Cancer Update 4: Hunger, Undernourishment, and How to Fix It.

September 26, 2024All Articles, Canceradrenaline, bible, christianity, god, undernourishmentErik P. Johnson

Friends,
This is a cancer update. I’ll talk about dealing with malnourishment, and how to make biomolecules. This post contains significant Christian content.

Hunger
I was on several antibiotics to deal with my Granulicatella adiacens infection. Probably because of this, I was often nauseated and often couldn’t hold down my meals. At one point, I couldn’t even hold down juice or even Ensure. I started drinking Carnation Instant Breakfast, a powdered drink I discovered in college. Unfortunately, CIB doesn’t really have enough nutrition in it to drink it that much, but it’s the only thing I could keep down at the hospital. I started losing strength and muscle mass, and lost 20 lbs during my 2 week stay.

Studies were done during World War II on how to help people who are extremely malnourished. Because I was also on antibiotics, I didn’t fall into the same category, but it did strike me that we were taking the wrong approach. I intend to look into this more when I am better.

Adrenaline and how to get it.
Once my effusion was drained, my doctors were eager to send me home. Unfortunately, whenever I tried to walk, my blood pressure would drop to an alarmingly low level. As it turns out, I was no longer able to make my own adrenaline, a signaling molecule you need as you increase your activity. I couldn’t even walk across the room without my blood pressure dropping. One of my doctors said I had “adrenal insufficiency”, that my adrenal gland was not active enough for some reason. I had never heard of this in a person, let alone ever had this happen to me, so I was confused.

I’m going to talk about something that many don’t understand. Many Christians “hear” God’s voice on a regular basis. I hear it occasionally, maybe every 2 months or so. For me and many other Christians, this voice presents itself as a very strong idea that pushes other ideas out of your head for a moment. When Christians say God spoke to them, this is what they mean. I am an analytical person, so of course I have criteria for knowing when God is speaking to me. These criteria are:

It’s not an idea you would normally have. God’s voice has an “out of the blue” quality, like something you would never normally think about. And yes, often it’s an idea that you don’t like, like having to apologize to someone for something you did or said. God doesn’t have to tell you to do something that you already want to do!

It’s clear. Sometimes other people will say something that confirms what you heard, like using the same unusual wording that God used with you.

It matches the Bible. God will never tell you something that does not match what the Bible teaches.

Kathy was at home and God told her that I needed to expand my diet. Not knowing what that meant, I started with eating more colorful fruits and vegetables. It is well known that different colors in foods mean that that food contains different molecular nutrients. Orange foods tend to have lots of Vitamin A, acidic foods tend to have Vitamin C, purple and blue foods have lots of antioxidants, dark green vegetables often have lots of Iron, etc. Over the next few days, I still couldn’t hold down protein like eggs and meat, but I was able to eat a variety of colorful foods.

The following day, I was able to walk without my blood pressure dropping. The day after that, Sunday, September 15, I was finally sent home!

Don’t fear, but be smart,
Erik

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Cancer Update 3: Complications, Insurance, Opioids.

September 23, 2024All Articles, CancerCancer, effusion, health-careErik P. Johnson

On Sunday, September 15, I got out of Scripps Encinitas Hospital after a 2 week stay. In the next few updates, I’ll tell you what I was doing there and how I’m doing now.

Complications
On Sunday, September 1st, I was experiencing a lot of pain, sometimes 8 on a scale of 1-10.

We went to the ER and after some testing, they discovered 2 major complications. 1 was a pleural effusion, a bag of fluid between my lung and chest cavity that was limiting my lung capacity. The pleural cavity is usually a very narrow cavity between the lungs and the rest of the body. Just around the lung is a thin tissue called the parietal pleura. Normally, this cavity contains just enough fluid to allow the lungs to glide along this tissue as they expand and contract. Sometimes, however, this fluid inside this cavity doesn’t drain properly, and fills will fluid. This is a rare condition. The problem with this is that the extra fluid can compress the lung and reduce lung capacity, making it harder to breathe.

They had to install a chest tube so the fluid could drain.

The inside of the lung is actually “outside” the body, because it is open to the outside world. The pleural cavity is just outside the lung. This is the area that can fill with fluid to create an effusion.

