Showing posts with label covid-19. Show all posts
Showing posts with label covid-19. Show all posts

Saturday, 22 May 2021

Ivermectin

I must confess to having avoided taking much interest in Ivermectin as a treatment and prophylactic for Covid-19. My reasoning was that paying attention to drug treatments only lent more credibility to the belief that Covid-19 was a dangerous pathogen. However, with the push to vaccinate, the effectiveness of Ivermectin becomes an important issue. If the drug's effectiveness can be confirmed, then the emergency use of the vaccines cannot be justified because there is an alternative therapy. This would cost the vaccine makers billions of dollars and so it's no surprise that calls to utilise this drug in the treatment of the virus have fallen on deaf ears. The major medical journals refuse to publish studies on the positive effects of Ivermectin but will happily publish publish studies that fail to confirm its effectiveness. Health authorities remain silent and social media actively removes any references to the drug's benefits.

This of course is not surprising. However, it was interesting to learn of this drugs history and its long time use in the treatment of parasitical diseases in both animals and humans. This February 2011 academic paper titled Ivermectin, ‘Wonder drug’ from Japan: the human use perspective is quite informative. Here is the abstract:

Discovered in the late-1970s, the pioneering drug ivermectin, a dihydro derivative of avermectin—originating solely from a single microorganism isolated at the Kitasato Intitute, Tokyo, Japan from Japanese soil—has had an immeasurably beneficial impact in improving the lives and welfare of billions of people throughout the world. Originally introduced as a veterinary drug, it kills a wide range of internal and external parasites in commercial livestock and companion animals. It was quickly discovered to be ideal in combating two of the world’s most devastating and disfiguring diseases which have plagued the world’s poor throughout the tropics for centuries. It is now being used free-of-charge as the sole tool in campaigns to eliminate both diseases globally. It has also been used to successfully overcome several other human diseases and new uses for it are continually being found. This paper looks in depth at the events surrounding ivermectin’s passage from being a huge success in Animal Health into its widespread use in humans, a development which has led many to describe it as a “wonder” drug.

For the pharmaceutical industry, such a wonder drug is not welcome in the treatment of Covid-19 even though the industry had been instrumental is rolling it out as a treatment for parasitical diseases. The effectiveness of Invermectin in the treatment of Covid-19 was first discovered in 2020 in third world countries with limited health resources. When doctors in these countries tried to communicate their findings to the rest of the world, global health authorities and Big Pharma quickly took notice because the drug threatened to derail their plans for a vaccine rollout of unprecedented proportions. Ivermectin needed to demonised and quickly. 

In this article on the Covid Blog we read:

There are currently at least 93 studies, with 54 being peer-reviewed (as of May 15, 2021), showing that Ivermectin is highly effective in treating COVID-19 in early stages and as prophylaxis (preventative measure). View the data and studies here. Also watch Congressional testimony from Dr. Pierre Kory about Ivermectin.

The video on the site is well worth watching as we watch poor Dr. Kory vainly plead his case for the acceptance of Ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19. 

Another video featuring Dr. Tess Lawrie is quite powerful in conveying the extent of the obstruction surrounding Ivermectin's acceptance. Figure 1 shows the safety profile for Ivermectin. Here is some information about the doctor who is interviewed in it:


Figure 1

Dr. Tess Lawrie is a Medical Doctor as well as a Researcher from Bath, UK. She is funder and Head of a Company that does Evidence Synthesis on Medical Research to establish the evidence for Regulatory Guidelines to be issued for Treatment options. Her Company has been working for the World Health Organisation as well as the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. Early in 2021 Dr. Lawrie ran a Systematic Review on the Evidence of Ivermectin as Treatment for Covid-19 - and found the Data was strongly suggesting Ivermectin is both safe and effective.

This interview covers details on Ivermectin, it's track record as an essential medicine of the WHO with more than 3,5 billion doses administered to patients all across the world, how Ivermectin compares to other well-known drugs in terms of adverse events registered, and about censorship in Science as well as n Social Media of information of life-saving medications.

More on Dr. Lawrie and the British Ivermectin Recommendation Development Group: https://bird-group.org

Dr. Lawrie blames Big Pharma and its pursuit of profit as the main reason for the rejection of Ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19.

