Looking ahead. Do I know how to survive COVID-19?
Some states are "opening up" officially. Others, including the one I'm in, are officially still locked down, but traffic is back to near normal levels, and some folks are quietly going back to work, exemption or no
What this means, in practical terms, is that more people are going to be exposed to the organism that causes COVID-19.
And let's face it, even though the majority of people do just fine, those who do die, die a rather horrible death, alone except for heavily masked healthcare staff. I'd prefer to avoid that if possible, so I've been putting some effort into learning about at-home supportive care to lessen the probability of becoming one of the unlucky ones who wind up hospitalized.
I studied this article until way past my bedtime. It is a technical piece, intended to provide concise guidance for emergency department physicians, and as such is above my head in some spots. But what I was looking for is the stuff that might be of use to the average lay person taking care of themselves at home and trying not to need hospitalization. Which is most of us.
A couple things stood out. I'm going to focus on those, which means I'm also going to NOT address a whole bunch more, including pretty much all the critical care and emergency stuff. That stuff is in the article, you can go read it. But since it isn't intelligible unless you've a healthcare education, and can't be applied outside a hospital, I'm not going to cover it here.
First, a quote: "The vast majority of patients with coronavirus will recover spontaneously, without requiring any medical attention (perhaps >80% of patients)." Remember this. COVID-19 is not an automatic death sentence.
Okay. On to the practical stuff.
CRP. C-Reactive Protein. High levels of this are a pretty sure indicator that a patient is very sick and likely to end up dead.
What's interesting about CRP is that it is primarily an inflammation marker. Which suggests that the cellular-level inflammation was already there before the person got sick, and now their body is overwhelmed. And in one way, this is good news, because it means that anything you do to decrease inflammation will increase your chance of survival.
Pure vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is one of the easiest and simplest ways to tackle inflammation at home. I like the NOW brand. Put a spoonful or so in water (or juice if preferred) once a day. If you get diarrhea, you're taking too much and should back down a little.
Other simple techniques to reduce inflammation include avoiding sugary foods and drinks, eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and drinking plenty of pure water.
A second thing that really stood out from the article is that proning (laying patients face-down) greatly improves blood oxygen levels. Low oxygen levels is the number one problem that leads to intubation and mechanical ventilation. The thought is that prone positioning helps to open up the lungs and prevent the collapse of the alveoli, or little sacs in the lungs.
So. If you do get sick with COVID symptoms, spending some time face down (or on your side if you can't tolerate face-down), BEFORE you start to feel short of breath, just may help. It won't hurt.
Ventilators aren't the best treatment, except for the sickest patients. High flow nasal canula seems to work well. So does CPAP. So if you have a CPAP machine already, be sure you are using it. And if you or a loved one end up in hospital, ask about alternatives to invasive ventilation.
Finally. Hydroxychloroquine does help. Especially in combination with azithromycin. So if you do end up needing care in a hospital, be sure to advocate for that. [EDIT: Both drugs have some pretty serious side effects. Especially if you have a heart condition. Discuss this with your doctor, too. Dying that way is still dying, after all.] And ask about IV ascorbic acid, which shows a lot of promise.
Alright. That's it. It's 1 am. I'm going to bed. But it seemed important to make this information available, as we look ahead, and prepare to survive, and thrive, and go back to work.
PS: You can read the article here. (Be forewarned that it's hard reading unless you've already read a lot of this kind of thing.)