Additionally, they found an infection, a bacteria called Granulicatella adiacens, a species that is difficult to grow in a lab, and so unknown even to most microbiologists. The infection was related to the effusion, so the next day, they put in a chest tube so they could drain fluid from the effusion.

So now instead of one potentially deadly condition, I now had 3.

Insurance
When Kathy lost her job last year, we lost our traditional health insurance, which was really good. We signed up for a cost sharing program. To use one of these programs, you need to tell medical providers that you are self-pay. You pay everything with cash or credit card. You get an itemized receipt from the provider, then submit to your program. We will get reimbursed by our program roughly 3 months after we pay the expense.

There are big pros and cons to these programs.

Cons:

1. Cost sharing programs are new, so most providers still don’t know how to handle them. They reflexively want to bill insurance, so they are always asking what program we have. To prevent them from sending our program a bill, we always just say that we’re self-pay.

2. It’s almost been a full-time job for Kathy to collect itemized bills from hospitals, individual doctors, and laboratories. Happily, Kathy is running her art business full time now, so she has the flexibility to do this.

Pros:

1. Providers usually give huge discounts for self-pay. My recent hospital stay was expensive, but we will get a 50% discount.

2. The monthly cost of our sharing program is far less than insurance premiums for the both of us for the month. So we actually opted not to get insurance from my new job.

3. One big problem with health care is that you can’t just ask your provider how much something costs. Insurance companies still cut mysterious deals with providers, so no-one seems to know what anything costs. Cost sharing programs may be a way around this. We get bills with actual numbers on them for the services we use.

First world countries have a variety of approaches to health care. Nationalized services have the problems of high taxation and long waits for care. The US now has high costs for insurance premiums and high deductibles. I think cost sharing, when it’s more accepted, may be the future of health care payments.

Opioids
I started taking opiate medications, which made me mildly hallucinate and become nervous about addiction.

I’m not at all excited about taking opioids. Coming in several forms, opioids are highly addictive, and have other unfortunate side effects. I’m a very disciplined, type-A person, so I’m hopeful I won’t have too much trouble working my way off of them, but friends who have done so say it took them some time. I also have friends, very good people, who ended up having to go to rehab so they could be supervised. You can certainly pray for me during this process when the time comes.

If you end up having to take opioids, make sure you work with your doctors to find the right regimen, and follow your doctor’s orders. You can change your prescription and orders, but don’t take more than your doctor prescribes. This will help keep you from having trouble.

Erik

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Cancer Update 2: Treatment Plan

August 28, 2024All Articles, CancerErik P. Johnson

At the risk of narcissism, I’m going to continue to give detailed updates on my cancer fight. My struggle will not be nearly as dramatic and harrowing as many of yours have been, and I have no right to be a “cancer celebrity” that others don’t have. However, I have lots of friends who want detailed updates, and I sense that many of you are finding my open approach valuable.

I am writing these updates for those who are interested, and definitely not for those who aren’t. Lots of people find it very valuable to have a chance to discuss these issues with someone openly. For others, painful memories or feelings of missed opportunities make it difficult to think about or discuss cancer. So you have total freedom to ask questions, and also to not read or interact with these posts at all. No one knows what to say, and you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.

So here’s the update. We met with my 2 treating oncologists this morning. For some reason, my pain was more intense today, and I didn’t sleep much last night. So it was difficult being driven around town today. We met with the chemo doctor first. A somewhat unique feature of my tumors is that while one of them is “metastatic”, arising from dislodged cells from the primary tumor, there is only one of these secondary tumors. Usually, there are many more. This makes me a good candidate for chemo and radiation. Both tumors can be treated with radiation, and then the chemo will do the rest, and mop up any microtumors that might be hiding in my body.

PET scan of the primary tumor in my lung. The tumor is actually on the right side.

PET scan of the secondary tumor on my rib. The tumor is on the right side.

I’ll get 4 infusions, every 3 weeks, probably starting next week. I will have a compromised immune system during this time, so may be limited in my outings. I don’t have details on this yet, so I might be OK to socialize during parts of the process. My tumors don’t have any terribly unique genetic markers, so I’ll just get the standard agents for this type of cancer. After the traditional chemo, I’ll get a new therapy called Immunotherapy, which encourages your immune system to attack the cancer. I haven’t discussed in detail how this might interact with my autoimmune disease (celiac disease) so we may need to modify this approach a bit. If everything goes smoothly, I should be all done with this process in early November.

