The Virus and the Host by Dr. Chris Chlebowski
some of his biggest fans!
Like many practitioners and patients who have been unhappy with the public health response to the Covid-19 epidemic, Dr. Chlebowski not only thinks that things were not done right but also that practical and effective natural approaches were ignored. Of course, conventional medicine has never been on board with naturopathic medicine and chiropractic except grudgingly. Chlebowski, who is both an ND and a DC as well as an herbalist and homeopath, practices in Ashland, Oregon, and has worked prodigiously over the past several years to help his patients prevent the coronavirus and treat the infection if they became infected. He states that not only have his patients not died but they have not required hospitalization. Of course, Chris employs a full armamentarium of medical therapy from herbs to homeopathics to ozone to chelation as well as other integrative therapies. He recognizes that patients develop infections much less frequently diagnosed such as Lyme disease, Bartonella, Babesia, Entamoeba, and mold mycotoxin illness. Chlebowski’s chief concern is that most folks eat so poorly, remain sedentary, and are frankly over burdened with toxic metals and chemicals, that they are vulnerable to viral infections. He is not an advocate of the mRNA Covid-19 vaccines. Instead he advocates doing everything we are able to do to optimize our immune system and face the coronavirus and future viral outbreaks in robust health rather than depend on a vaccine.
As Dr. Chlebowski details in his new book, The Virus and the Host, published by Chelsea Green Publishing, cleaning up the diet is a major undertaking for most people. He likes his patients to follow his PLOW acronym: Plant-heavy meals, Low to no sugar, Organic and Clean, and Watch the carbohydrates. Chlebowski wants us to eat as organically as possible with locally grown food. His philosophy is that not only is an organic diet necessary to stop the intake of chemicals and other toxins, but consumption of locally grown organic foods is necessary to support farmers and revitalize the soils through organic farming. Healing the earth is as much a part of the program as everything else the patient is obligated to attend to in the medical protocol. There is no ground-breaking nutritional information here. However, he supports the logic that our nutrition is not just a matter of providing adequate protein and calories but is the foundation of cleaning up one’s toxins. Dr. Chlebowski not only encourages exercise but recommends sufficient vigorous activity to cause sweating, a key to detoxification.
No matter how clean the diet, there is a need for supplemental nutraceuticals to bolster the immune system. Chlebowski not only offers nutraceutical dosing but food sources for those who prefer to obtain their nutrients directly through eating. The botanical chapter is a welcome introduction for patient and doc on using botanicals for immune support. Chlebowski would like us to grow the herbs so we can harvest our own medicine. What I enjoyed most was the chapter devoted to detoxification, all methods for one to easily do at home. Over the years I have appreciated the value of the “castor oil pack” and the “coffee enema.” Chlebowski explains the how-to-do these detox methods that make sense for the patient.
Chlebowski is concerned about how we will face future viral pandemics. He thinks of an emerging virus as a signal. We have been educated to think of viruses as pathogens to humans or animals or plants; but viruses can infect without necessarily being pathogenic. As Chlebowski points out, about 8% of our genome is viral much of it representing prehistoric infections that were overcome or incorporated in the human genome. Viruses are opportunistic and serve to keep all organisms in check. There is no reason that an emerging virus can not be symbiotic with us; it does not need to act as a pathogen. The virus’s pathology is based on our system becoming so imbalanced and devitalized that we are unable to survive the infection. For those who keep a clean, vital immune system, facing the future virus should not be a life or death experience or even a serious illness. However, one does need to detoxify now, not wait until the day we encounter a new virus.
Repurposing Ivermectin as a Coronavirus Treatment Takes Another Hit
Since the pandemic began (has it ended?), there have been efforts to repurpose drugs to treat the Covid-19 virus. In early 2020 the lupus drug, hydroxychloroquine, was thought to be an effective deterrent to severe disease. Not much later the FLCCC promulgated the use of ivermectin as an effective therapy, even a preventative. A number of early, small studies demonstrated positive outcomes using ivermectin. Then in 2021 a negative ivermectin study was besmirched by faulty data. Since then multiple interventional trials in the US reported in 2021-22 have continued to show ivermectin ineffectiveness.
A recent study reported in JAMA failed to show any benefit of ivermectin in reducing days to recovery, prevention of hospitalizations, and avoidance of serious adverse events1; 1591 individuals completed a study originally enrolling 3457 participants. Ivermectin was administered at a dose of 400 ug/kg to the study group of 817 for a period of 3 days. Time to recovery was 12 days for the ivermectin group and 13 days for the placebo group (not statistically significant). The ivermectin group had 10 individuals compared to 9 in the control group requiring hospitalization. The ivermectin group had 5 pneumonia cases compared to 7 in the placebo group, 1 thromboembolism event compared to 5 in the control group. Of note, the FLCCC protocol stipulates that treatment be administered for at least 5 days and continued until recovery. Since this trial’s protocol only employed ivermectin for 3 days, it is reasonable that the insufficient treatment period caused the experiment to fail.
It is disturbing that the repurposing of ivermectin has become tainted by political advocacy/condemnation. Covid-19 prevention and treatment has divided into two polarized and vitriolic camps, those who subscribe to vaccination and pharmaceutical intervention and those who do not. Evidence based medicine gives ivermectin a low grade for Covid-19 treatment. Nevertheless, ivermectin is a relatively safe drug conveying minimal side effects. Its use during a viral infection deserves individual consideration.
