to back it up.” Some of the information Verified is aiming to share simply states, “If you come across a post online that makes you really angry or frightened, it’s a sign you might be looking at misinformation.”6
Other suggested shares — found on the Verified U.N. site in posterboards with social media widgets on them, state, “Misinformation spreads faster when we’re upset,” and shares information that downplays the importance of vaccine choice and open conversation regarding their safety, especially as a COVID-19 vaccine is being fast-tracked to the market:
“Vaccines are safe and they help prevent millions of deaths every year. Yet, a growing number of networks seek to undermine trust in vaccinations.”7
In a statement released by the Republic of Latvia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, countries are called on to step up and support the U.N.’s mission to counter the “infodemic” that they claim is “as dangerous to human health and security as the pandemic itself:”8
“Among other negative consequences, COVID-19 has created conditions that enable the spread of disinformation, fake news and doctored videos to foment violence and divide communities. It is critical states counter misinformation as a toxic driver of secondary impacts of the pandemic that can heighten the risk of conflict, violence, human rights violations and mass atrocities.”
Ironically, in outlining the “crucial need for access to free, reliable, trustworthy, factual, multilingual, targeted, accurate, clear and science-based information,” they call on countries to take steps to stop the spread of information they deem to be false and to spread information from “trustworthy sources,” which is the U.N.’s Verified campaign.
One-hundred thirty-two member states, non-member observer states and observers have so far endorsed their statement, which reads in part:
“[The COVID-19 crisis] has confirmed the key role of free, independent, responsible and pluralistic media to enhance transparency, accountability and trust, which is essential to achieving adequate support for and compliance by the general public with collective efforts to curb the spread of the virus.
… States, regional organizations, the UN system and other stakeholders such as media workers, social media platforms and NGOs have a clear role and responsibility in helping people to deal with the “infodemic”. In this regard, we strongly support the United Nations Communications Response initiative and the “Verified” campaign announced by the UN Secretary General on April 14, 2020.”
Many aren’t aware that on March 19, 2020, the United Nations New World Order (UNNWO) launched its annual campaign to celebrate an international happiness day, which its website says it has celebrated every year since 2012.9 If you haven’t heard of UNNWO, its website starts out with, “Let’s take our planet back,” On March 19, it then read:10
“Lets stand united. Lets stand together. The New World Order Project is an independent international campaign to advance the principles, values, and articles of the UN Charter, and UN resolutions 65 309, and 66 281, in support of the UN’s Global Goals for Sustainable Development by 2030, and the happiness, well-being, and freedom of all life on Earth by 2050.”
That note was taken down, though, sometime afterward, with no records of it in Wayback internet archives showing up until May 3, 2020,11 and by that time the page had been changed to buttons on the movement’s initatives and goals. Today the website has no clickable buttons and reads only “Let’s take our planet back.”12
Its initiatives, still listed in the Wayback archives, include “happytalism,” which “places happiness, well-being, and freedom at the center of human development models, systems, and all life.” It also supports the mobilization of more than $30 trillion toward achieving the 17 UN Global Goals by 2030, which include things like no poverty, zero hunger, gender equality and clean water and sanitation.
It sounds like utopia, but some believe the push for a one-world government isn’t about pushing forward world peace and happiness but, rather, about taking rights away from the public and putting the power into the hands of a select few.13
Censorship of media and social media is already filtering information and telling people what they should and shouldn’t fear, and increased surveillance is being pushed courtesy of coronavirus.
The U.N.’s Verified initiative fits in nicely with this plan and is being orchestrated in collaboration with Purpose, a social mobilization organization. According to Fleming, even social media platform’s highly suspect acts of taking down “dubious information” or directing users to government health websites isn’t enough to protect the public.
“But this is not enough,” she says, “particularly because the most pernicious misinformation and conspiracy content spreads via messaging apps, peer-to-peer.”14
The World Health Organization also has an Immunization Agenda 2030, in which they’re aiming to vaccinate everyone across the globe: “IA 2030 envisions a world where everyone, everywhere, at every age, fully benefits from vaccines to improve health and well-being.”15
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the biggest funder of WHO, and Bill Gates intends to vaccinate the global population against COVID-19, and then track and monitor each one through digital surveillance.
Some of the U.N.’s Verified content likewise states, “As experts work around the clock to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 we must all play our part to ensure it is ‘a people’s vaccine’ — available to all.” And they quote vaccine advocate Ethan Lindenberger, who says, “If I get immunized, I’m contributing to the personal health and safety of everyone around me.”16
There’s no reason in the world to believe this gigantic global disease surveillance system would be dismantled once the pandemic is declared over. Naturally, it will simply transition into other surveillance functions.
The U.N.’s verified campaign is reminiscent of another self-appointed internet watchdog, NewsGuard, which claims to rate information as “reliable” or “fake” news, supplying you with a color-coded rating system next to Google and Bing searches, as well as on articles displayed on social media.
If you rely on NewsGuard’s ratings, you may decide to entirely skip by those with a low “red” rating in favor of the “more trustworthy” green-rated articles — and therein lies the problem. NewsGuard is in itself fraught with conflict of interest, as it’s largely funded by Publicis, a global communications giant that’s partnered with Big Pharma, such that it may be viewed more as a censorship tool than an internet watchdog.