This will be a moderately aggressive treatment, and I should tolerate it OK. Nausea should be relatively mild, and I may not even lose my hair! This is a little disappointing, since I was kind of hoping that after all this is over, I might get my majestic brown curls back!

I have day dreams that after chemo, I will get my majestic brown fro back! Sorry, Chris, if you want your hair back, you’ll need to get cancer. Sadly, I may not lose my hair, so my dreams may be dashed. (While was approaching the stage to give announcements at the Lost Creek Ranch at Forest Home, Lisa Johnson would say “Here comes Erik P Johnson. Isn’t he majestic?” Somehow I found the ridiculous over the top description hilarious, and I still like to use that word to this day. Thanks, Lisa!)

*Photoshop credit, Broose Johnson*

Then we met with the radiation doctor. Radiation will start as early as this week. I have a targeting appointment tomorrow, and the tumors will be precisely mapped out, and I’ll get little tattoos so they can orient my body in the machine. So for all of you who have wanted me to cave to the trend and get a tattoo, this is your chance! They’ll start with the tumor on my rib first, as this is where most of my pain is coming from. So after next week, I should be able to improve rapidly in that regard. I may also get some radiation for my primary tumor in my lung later on.

My 4 new boss tattoos. They are quite small. A. Bison B. Fishing in the Sierras with Chris and Dan, Onion Valley. C. A heart, with “Kathy” written in it. D. Portrait of infectious disease and free speech hero, Ignaz Semmelweis.

So my treatments should all be done by Thanksgiving, and I’ll be feeling much better after next week!

Thanks for your continued prayers! We are feeling surrounded by God during this time, and very blessed by all the support we’re getting. So thank you!

Don’t fear, but be smart,
Erik

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Big news for me

August 24, 2024All ArticlesErik P. Johnson

Friends,

I have some shocking news, but I’m feeling very positive.

A few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer.

First, my prognosis is very good, and Kathy and I have a strong sense that it is not yet my time to go, so we are feeling very positive. God is in control. If He decides that I will survive, then I will survive.

Last June, I came home from a business trip to New Zealand, to visit a client, Pictor Limited, (now my employer!). When I returned, I had a mild pain in my back. Because of the very long flight, I attributed this to my uncomfortable airplane seat! After 6 months, the pain was the same. So I went to my doctor to ask him to prescribe physical therapy for me. I’ve had a lot of success with PT in the past. He didn’t find anything alarming, so he sent me off to PT.

Despite the best efforts of my very talented therapist, I didn’t get better, and in fact got worse. I started focusing on Chiropractic care in March to try and fix my worsening back, with no improvement.

A few weeks ago, my friend, chiropractor, and sister in Christ Liz Hoefer decided to take an X-ray, because I was complaining about my ribs so much. Her radiologist concluded that I had lung cancer! Liz encouraged me to get a CT scan that very night, which I did.

After a few more tests, these are the details. I have 2 tumors, one in my right lung, one on a rib. The tumor on the rib has become painful, keeping me from doing lots of things, including driving, and even riding in a car for more than 30 minutes or so.

Post biopsy hospital cosmo. Gingerale and cranberry juice. Yummy! Notice that I’m doing surgery on my dinner, an egg salad sandwich, to avoid the bread! Darn celiac disease!

Technically, because these tumors are not in the same body cavity, this can be categorized as stage 4 cancer. This sounds very scary, but a PET scan showed that I have only those 2 significant tumors, and maybe a few tiny tumor besides those. I will not get surgery, but will get radiation and chemo. I see this as good news, since I won’t be out of commission for weeks after surgery. I will meet with my treating doctors next week, and probably get radiation in next coming weeks. I am told this will begin helping with the pain, since this will mostly kill the tumor on my rib. Later, chemo will do the greatest share of eliminating the rest of the cancer, including any tiny cancers that the tests didn’t see.

As an aside, non-small cell lung cancer is the kind of lung cancer that non-smokers get. My poker buddies know that I smoked 1 cigar a year during my college years, but I have never smoked a cigarette.

A plug for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), the technology I was helping labs bring on line when the pandemic started, consulting for my colleague and friend Jamie Platt. NGS is a new technology that allows the sequencing of many many different pieces of DNA in a sample. Unlike previous kinds of DNA sequences, the DNA molecules are kept physically separated during sequencing, so that molecules can be sequenced individually. This amazing technology has allowed sequencing of the human genome in days, not decades, for about 1000 dollars, not 3 billion dollars.