Monday, 15 February 2021

Long Covid

A term that has been popping up in recents days is Long-Covid and I thought I'd do a little research into the topic. The first article I came across was in The Bristol Cable of December 4th 2020:

There are an estimated 60,000 people in the UK with Long-Covid, where symptoms last longer than 12 weeks. NHS England have said that long-lasting symptoms include “breathing difficulties, enduring tiredness, reduced muscle function, impaired ability to perform vital everyday tasks, and mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression”. 
The NHS is set to open 40 Long–Covid clinics across the country, eight in the south west, and the Your Covid Recovery website offers support to people with long-term symptoms. We now know that the people most susceptible to it are women, older people, and people who have more symptoms in the first week of illness.

More recently, two separate studies have found damage to organs months after patients first contracted coronavirus. Data from 200 young and previously healthy people found impairment to an organ in 78% of patients four months after originally getting coronavirus. One in four of the participants had two or more organs affected.

On September 27th 2020, The Gothamist carried this report about NewYorkers:

It’s unclear exactly how many New Yorkers suffer from long-term post-COVID-19 symptoms, but a picture of what the long-haul population looks like is starting to come into view. According to McCarthy, “20 to 50 [years old] is the range we’re most commonly seeing at the Center. Thirties and 40s, even more so. And it’s mostly formerly healthy people.”

Among the most alarming post-COVID-19 symptoms being reported are brain fog and fatigue so intense that people are no longer able to work, often leaving them in financial and emotional distress. Those who spoke to Gothamist about brain fog said they had difficulty focusing, struggled to engage with complex material and would forget common words.

Dr. Dayna McCarthy, a rehabilitation medicine specialist who sees patients at Mount Sinai’s Center for Post-COVID Care, told Gothamist in a recent interview:

McCarthy and her colleagues at Mount Sinai the wide-ranging symptoms people experience after contracting COVID-19 resemble a condition known as dysautonomia, or damage to the autonomic nervous system, which regulates such involuntary functions as breathing, heart rate, and digestion. Dysautonomia can develop on its own or can be triggered by the immune system’s response to another disease. 

In another article in Inside Edition, a Dr. Christian Sandrock who works with patients at UC Davis Health’s Post-COVID-19 Clinic in Sacramento, said:

He has seen people who still don’t have a sense of taste or smell months later, people with chest pain and shortness of breath, decreased exercise tolerance, among many other things. Why people are having such persistent symptoms a long time after their infection has resolved is something that doctors are still trying to figure out, Sandrock said. 

“We think it's probably two things. One is with the loss of taste and smell and some of the other effects, the virus can infect your nerve cells and cause those to die,” Sandrock said. “The other, which is really the bigger effect, is that when the virus replicates and spreads, it can actually cause what we call endothelial damage. So the lining of your blood vessels get damaged and they're now irregular and they become a focal point for clotting.”

But, Sandrock said what many people may be experiencing is microvascular clots, which are so small that they don’t show up on testing. 

“So, if you can imagine you have that clotting in your brain and your brain has diminished blood flow, so now you notice you have a brain fog or you have some depression or some psychiatric changes,” he said. “Same thing in your heart. You're having diminished blood flow in your heart, so you get chest pain when you walk a short distance.”

The Mayo Clinic lists these long term Covid-19 problems in an article dated November 17th 2020:

Organ damage caused by COVID-19

Although COVID-19 is seen as a disease that primarily affects the lungs, it can damage many other organs as well. This organ damage may increase the risk of long-term health problems. Organs that may be affected by COVID-19 include:

Heart. Imaging tests taken months after recovery from COVID-19 have shown lasting damage to the heart muscle, even in people who experienced only mild COVID-19 symptoms. This may increase the risk of heart failure or other heart complications in the future.

Lungs. The type of pneumonia often associated with COVID-19 can cause long-standing damage to the tiny air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs. The resulting scar tissue can lead to long-term breathing problems.

Brain. Even in young people, COVID-19 can cause strokes, seizures and Guillain-Barre syndrome — a condition that causes temporary paralysis. COVID-19 may also increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Blood clots and blood vessel problems

COVID-19 can make blood cells more likely to clump up and form clots. While large clots can cause heart attacks and strokes, much of the heart damage caused by COVID-19 is believed to stem from very small clots that block tiny blood vessels (capillaries) in the heart muscle.

Other parts of the body affected by blood clots include the lungs, legs, liver and kidneys. COVID-19 can also weaken blood vessels and cause them to leak, which contributes to potentially long-lasting problems with the liver and kidneys.

