16 Comments
Dec 19, 2021Liked by Modern Discontent

One thing that escapes many is that people can care about COVID (within reason -- i.e., care about it in proportion to the risk it posses to them) in many ways. The standard narrative is that caring about C-19 means masking 24/7, self-seclusion, and boosting ad infinitum. Some of us are choosing a different route - for example, we go outside to get fresh air, socialize with friends, exercise and eat healthy to maintain our weight, and supplement with Vitamin D to boost our immunity. We know obesity is one (if not THE ONE) leading comorbidity associated with COVID deaths, yet being vaccinated and leading a sedentary lifestyle fueled by excess calories and alcohol does not elicit shame from the stanchest Covid fanatics. Likewise, we pay little attention to the relationship between stress and anxiety (fueled by the fear mongering in the legacy media and our public institutions) and the immune system. A few years back I was stressed to the gills from the fear of losing my job to the point that I began having thoughts of self-harm. Unsurprisingly, I developed shingles right before my 36th birthday. Turning off the TV, reducing my consumption of COVID news, and developing a meditation practice at the beginning of the pandemic has allowed me not to lose my mind love the last two years. We have a choice to make: are we going to stop living because we fear death, or are we going to live, because we know we will die?

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Dec 19, 2021Liked by Modern Discontent

Is C19 much more dangerous than the regular flu? The answer is that we don’t know. CDC, FDA, and all other government agencies refuse to publish real numbers. For example we have no idea how many people died with the virus and how many died from the virus. It seems like life expectancy has not changed.

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Dec 21, 2021Liked by Modern Discontent

"Gradually and unevenly" strikes me as about right. The further you get from a big city, the more quickly people resumed living their normal lives.

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There are 7 deaths from Omicron in the UK: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-reports-leap-10000-confirmed-omicron-coronavirus-cases-2021-12-18/ .

It is summer in South Africa. The infected people are generally young. Most people have had COVID-19, mainly from Delta, and some of those who haven't have been recently vaccinated. Ivermectin and other early treatments are commonly used. The rise time is rapid and for all these reasons it is unwise to conclude that Omicron is likely to be less harmful in northern countries, in winter, without Ivermectin or early treatment, and with more older and I think more obese people.

Several countries report doubling times for Omicron cases of 2 days. Even it if was generally milder, this is genuine cause for alarm. Hopefully it will be milder, but there is no concrete evidence of this yet.

From a South African health video linked to from section U07 of https://nutritionmatters.substack.com/p/omicron-rolling-updates, a Western Cape doctor stated:

"In an unvaccinated person with no previous infection, no evidence to date that Omicron is less severe than previous variants. We are still seeing some very sick patients."

Today's updates on that page link to a statement by an presumably not very wealth South African indicates that inexpensive sheep dip ivermectin is widely used.

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COVID-19 is _much_ more harmful and deadly than current influenza strains. Neither would be transmitted very much if everyone had their 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels over 50ng/ml 125nmol/L, which is what the immune system needs to function properly. Immune cells need this to run their autocrine (inside each cell) signaling system, which is is a major part of how each cell responds to its changing circumstances. Most doctors have never heard of this and think 20ng/ml or perhaps 30ng/ml is sufficient.

Please read the research articles cited in: "What every MD, immunologist, virologist and epidemiologist should know about vitamin D and the immune system": https://vitamindstopscovid.info/05-mds/ . For 70kg bodyweight, you need about 0.125mg 5000 IU vitamin D3 a day to attain these levels, and it takes a few months from a typical 15 to 20ng/ml baseline. For boosting within a few days bolus D3 such as 10mg 400,000 IU is needed. Best of all a single oral dose of ~1mg calcifediol, which is the pharma name for 25-hydroxvvitamin D will boost the level safely over 50ng/ml in 4 hours: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sunilwimalawansa_multisystem-inflammatory-syndrome-mis-activity-6815294839769436160-99qJ/ Calcifediol is now non-prescription in the USA and Australia, albeit in small 0.01mg tablets: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/04-calcifediol/ .

Turning off the news won't help while people are suffering and dying from COVID-19, sepsis, Kawasaki disease, MIS-C, pre-eclampsia and a plethora of chronic health conditions due to appalling low 25-hydrxyvitamin D levels.

Thanks Modern Discontent for your in-depth surveys and analyses of pertinent COVID-19 treatments. 25-hydroxyvitamin D repletion is far more important than any of them, for the great majority of people whose levels are half to a tenth of what their immune system needs.

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Dec 19, 2021Liked by Modern Discontent

Good nuanced article, thank you. "Going back to normal" doesn't mean zero risk. As I ponder your article, I wonder if we've left behind our old normal. As different countries work their way through this, some will tilt towards tyranny and others will tilt towards freedom and sovereignty. New relationships and systems are slowly forming around tyranny and freedom. Another national or global event, natural otherwise, could come on the heels of this one. Difficult, interesting and a creative time we are in.

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