NGS has also been used to great effect in cancer treatment. An oncologist can now take a tumor biopsy and have a lab perform NGS on it. The lab can determine exactly what mutations contributed to the conversion of normal to cancerous cells, and also determine what percentage of the tumor is cancerous. This can help guide treatment, allowing the best chemo agent to be used the first time, instead of trying several until one works. This has greatly enhanced the survivability of many cancers. NGS has become a standard of care in many cancer treatments. I’ll have my NGS results before I meet with my oncologists on Tuesday.

My wife Kathy is a prayer warrior, and prayed an amazing Spirit filled prayer over me before my biopsy. We are convinced that I will survive! I have a lot of people praying for me, and would love your prayers as well.

I am blessed to have a lot of great support! A lot of people are praying for me, and a group of buddies (the Caffeine NOMADs) came and did a bunch of yard work for me last weekend! So while I would love to have your prayers, my needs are covered, so if I don’t ask you for something in the next few weeks, you can be assured that I’ve got it covered. Please don’t worry about whether you can do something for me. If I need something, I will certainly let you know.

Psalm 23:4
Isaiah 43:1-2

Don’t fear, but be smart!
Erik

Avian Influenza 2024

April 10, 2024All Articles, Case Updateavian-flu, avian-influenza, bird-flu, h5n1, newsErik P. Johnson

As the news about Avian Flu broke last week, I was hoping that I could ignore it and it would go away. Unfortunately, discussion online has continued to heat up, so I wanted to give you some information. I’ll put the most important stuff in the next 2 paragraphs, and more details down below if you want them.

There is a new outbreak of an Avian Flu that is being discussed by various outlets. Avian Flu is a member of the flu family of viruses, but of a type that is very uncommon in humans. Transmission to humans is still extremely low, but because our immune systems are unfamiliar with them, symptoms in infected humans can be very severe and fatality rates are as high as 30%. Anytime a human is infected, there is some reason for caution. As of this writing, only 2 humans in the US are known to have been infected. Both individuals had direct contact with infected animals, both cattle and chickens. So far, there are no known cases of human to human transmission. For the large majority of us, the currently known chance that you or family will be infected is zero. I fully expect that there will NOT be a widespread outbreak of avian flu in humans.

If you have livestock animals like cattle, pigs, or chickens, you will want to take extra precautions. There has actually been an outbreak of avian flu among chickens in the US since 2020, so this is an active situation already. The risk is currently much higher to animals than it is to humans, and lots of animals have been culled during this time. Until we know more, quarantine new animals for a time as you bring them on to your property. Chickens can shed virus both in respiratory secretions and in poop. If you have sick or dead animals, wear safety goggles, gloves and an N95 respirator before handling them. Afterwards, wash your hands thoroughly before touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Dogs and cats can get bird flu if they eat infected animals or interact with them closely.

Because so many chickens are culled during large Avian Flu outbreaks, there may be an increase in chicken and egg prices.

The influenza family of viruses is native to aquatic birds, like ducks and geese. The flu arises every year from flocks living in southern China, and often spreads to farm animals like chickens and pigs before entering the human population. 2 surface proteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), both come in several different varieties, designated with numbers. Our typical yearly flu is either H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, or H2N2. Other strains always infect aquatic birds, and sometimes other birds or animals. Avian flus that have infected humans have been H5N1 and H7N9, while some other strains have caused outbreaks of disease in chickens.

While transmission to humans is still extremely low, experts are currently recommending that animal products be thoroughly cooked before consumption.

Don’t fear, really, but be smart,

Erik

CDC page on 2024 Avian Flu

Virologist Dr. Matthew Binnicker of the Mayo Clinic discusses Avian Flu

Case Update, March 26th, 2024; the WHO Pandemic Agreement.

March 26, 2024All Articles, Case Updatecovid, covid-19, health, pandemic, rsvErik P. Johnson

Today I’m going to give a super brief case update, then a discuss the potentially upcoming WHO Pandemic Treaty.

