Infectious Disease

Viroid Obelisks: The Microbiome’s Microbiome?

By Erik Goldman

Just when you thought the microbiome couldn’t get any weirder, investigators at Stanford University have discovered a whole new dimension in the microbial universe: a category of distinct, self-replicating RNA sequences in and among bacteria of the human gut and oral microbiomes. Named “Obelisks” owing to their circular rod-like structures, these peculiar bits of genetic […]

The Five Drivers of Long COVID

By Erik Goldman

Since the Spring of 2020, roughly 200 million Americans have had Covid-19. That’s an estimated 60% of the country’s population. Worldwide, the number is around 700 million. For many, the acute infection was just the beginning of a long, bewildering odyssey of illness. With Covid-related admissions to US hospitals now under 1 case per 100,000 […]

The Post-Viral Recovery Program Supplement Protocols

By Erik Goldman

The Long Covid nutritional protocol developed by the 10-member practitioner working group under the aegis of OvationLab and ANDHealth, is divided into two parts—Foundational Supplements aimed at improving overall health, and Specialty Supplements focused on the five main drivers of Long Covid: ACE2-mediated tissue damage; viral persistence; chronic inflammation; mitochondrial dysfunction; and microbiome/dysbiosis. The working […]

Olive Leaf Extract Reduces Acute Covid Symptoms

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

Supplementation with olive leaf extract, at 250 mg or 500 mg twice daily for five days, in addition to conventional care, significantly reduced body temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate, and c-reactive protein levels in a placebo-controlled study of 150 patients hospitalized with acute Covid-19. Compared with the placebo, the olive leaf extract also increased oxygen […]

Long Haul Covid: A Variant of Post-Viral Syndrome

By Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, Contributing Writer

Long-haul Covid has unique features, but essentially, it is a variant of post-viral syndrome. That’s good news because many of the features of post-viral syndrome are easily treated. Between 20% and 25% of all Covid patients have persistent symptoms of some sort. Those numbers are similar to what we see with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and […]

New Surveys Show Impact of Politics on Public Health

By Kristen Schepker

A massive online survey of more than 5 million Americans shows that political affiliation is a major factor influencing peoples’ decisions about the Covid-19 vaccines. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Pittsburgh, in partnership with CMU’s Delphi Group, culled and analyzed data on vaccine attitudes from a larger national Covid survey […]

My Personal Battle with Omicron

By Jon D. Kaiser, MD, Contributing Writer

In early January, I travelled to Mexico to attend the Dead and Company “Playing in the Sand” music festival at a resort in Cancun. The entire resort was booked by the festival promoter for attendees, and the staff were extremely careful and diligent about Covid-19 prevention measures. All attendees needed to provide proof of vaccination, […]

VITAL: Vitamin D, Omegas Reduce Autoimmune Disease Risk

By Erik Goldman

Data from the massive Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL) show clearly that daily supplementation with 2,000 IU of vitamin D can reduce the incidence of rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, and other autoimmune conditions. Omega-3 fatty acids, at a dose of 1,000 mg per day also mitigated risk, but to a lesser degree. “Vitamin D […]

A Pandemic of Distrust

By Erik Goldman

Last summer, the Biden administration took an unprecedented and, to my mind, dangerous step when it pushed Facebook to block the accounts of twelve prominent vaccine critics. The move was fueled by a report from the UK-based Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) which stated that these individuals are responsible for 73% of all anti-vaccine […]

As Vax Rules Clash, Montana Clinics Caught in Crossfire

By Kristen Schepker, Contributing Writer

Clashes over vaccine mandates are the latest rifts defining a deeply politicized pandemic culture. In some states, local vaccination rules directly contradict national public health directives, putting hospitals and clinics in the difficult position of determining how to best safeguard patients and staff, amid a shifting landscape of conflicting directives. I am watching one such […]