Problems with mood and fatigue

People who have severe symptoms of COVID-19 often have to be treated in a hospital's intensive care unit, with mechanical assistance such as ventilators to breathe. Simply surviving this experience can make a person more likely to later develop post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression and anxiety.

Because it's difficult to predict long-term outcomes from the new COVID-19 virus, scientists are looking at the long-term effects seen in related viruses, such as the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Many people who have recovered from SARS have gone on to develop chronic fatigue syndrome, a complex disorder characterised by extreme fatigue that worsens with physical or mental activity, but doesn't improve with rest. The same may be true for people who have had COVID-19.

Many long-term COVID-19 effects still unknown

Much is still unknown about how COVID-19 will affect people over time. However, researchers recommend that doctors closely monitor people who have had COVID-19 to see how their organs are functioning after recovery.

Many large medical centres are opening specialised clinics to provide care for people who have persistent symptoms or related illnesses after they recover from COVID-19.

It's important to remember that most people who have COVID-19 recover quickly. But the potentially long-lasting problems from COVID-19 make it even more important to reduce the spread of the disease by following precautions such as wearing masks, avoiding crowds and keeping hands clean.

It seems to me unlikely that a virus can produce such a wide range of possible damage. The loss of taste and smell suggests to me that the nasal swab has damaged the olfactory centre and possibly perforated the blood-brain barrier which would then lead to a wide range of unpleasant effects. I would presume that all of these "long-haulers" received a nasal swab initially in order for them to be diagnosed. The question that needs to be asked is whether it is COVID-19 or damage from the nasal swab that is causing these long-term problems.

Here is a link to BitChute video that is discussing Long-Covid. Professor Jay Bhattacharya who is being interviewed makes the point that there is no balanced science where COVID-19 is concerned. A focus on worse case scenarios and resultant hysterical media coverage obscure any scientific objectivity. Such reporting attracts money. In Britain, as we read earlier, forty Long-Covid clinics opened at the end of 2020 to treat long-haul patients. The hysteria is good for the vaccine business as well of course.

Here is a link to BitChute video in which a young Finnish man is discussing the COVID-19 symptoms that he experiencing 100 days after infection. 

The much beloved Guardian carries this December 13th 2020 story replete with helpful diagrams (Figures 1 and 2):


Figure 1

Figure 2
Dramatic levels of “friendly fire” from the immune system may drive severe Covid-19 disease and leave patients with “long Covid” – when medical problems persist for a significant time after the virus has been beaten – scientists have said.

Researchers at Yale University found that Covid-19 patients had large numbers of misguided antibodies in their blood that targeted the organs, tissues and the immune system itself, rather than fighting off the invading virus.

The scientists compared immune responses in patients and uninfected people and discovered scores of aberrant antibodies in the former. These blocked antiviral defences, wiped out helpful immune cells, and attacked the body on multiple fronts, from the brain, blood vessels and liver to connective tissue and the gastrointestinal tract.

Further tests revealed that the more “autoantibodies” patients had in their blood, the worse their disease. The Covid-19 patients had more antibodies that had turned on them than people with lupus, an autoimmune disease caused by similar wayward antibodies.

It would be interesting to find out how many of these long haul sufferers had earlier flu vaccinations or other treatments that may have compromised or confused their immune systems. It's been suggested that people suffering from asthma are particularly affected. The article mentions that "Long Covid is thought to affect about 10% of 18- to 49-year-olds, rising to one in five among the over-70s."

Of course, the lockdowns and mask wearing haven't improved anybody's health. Figure 3 shows what someone posted on Minds:


Figure 3


I'm not going to get to the bottom of what's causing Long-Covid in this post but I've certainly raised my level of awareness regarding it and will be on the lookout for further information. At this point, it seems it is that the body's immune system that is doing the damage by attacking its own organs in the aftermath of the initial COVID-19 infection. There is even speculation that certain blood types are more susceptible than others to Long-Covid. Watch this video on YouTube.