COVID Update: First, we had a wave of COVID cases late last Summer and another one this Winter. According to official reporting, both of these waves were small, with few officially recognized cases. A lot of people in my area of San Diego County had upper respiratory infections, but most people weren’t even that interested to know if it was COVID, a cold, or the flu. Several people I know had illnesses that turned into bacterial infections like sinusitis or bronchitis. COVID wasn’t known to generate bacterial infections, so these cases probably weren’t COVID. All this to say, COVID is now deep into the endemic phase, with COVID becoming just another respiratory infection for most people.

Daily US New Cases, Worldometer/coronavirus/us. The recent JN,1 wave is visible on the far right.

From the CDC page on Variant Proportions for the United States, March
16th, 2024. The current most common COVID variant is JN.1, an Omicron variant.

A brief note on Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). The common cold is causes by any one of several classes of viruses, including Rhinovirus, Adenovirus, some Coronoviruses, and RSV. Everyone has had RSV several times in their life. While infants can have severe symptoms because of RSV, for adults, RSV infection will result in just a cold, although some can produce a bacterial infection. In my informed but not expert opinion, no adult, except perhaps new parents, needs an RSV vaccination. I’m a little baffled by the push for the RSV vaccine this year. I’ve never seen a campaign to encourage his before. Of course, always consult your physician when making medical decisions.

W.H.O. Pandemic Treaty: The World Health Organization (WHO), an agency of the United Nations, is currently negotiating an international treaty called the WHO Pandemic Agreement (full text). The agreement attempts to standardize pandemic responses internationally. Many medical freedom advocates have criticized the agreement for forcing countries to adopt practices that infringe on individual rights and also produced poor outcomes in many nations during COVID. The UN currently plans to hold a vote on the treaty in May of this year.

The WHO was the first international body to be public about the SARS-2 virus in January of 2020. Some of their claims at that time were demonstrably false, even when they were made, including that SARS-2 was not transmissible between humans, and that the virus was not transmissible through the air. They adopted some of the same draconian lockdown measures promoted by China at a time when the less restrictive measures used by Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were proving to be more effective. Western nations, including the US and the CDC, quickly promoted the WHO as the standard for COVID practice and information. Disagreeing with or speaking out in opposition to WHO measures quickly became heavily discouraged on online platforms, and would even cause physicians, nurses, and pharmacists to lose their jobs. The California Physician Misinformation Act of 2022 attempted to have doctors lose their medical license for promoting information that contradicted the WHO.

The new Pandemic Treaty seeks to force countries to make laws enforcing the WHO pandemic plan. Aspects of the treaty include the restriction of “misinformation”, the automatic granting of licenses and liability waivers for vaccines, and surveillance of personal medical and social media information. It would also require an international vaccine passport.

In an interview with Kim Iversen, Dr. Meryl Nass argues that the treaty would violate the 1^st, 4^th, 5^th, 10^th, and 14^th amendments to the US Constitution.

Given the terrible record of the WHO and the CDC during the pandemic, especially for restricting free communication. I absolutely oppose a WHO lead pandemic treaty.

Will the US adopt such a treaty? It’s hard to say right now. The current makeup of Congress suggests that it might be difficult to get a treaty passed, especially since a two thirds vote is necessary to ratify a treaty in the Senate. The President can make an agreement by executive order, but a future president can reverse this order just as easily.

The US vaccine mandate suggests that the Federal Government, some states, and many companies may implement many aspects of the treaty whether or not the US agrees to it. Remember that President Biden announced that he intended to issue a vaccine mandate in September of 2021. Details weren’t released until November that year, and the Supreme Court actually struck down the mandate before it could be implemented in January of 2022. So in actuality, the mandate never actually existed. Despite this, many states, federal agencies, hospitals, and companies implemented aspects of the mandate voluntarily, with Federal pressure never officially exerted. This is a bad sign for the WHO pandemic treaty.

The good news for some is that the 10^th amendment may allow states to ignore an agreement if they want. The 10^th amendment states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” On the other hand, a treaty ratified by congress has the force of federal law and may bind the states. It remains to be seen how the Supreme Court would weigh an official treaty ratified by Congress against measures that would violate the constitutional rights of individual citizens.

A note on the words “treaty” and “agreement”. In the US, a treaty has the force of law and must be ratified by congress. An agreement can be made between any 2 parties, but does not legally bind anyone else. News outlets have been using “treaty” and “agreement” interchangeably, and the official name for the draft document from the WHO is “the WHO Pandemic Agreement”. Given that the WHO wants the agreement to carry the force of law, they really mean “treaty”. The confusion may be intended.

