Boosting your immune system - Printable Version
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Boosting your immune system - BostonCard - 03-17-2020
Good piece in the NY Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/well/live/can-i-boost-my-immune-system.html
Bottom line:
Minimize stress
Get plenty of sleep
Consider Vitamin D (data is a bit more equivocal)
Avoid excessive drinking
Eat a balanced diet
Exercise
BC
RE: Boosting your immune system - 2006alum - 03-17-2020
I've posted this elsewhere, but I have read that zinc disrupts replication of all coronaviruses, including SARS-COV-2, and so if you suspect you may have had exposure, letting a zinc lozenge dissolve in the back of your throat once or twice a day may help keep it from taking root:
Quote:Dr. Robb referred to research that had demonstrated an inhibition of the replication of many viruses, including coronaviruses, by exposure to zinc. He indicated that this could also be the case for the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, but pointed out that he has no experimental support for the claim. Nevertheless, he did suggest sucking on zinc lozenges several times a day if “cold-like” symptoms present. He specifically advised that this should be while lying down to give the zinc the best chance of contracting the virus.
RE: Boosting your immune system - BostonCard - 03-17-2020
The article addresses zinc.
Quote:Zinc supplements and lozenges are also a popular remedy for fighting off colds and respiratory illness. Some studies have found that zinc lozenges may reduce the duration of cold by about a day and, may reduce the number of upper respiratory infections in children. But the data on zinc are mixed. If you already have enough zinc from your diet, it’s not clear that taking a supplement can help. Zinc supplements also commonly cause nausea.
The piece you linked didn't link any primary articles, so this is what I found:
https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1001176
Quote:Abstract
Increasing the intracellular Zn2+ concentration with zinc-ionophores like pyrithione (PT) can efficiently impair the replication of a variety of RNA viruses, including poliovirus and influenza virus. For some viruses this effect has been attributed to interference with viral polyprotein processing. In this study we demonstrate that the combination of Zn2+ and PT at low concentrations (2 µM Zn2+ and 2 µM PT) inhibits the replication of SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and equine arteritis virus (EAV) in cell culture. The RNA synthesis of these two distantly related nidoviruses is catalyzed by an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), which is the core enzyme of their multiprotein replication and transcription complex (RTC). Using an activity assay for RTCs isolated from cells infected with SARS-CoV or EAV—thus eliminating the need for PT to transport Zn2+ across the plasma membrane—we show that Zn2+ efficiently inhibits the RNA-synthesizing activity of the RTCs of both viruses. Enzymatic studies using recombinant RdRps (SARS-CoV nsp12 and EAV nsp9) purified from E. coli subsequently revealed that Zn2+ directly inhibited the in vitro activity of both nidovirus polymerases. More specifically, Zn2+ was found to block the initiation step of EAV RNA synthesis, whereas in the case of the SARS-CoV RdRp elongation was inhibited and template binding reduced. By chelating Zn2+ with MgEDTA, the inhibitory effect of the divalent cation could be reversed, which provides a novel experimental tool for in vitro studies of the molecular details of nidovirus replication and transcription.
Note that the inhibition is based on intracellular concentrations of zinc, so it is not clear that a lozenge would work any better than any other method of taking zinc.
BC
RE: Boosting your immune system - ChicagoCard - 03-17-2020
(03-17-2020, 11:53 AM)2006alum Wrote: I've posted this elsewhere, but I have read that zinc disrupts replication of all coronaviruses, including SARS-COV-2, and so if you suspect you may have had exposure, letting a zinc lozenge dissolve in the back of your throat once or twice a day may help keep it from taking root:
Quote:Dr. Robb referred to research that had demonstrated an inhibition of the replication of many viruses, including coronaviruses, by exposure to zinc. He indicated that this could also be the case for the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, but pointed out that he has no experimental support for the claim. Nevertheless, he did suggest sucking on zinc lozenges several times a day if “cold-like” symptoms present. He specifically advised that this should be while lying down to give the zinc the best chance of contracting the virus.
How about zinc in vitamin form, 50mg. I started that this week. The lozenges are hard to find stocked.
RE: Boosting your immune system - BostonCard - 03-17-2020
This is all very, very speculative (and it is not even clear that zinc makes one iota of a difference) but based upon the fact that the research was done based on intracellular zinc concentrations, as zinc was shown to inhibit the replication enzymes for the virus (which happens within cells). On that basis, I think systemic zinc as part of a multivitamin, is probably not going to be less effective than a zinc lozenge.
But again, all of this is very speculative.
BC
RE: Boosting your immune system - akiddoc - 03-17-2020
The NIH has studied the use of Zinc in the past. There is basically no data to show it helps in actual patient use. Not likely to harm you though.
RE: Boosting your immune system - CompSci87 - 03-17-2020
(03-17-2020, 11:35 AM)BostonCard Wrote: Good piece in the NY Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/well/live/can-i-boost-my-immune-system.html
Bottom line:
Minimize stress
Get plenty of sleep
Consider Vitamin D (data is a bit more equivocal)
Avoid excessive drinking
Eat a balanced diet
Exercise
BC
And don't take Duvelisib. But I don't have much choice on that one. Fortunately it's a problem only for a very few.