The same guy that investigated the link between blood types and Long-Covid has also produced some interesting data analysis explained in this November 2020 video:


He concludes that pre-existing autoimmune disorders such as atopy (asthma, eczema, allergic rhinitis), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS) are strongly connected to a likelihood of developing Long-Covid. See Figure 4:


Figure 4

I'll include a definition here of atopy:
Atopy refers to the genetic tendency to develop allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis, asthma and atopic dermatitis (eczema). Atopy is typically associated with heightened immune responses to common allergens, especially inhaled allergens and food allergens.
As Figure 1 illustrates, a trigger-happy immune system makes coming down with Long-Covid much more likely. For those who escape Covid-19 infection but receive the mRNA vaccination, it would seem that the latter would also trigger the immune system to overreact. This remains to be seen of course as the vaccines are only now being rolled out. 

Here is some information about cytokines and cytokine storms from an April 2020 article:
Scientists believe these cytokines are evidence of an immune response called a cytokine storm, where the body starts to attack its own cells and tissues rather than just fighting off the virus. Cytokine storms are known to happen in autoimmune diseases like juvenile arthritis.

The articles further explains that:

One of the great mysteries of the new coronavirus is why it causes only mild disease in most people, but turns fatal for others. In many cases, it seems the worst damage may be driven by a deranged immune response to the infection, rather than the virus itself. In many of the sickest patients with COVID-19, their blood is teeming with high levels of immune system proteins called cytokines. Scientists believe these cytokines are evidence of an immune response called a cytokine storm, where the body starts to attack its own cells and tissues rather than just fighting off the virus. Cytokine storms are known to happen in autoimmune diseases like juvenile arthritis. They also occur during certain kinds of cancer treatment, and can be triggered by infections, like the flu. One study of patients who died of H1N1 influenza, for example, found that 81% had features of a cytokine storm. Though the virus that causes COVID-19 has been circulating for only a few months, early research shows that like other infections, it, too, may cause this kind of catastrophic immune problem, and researchers say the size of the storm it triggers is gale-force.

While this article is not about Long-Covid, it seems that even those who initially display only mild symptoms when infected can go on to develop autoimmune reactions that may last weeks and months. It's also been pointed out that the common flu has produced such reactions in the past but little interest was shown in pursuing the matter. Now, with such an intense focus on Covid-19, the same phenomenon is being considered a unique feature of the current virus. There's no doubt that people in the 30 to 40 year age group were victims of the escalation in the number of vaccines administered to babies and children in the 1990s. The upsurge in autism, autoimmune disorders, allergies, ADHD and so forth amongst this cohort has made them especially susceptible to cytokine storms as a reaction to viruses or vaccinations.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or CFS has been around for quite some time and Long-Covid mimics many of its symptoms. A long time CFS sufferer remarked recently that only now, with the growing recognition of Long-Covid, was a CFS-like malady been taken seriously by mainstream medicine. Maybe the flu-CFS link was there all along but it's only been noticed now due to the intense scrutiny given to the effects of Covid-19. 

The Last American Vagabond cites prolonged mask-wearing as the contributing or even causative factor in Long-Covid or Long-Haul Covid as he calls it. Here is a link to his BitChute video:

Friday, 21 August 2020

Masquerade

Figure 1

My local cell phone provides identifies itself as Tsel-PakaiMasker. The Tsel is short for the company, Telkomsel, and PakaiMasker translates to Use Mask. B.C. (Before Covid), the identifier was probably Tsel LTE. See Figure 1. Additionally, I receive a daily barrage of unsolicited messages exhorting me to do the right thing. Below is just one example:

COVID19 is spread by droplets that come out when you cough, sneeze or TALK.  Therefore, always keep your distance, wear a mask and wash your hands with soap.  Covid19.go.id

The propaganda is relentless and there are signs everywhere as you walk about reinforcing the same message. By and large, everybody is complying. The promotion of mask wearing is an important part of this psyop. It's a visible symbol that people are fighting an allegedly dangerous pathogen that is spread by other people. Despite evidence that mask wearing is useless at stopping airborne virus infection and is a health hazard, the "masquerade" continues. One definition of masquerade is a false show or pretense, which is quite appropriate. If mask wearing had not been encouraged or, as in some countries, mandated, it would of course seem as if nothing had changed.


The mask has become very much a symbol of conformity, differentiating between those who accept the propaganda and those who don't. Of course, the muzzled masses will always be an overwhelming majority and so anti-maskers are easily parodied or even demonised.


Of course, this is part of the psyop. Many potential anti-maskers will wear masks to avoid the inconvenience of being barred from entering stores or to avoid the risk of fines and imprisonment in countries where mask-wearing is mandated. 