For example, NewsGuard announced that my site has been classified as fake news because we have reported the SARS-CoV-2 virus as potentially having been leaked from the biosafety level 4 (BSL4) laboratory in Wuhan City, China, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to NewsGuard, “There is no evidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the source of the outbreak, and genomic evidence has found that the virus is 96% identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus.”17 But NewsGuard’s position is in direct conflict with published scientific evidence suggesting this virus was created in a lab and not zoonotically transmitted.
Thus, by giving a falsely low rating and “censoring” my site, they’re doing a disservice to people looking for trustworthy information and in and of themselves are spreading misinformation. By enlisting an army of trolls to spread their own rhetoric, the concern is that the U.N.’s Verified campaign will do more of the same.
Ultimately, most adults are fully capable of choosing what information they deem credible to share with their social networks, family and friends, without the need for an overreaching Big Brother telling them what’s credible and what’s not.
What is important is always looking at the source of the information and the motives behind it, something even the U.N.’s Verified touts. Toward this end, the U.N. is closely partnered with the World Health Organization.
Only 25% of WHO’s funding comes from member states. The remaining 75% comes from voluntary contributions. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — the investments of which include junk food manufacturers, alcohol and drug retailers — is the biggest funder.18
In July 2020, famous Broadway actor Nick Cordero died of complications from COVID-19, including septic shock, or sepsis.1 Sepsis is a life-threatening condition triggered by a systemic infection that causes your body to overreact and launch an excessive and highly damaging immune response. Unless promptly diagnosed and treated, it can rapidly progress to multiple-organ failure and death.
Sepsis is common, affecting at least 1.7 million Americans every year and leading to 270,000 deaths. In hospitals, 1 in 3 patients who die have sepsis, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,2 and it’s a major contributing factor to influenza deaths.3
Not only is sepsis a leading cause of deaths overall, it’s also an important contributor to the death of COVID-19 patients — one that’s been flying largely under the radar.
Researchers from China wrote in The Lancet, “In clinical practice, we noticed that many severe or critically ill COVID-19 patients developed typical clinical manifestations of shock, including cold extremities and weak peripheral pulses, even in the absence of overt hypotension. Understanding the mechanism of viral sepsis in COVID-19 is warranted for exploring better clinical care for these patients.”4
Viral sepsis can be particularly challenging, according to the Sepsis Alliance, because tests that reveal bacterial sepsis to physicians do not necessarily reveal viral sepsis. That being said, abnormal vital signs, including blood pressure, pulse and respirations, may occur with either bacterial or viral sepsis.
Dr. Karin Molander, chair of the Sepsis Alliance board of directors, explained, “Studies coming out of Wuhan, China, and our experts here in the U.S. are finding that sepsis is a leading, if not the number one, fatal complication of COVID-19.”5 Sepsis occurs so often alongside COVID-19 that the National Center for Health Statistics released updated guidelines for medical coding of the two conditions.6
In a Q&A by the Association of Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialists (ACDIS) Leadership Exchange, a commentator asked, “I’m not clear if we still follow sequencing direction included in the Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting which states that we should code first for sepsis followed by infection. This would make more sense to me …”7
In response, ACDIS noted, “When COVID-19 meets the definition of principal diagnosis, code U07.1, COVID-19, should be sequenced first, followed by the appropriate codes for associated manifestations …”
The updated guidelines suggest that whether or not coding for COVID-19 or sepsis occurs first depends on their sequencing (if the patient has sepsis upon hospital admission or developed it after admission, for instance).8
According to Sepsis Alliance, “the elderly, very young and people with chronic illnesses or weakened immune systems” are most at risk of sepsis.9
Because people requiring home health care are at increased risk for COVID-19 and other infections, as well as sepsis, the Sepsis Alliance partnered with Elara Caring, a U.S. provider of home-based health care, to improve care and outcomes for COVID-19 patients with sepsis in the home care setting.10
Staff will receive increased education and training on sepsis prevention and care, which could be life-saving, since early detection and treatment can mean the difference between life and death in sepsis cases, which often start in the community from an infection caused by bacteria or a virus, parasite or fungus.
The immune response triggered by an infection may lead to leaky blood vessels, blood clots, poor blood flow and, in severe cases, organ failure.11 When blood pressure drops in combination with a weakened heart it leads to septic shock.
As mentioned, the underlying trigger, an infection, often starts in the community. This may explain why it is often misdiagnosed in the beginning, which increases the potential risk for disability and death.
While those affected often have underlying health conditions, even healthy people can be affected. “[W]hen a healthy person becomes severely ill with sepsis, it could be that their healthy immune system was so strong it triggered a cytokine storm,” the Sepsis Alliance explained.12
Cytokines are a group of proteins that your body uses to control inflammation. If you have an infection, your body will release cytokines to help combat inflammation, but sometimes it releases more than it should. If the cytokine release spirals out of control, the resulting “cytokine storm” becomes dangerous and is closely tied to sepsis. Dr. Molander said:13
“A deluge of chemicals can be released by white blood cells to attract additional white blood cells to fight infection or temper down the reaction if the infection appears to be under control.