As I have stated many times before, the censorship of physicians, scientists, and others during the pandemic crippled our ability to respond correctly to the pandemic. Many, including me, lost trust in the CDC and the medical community as a whole. I regard this as one of the worst aspects of the US pandemic response, and particularly bitter for me as a member of the medical community. The WHO Pandemic Agreement would codify the worst aspects of the US COVID response.

As the May vote nears, write your representatives, both at the federal and state levels, and let them know if you want the agreement implemented in your area.

Don’t fear, but be smart,
Erik

What went wrong with the US response to COVID?
What we should do in the next pandemic.
Science Magazine article on the Pandemic Agreement:

Case Update, October 10th, 2023; the California Physician Misinformation Act is Repealed

October 10, 2023All Articles, Case UpdateErik P. Johnson

This is a brief case update and some good news about the AB 2098, the California Physician Misinformation Act.

Case Update: The Fall 2023 wave is on a downslope, with cases going down in the US, California, and San Diego County. As discussed before, there was legitimately an increase in cases, but the number of new cases was tiny in comparison to previous waves. Given the large amount of pre-existing natural immunity, I never considered the current wave to be a serious threat to public health.

Graph is by me, from data collected from Johns Hopkins University COVID site. Graph is presented in a logarithmic format to emphasize small numbers. Note that each number on the left is 10x higher than the one below it. Data since March 10, 2023 is from Worldometer.

Graph is by me, from data collected from Johns Hopkins University COVID site. Graph is presented in a linear format. Data since March 10, 2023 is from Worldometer.

The current EG.5 wave barely registers on the far right of this linear graph. Daily US New Cases, Worldometer/coronavirus/us.

Graph is by me, from data collected from San Diego County Public Health. Graph is presented in a logarithmic format to emphasize small numbers. San Diego County now only releases information on Thursday each week. Data points shown are extrapolated using this information.

From the CDC page on Variant Proportions for the United States. Updated for September
30th, 2023.

The Repeal of the California Physician Misinformation Act: Last October, I wrote about a new California law which made “misinformation” a cause for physicians in California to lose their medical license. Misinformation was defined as “false information that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care.” As I argued, it is common for new scientific ideas to be opposed by the majority of scientists before gaining acceptance.

The new law immediately became a target of legal action, one case being Høeg vs Newsom. On September 29th, 2023, Høeg’s attorney filed a request that the law be permanently barred from enforcement. Just a few days later, on October 1st, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a repeal of the law. This is great news for California physicians and patients. California physicians are again free to communicate to their patients without fear of losing their license. This is also great news for the cause of freedom of speech in the US.

The fascinating yet tragic case of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis: Ignaz Semmelweis was a physician at Vienna General Hospital in 1847. One of his jobs was to deliver babies in the maternity ward. Unfortunately, in his ward, the rate of fatality for new mothers was high, an average of 18.3%. Women were afraid to deliver in his hospital, and begged to deliver somewhere else!

Then one day, a colleague of Dr. Semmelweis died of Puerperal Fever, with symptoms very similar to the women in the maternity ward. His colleague had nicked himself with a scalpel while performing an autopsy on a cadaver. Dr. Semmelweis thought that maybe the fatalities in the maternity ward had something to do with the fact that Doctors where going straight from performing autopsies to delivering babies!

At this point, you’re probably holding your head and saying “What!?”, perhaps with some other colorful words added in. It’s obvious to us now that this was a terrible idea, but the Germ Theory of Disease had not yet been accepted in medicine. The field at that time had no idea that microscopic organisms could transmit disease.

Dr. Semmelweis started having physicians wash their hands in a chlorine solution after performing autopsies. The maternal death rate fell immediately to below 5%, some months having zero deaths. Dr. Semmelweis tried to tell others of his findings, but no one believed him. After increasingly passionate and ultimately embarrassing behavior, his friends and family had him committed to a mental institution. He was abused by guards and died in 1865.

From the Wikipedia page for Ignaz Semmelweis.

That same decade, Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch were producing evidence supporting the Germ Theory, and Joseph Lister began popularizing the use of anti-septic procedures in surgery, greatly improving outcomes for surgical patients. Semmelweis’ ideas would be vindicated, but not until after his tragic death.