Fat Is Fat, Right? Well, Not Exactly by Dr. Devaki Berkson
Dr. Devaki Lindsey Berkson is a recognized nutritional consultant who specializes in complex hormone and gastrointestinal case management. Dr. Berkson has served as a research fellow at the University of Texas at Austin as well as Distinguished Estrogen Scholar at the Center for Bioenvironmental Research. She serves in teaching CME for professionals at A4M and PCCA. Berkson has authored numerous books and presented at dozens of conferences here and abroad. Berkson authored a three-part article in the Townsend Letter beginning in August/September 2020 entitled “Estrogen Vindication,” citing the evidence about estrogen’s effectiveness and safety in bio-identical hormone treatment (see www.townsendletter.com). Dr. Berkson invites the readership to consult with her to help manage complex cases (www.drlindseyberkson.com).
We generally think of fat as the flab that surrounds our abdomen or balloons our thighs and upper arms. Indeed, white adipose tissue (WAT) is composed of fat cells that expand in size dramatically as we consume excess calories and glucose is converted into triglycerides. However, white fat is not static; it fluidly changes into brown adipose tissue (BAT) when our diet limit calories, we fast, and when our metabolism is altered with medication or nutraceuticals. Brown fat is responsible for keeping us warm and providing the body with energy while we don’t eat. Curiously that white to brown adipose tissue conversion has an intermediary state, beige adipose tissue which confers properties of both white and brown fat to the adipose tissue. Berkson details the physiology of white, brown, beige fat as well as pink fat and bone fat. Those folks who are metabolically imbalanced fail to have good functioning bone fat, a risk factor for osteoporosis and bone degeneration. The complexity of fat metabolism and varying adipose cell types partially explains the difficulty we experience in losing weight.
Cover Article: The Last Ember by Douglas Lobay, ND
Townsend Letter readers are familiar with Dr. Douglas Lobay who writes frequently for the publication. Past articles include “The Canary in the Coal Mine or How to Improve Kidney Function” and “Practical Nutritional Supplement De-Prescribing,” both available online. Lobay is the author of several books, including Dr. Lobay’s Natural Health and Healing and Dr. Lobay’s Natural Medicine 101. Dr. Lobay graduated from Bastyr College (now University) in 1991. Douglas practices naturopathic medicine in Kelowna, British Columbia. He is married to his wife, Natalie, and has two daughters, Rachel and Jessica. He states that “he enjoys hiking, hockey, skiing, tennis, travel, and playing the guitar.”
When one has a Medicare wellness exam the primary physician reviews the patient’s medical diagnoses and treatments, checks prescription medications and supplements, and does a physical exam. A short in-office test for dementia asks the patient to repeat a short list of objects 15 minutes after being asked to memorize the list. For those of us approaching our older years, remembering those five objects is a little challenge. For those with early dementia, it is a big challenge—impossible for anyone with advanced dementia. Diagnosing Alzheimer’s is made with a scale just like a pain scale: 0 represents no signs of memory loss, 10 represents late-stage disease. Alzheimer specialists think we all fall somewhere on this scale from 0 to 10. We all see folks who probably fall between 2-3 particularly those above age 50. What do we do with someone having low grade memory loss? Those scoring above 3 are definitely in the early stage of Alzheimer’s. What is the right course of action given the paucity of effective treatments?
Lobay reflects on how the disease affects the patient and the family from a personal perspective. His description of a warm fire in the wood stove dying out, the last ember, is a metaphor of what happens to the vital, strong individual who slowly deteriorates as the disease progresses. There are times when dementia may be a treatable condition that could be potentially reversed; too often, there is none. Then we can only offer emotional, spiritual, and psychological support.
Final Issue of the Townsend Letter
When I started a newsletter in 1983 in Port Townsend, Washington, I had high hopes that it would be a vehicle to serve the alternative medicine and naturopathic community. Frankly, I was surprised how it transformed into a little magazine one year later and then a larger magazine by 1986. Back then there was no internet and no other publications for MDs and NDs. Indeed, it also served as a medium for supplement companies, specialty labs, compounding pharmacies, and medical meeting organizers. Our hay day continued through the 1990s and early 2000s. Since that time period, numerous journals have appeared both in print and online, podcasts became available on YouTube, and advertisers chose to advertise only digitally, no longer in print. Over the course of the past five years, the paid readership of the Townsend Letter has dropped precipitously. Additionally, advertising revenues have plummeted. Ironically, the writing excelled, perhaps with some hubris on my part, at its best level ever.
With insufficient funding the Townsend Letter is no longer able to produce a magazine. We will only continue the website and the e-newsletter. Truthfully, we are very much “in the hole” and need your support. (For those of you willing to keep this publication going and are open to contributing to its financial solvency, we are very open to your donation, big or small.)
We invite supplement companies, specialty laboratories, compounding pharmacies, and meeting organizers to advertise online with us in 2023. As a digital newsletter, we will be able to offer extensive advertising opportunities beyond what was previously available in the print magazine. Please join us in 2023—after all we are now offering digital advertising!
For those of you who have subscribed and advertised to the print magazine, thank you, thank you, thank you. It has been a great run just short of 40 years, not bad for a startup newsletter just trying to be a forum for docs.
Reference
1. Naggie S, Boulware DR, Lindsell CJ, et al. Effect of Ivermectin vs Placebo on Time to Sustained Recovery in Outpatients with Mild to Moderate COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2022;328(16):1595–1603. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.18590