These chemicals can also trigger the blood to clot or to become thinner. This cytokine storm, an important part of sepsis, can be triggered when we face an infection from a bacteria, virus, parasite or fungus. In typical years, bacteria are the most common cause of sepsis. But, alas, this is not a typical year.”
The symptoms of cytokine storm are indicative of severe illness and include high fever, severe fatigue, nausea and organ failure.
“Most of these severely ill patients receive treatment in an ICU or high acuity unit. There they may receive experimental medications like interleukin antibodies, such as anti-IL-1 or anti-IL-6 and high dose corticosteroids to try to get the cytokine storm under control,” according to the Sepsis Alliance.14 Natural options have also shown promise for alleviating cytokine storms, including:
In my March 17, 2020, interview with Dr. Andrew Saul, editor-in-chief of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, Saul mentions being in contact with a South Korean medical doctor who is giving patients and medical staff an injection of 100,000 IUs of vitamin D along with as much as 24,000 mg (24 grams) of IV vitamin C. "He's reporting that these people are getting well in a matter of days," Saul says.
As explained by Saul, vitamin C at extremely high doses acts as an antiviral drug, actually killing viruses. While it does have anti-inflammatory activity, which helps prevent the massive cytokine cascade associated with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, its antiviral capacity likely has more to do with it being a non-rate-limited free radical scavenger.
Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D. also noted that vitamin C may be protective against respiratory diseases. In one study, people with the highest vitamin C levels were 15% less likely to develop respiratory conditions and 46% less likely to die of lung cancer compared to those with the lowest levels.19
Further, vitamin C is well known for helping with lung defense, which takes on renewed meaning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Patrick:20
“The innate immune system of the lungs is an integral component of the body's defense system, protecting the body against exposure to inhaled oxidants and pathogens … Vitamin C's lung defense capacity is evidenced by robust data suggesting that vitamin C intake protects against chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and other respiratory illnesses, including lung cancer.
But this characteristic takes on special relevance in light of recent concerns about complications associated with COVID-19, such as pneumonia and acute lung injury, which often necessitate mechanical ventilation support.
Epidemiological and observational data indicate that higher vitamin C intake is associated with a lower risk of developing pneumonia, and the vitamin has also proven to be effective at decreasing the duration for which patients are kept on mechanical ventilation, especially among patients who require more than 24 hours of breathing support.”
Of note, vitamin C is also useful for sepsis. A 2019 study using vitamin C found it lowered mortality risk in patients with severe sepsis, and reduced the number of days spent in intensive care and overall hospital stay.21
A sepsis treatment protocol developed by Dr. Paul Marik, a critical care doctor at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in East Virginia, which involves intravenous (IV) vitamin C with hydrocortisone and thiamine (vitamin B1), has been shown to dramatically improve chances of survival in sepsis cases.22
His retrospective before-after clinical study showed that giving patients 200 milligrams (mg) of thiamine every 12 hours, 1,500 mg of ascorbic acid every six hours, and 50 mg of hydrocortisone every six hours for two days reduced mortality from 40% to 8.5%.23
“Our results suggest that the early use of intravenous vitamin C, together with corticosteroids and thiamine, are effective in preventing progressive organ dysfunction, including acute kidney injury, and in reducing the mortality of patients with severe sepsis and septic shock,” Marik and colleagues wrote in the journal Chest.24
Research published in 2020 found Marik’s sepsis vitamin C protocol lowered mortality in pediatric patients as well.25 As noted by the authors, “Our results suggest that HAT [hydrocortisone, ascorbic acid and thiamine] therapy, when administered early in the clinical course, reduces mortality in children with septic shock.”
While each part of the protocol is safe on an individual basis, the three parts must be administered together to work effectively. Marik explained the combination targets multiple areas of the body's response to an infection and helps restore the dysregulated immune response.26
This then helps prevent organ failure and death. He goes on to discuss the excess production of reactive oxygen species underlies many of the damaging processes in sepsis. His team found the optimal dose of vitamin C was about 6 grams per day.
The symptoms of sepsis may be confused with those of a bad cold or flu, and include:27
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A high fever with chills and shivering |
Rapid heartbeat (tachycardia) |
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Rapid breathing (tachypnea) |
Unusual level of sweating (diaphoresis) |
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Dizziness |
Confusion or disorientation |
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Slurred speech |
Diarrhea, nausea or vomiting |
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Difficulty breathing, shortness of breath |
Severe muscle pain |
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Low urine output |
Cold and clammy skin |
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Skin rash |
Sepsis is a medical emergency, so if you suspect you may have it, get medical help immediately. Marik's sepsis protocol can be a lifesaver, so you'd be wise to discuss it with your doctor any time you're hospitalized.
This way, should you develop sepsis while you're admitted, your medical team already knows your wishes and can act swiftly. According to Marik, the best results are obtained when the protocol is administered within the first six hours of presentation of symptoms.28
Give your abs a total workout in just 10 minutes.
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This full body workout can be done using a heavy object you have at home.
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