Another definition of masquerade is an attempt to deceive people about the true nature or identity of something. In this sense, it has to be conceded that the COVID-1984 scamdemic is certainly a very successful masquerade and the mask, an essential component of any literal masquerade, is a brilliant accessory.

Tuesday, 11 August 2020

NGOs

I have a friend in Australia who more or less accepts the mainstream narrative about COVID-19 and regards the WHO as genuinely caring about the health of the world's citizens. In response to exhortations on my part to find alternative and credible sources of information, he claimed Transparency International as one of his sources of information. 

I had not heard of this particular NGO so I did a little investigation. It's motto is: 

WE HAVE ONE VISION, A WORLD FREE OF CORRUPTION

This of course is a laudable goal but typically these sorts of NGOs are set up by the puppet masters to corner the debate on certain issues, corruption in the case of Transparency International and health in the case of the WHO.  Many well-intentioned individuals will work hard for these organisations, often as volunteers, in the belief that they are doing something worthwhile. This harnessing of the energy and idealism of youth is deliberate because, if directed elsewhere, it might really expose corruption or improve world health. Arundhati Roy puts its nicely when she says: 

Armed with their billions, these NGOs have waded into the world, turning potential revolutionaries into salaried activists, funding artists, intellectuals and filmmakers, gently luring them away from radical confrontation.

Anyway, Transparency International (TI) seems to be one of the more obnoxious NGOs around. It's founder, Peter Eigen, is a former regional director for the World Bank. Say no more. It has connections with various UN bodies and is in full support of sustainable development goals. Even the Wikipedia article for TI is far from flattering, highlighting several controversies, and finishing with this telling quote:

"On 25 March 2020 Wolfgang Wodarg was dismissed from his place as a member of the board of directors of Transparency International, after he expressed the opinion that the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was only one of many similar viruses which usually go undetected as part of an ordinary seasonal period of respiratory infections, and that the worldwide activities to stop the pandemic were "hype" caused by the selective perception of researchers."

It is remarkable how effective such organisations are in gaining credibility, thanks to the support of the MSM and the social media giants. James Corbett has produced an interesting video on US-based NGOs, focussing on their role in undermining foreign governments:


More generally however, NGOs are instruments of the Global Elite and designed to further the globalist agenda. Though some have their headquarters in a particular country, they are not closely associated with the government of that country. TI is an example of such an NGO: 
Transparency International is a German non-governmental organization founded in 1993. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil societal anti-corruption measures and to prevent criminal activities arising from corruption.  

This article sums things up nicely:

Along with governments and corporations, the two torrents of power in the global landscape, NGOs are seen as a third force. Indeed, the big international ones – the BINGOs – with budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars are pretty powerful. But are they a countervailing force, striving tirelessly for social justice and the underdog? Poverty alleviation may be the rhetoric, critics argue, but in practice little that is lasting has been achieved on this front by NGO activism.

There is the compromising nature of their funding to consider – today contributions from governmental and intergovernmental aid agencies and from corporate donors often form the largest chunks of their income. Although some BINGOs will still deny it, this influences their outlook, making them increasingly accommodated to the wishes of their donors. Their language becomes all about forming partnerships with these interests, rather than challenging them. Work within the system, and business will transform the lives of the poor – it’s the Bono school of development, but with taxes.

In a recent article Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, the secretary-general of Civicus, a global network of civil society organizations and activists, wrote: ‘We have become a part of the problem rather than the solution. Our corporatization has steered us towards activism-lite, a version of our work rendered palatable to big business and capitalist states. Not only does this approach threaten no-one in power, but it stifles grassroots activism with its weighty monoculturalism.’ 

My advice to my friend was to avoid NGOs as sources of information, relying instead on individuals who, as far as can be determined, did not have any links to vested interests. Of course such individuals are hard to find or, if they gain any degree of prominence, are invariably denigrated by the MSM. 

Friday, 3 April 2020

COVID-19 or COVID-1984?

Here is a collection of images to make the case that COVID-1984 is more appropriate term, certainly in Australia where the images are taken from.

Figure 1: a group of more than two people on the beach!

Figure 2: you can't sit on a park bench!

Figure 3: Australian Defence Forces personnel help police clear the streets

Figure 4: police patrol Bondi Beach after it was closed to the public

Figure 5: police close the border between NSW and Queensland

Figure 6: don't try it!

So, Aussies!

Don't think you live in a police state?

THINK AGAIN


Figure 7: source