Semmelweis is now considered a hero of modern medicine, having a university, several hospitals, and even an asteroid named after him.

Statue of Semmelweis in front of Szent Rókus Hospital, Budapest, Hungary (erected in 1904, work of Alajos Stróbl). From the Wikipedia page for Ignaz Semmelweis.

Why did I tell this story? Under a law similar to the California Physician Misinformation Act, people like Semmelweis would have lost their licenses. Semmelweis’ story underscores the need for strict adherence to the Scientific Method, not the suppression of “misinformation.” We suppress unpopular ideas at our peril.

Don’t fear, but be smart,
Erik

Dr. Peter McCullough’s Spike Protein Detox Protocol

August 29, 2023All Articles, Treatments, VaccinesErik P. Johnson

Dr. Peter McCullough is a cardiologist who became well known during COVID for his ongoing skepticism of the vaccine, and also for advancing COVID treatments. He is a hero to many and a villain to many others. He and colleagues Dr. Brian Procter and Cade Wynn have just published a paper on the detoxification of COVID Spike protein from the body (Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons).

I have a PhD in molecular biology, specializing in infectious disease testing. I am not a physician! I have a very informed but not expert opinion on medical matters. Consider discussing with your doctor before following any medical advice.

As we’ve discussed before, the Spike protein of SARS-2 is the component of the virus that leads to the most damaging impacts of infection. It causes inflammation across the body in many different tissue types and also contributes to rampant blood clotting. Unfortunately, because the vaccines also cause your body to produce Spike protein in order to cause your immune system to make antibodies, the vaccines also cause some of the most pathogenic effects of the virus. Because it gets packaged by various body mechanisms, Spike protein can persist for months or years after infection or vaccination. Boosters also increase the amount of Spike in your body.

I know many people now who suffer a wide variety of effects likely from a vaccination or a booster, ranging from persistent tinnitus (ear ringing), to a very healthy friend who had a heart attack a month after getting a booster, with no history of cardiac issues. As for myself, I have an autoimmune disease, celiac disease, that also comes with generalized inflammation. I have plantar fasciitis, trigger finger, chronic tailbone pain, and bursitis in my knee. All these things have gone from very mild to moderate in the years since I had COVID. To be clear, I have never been vaccinated against COVID, so my symptoms are from SARS-2 infection.

Dr. McCullough’s paper recommends a combination of three over the counter supplements that he claims can help clear your body of accumulated Spike protein from either infection or vaccine. If you already have immunity, the Spike protein in your body is no longer of any use to you. You don’t need it anymore, and you should probably get rid of it!

Nattokinase: This enzyme comes from soy beans and is a digestive enzyme which can help digest Spike protein. It should be taken at a dose of 2000 units twice a day.

Because Nattokinase is an enzyme, it should be taken between meals. Otherwise, instead of finding and chewing up Spike protein, it will just help you digest your lunch. Take Nattokinase at least an hour after a meal, or at least a half hour before one. You should not take Nattokinase if you have an allergy to soy.

Bromelain: This is a protein digesting enzymes purified from pineapple stems. Like Nattokinase, it can digest Spike protein, but it can also inhibit the interaction of Spike and the receptors that it uses to interact with human cells, helping to reduce inflammation. Recommended dosage is 500 milligrams once per day. Bromelain is also an enzyme. So like Nattokinase, it should be taken between meals.

Curcumin: This compound comes from the ginger plant and is similar to turmeric. Like bromelain, it also has the effect of inhibiting the interactions of Spike with our cells, and also reduced inflammation. Free curcumin isn’t absorbed by the body well, so it is recommended to take it in a form that is, “Nano” or “liposomal” curcumin. Instead, you can also take it with piperine (black pepper extract) which improves absorption. Recommended dose is 500 milligrams twice a day, in the Nano form.

Dr. McCullough suggests that this combination of supplements should be taken for at least 3 months.

An important word of caution! All three of these compounds have an anti-coagulant effect. So if you have trouble with a lack of blood clotting, you don’t stop bleeding after an injury, or are on any anti-coagulation medications, talk to your doctor first before taking any of these supplements. Also, you should not take Nattokinase if you have an allergy to soy.

This is a new protocol, and has not yet been formally tested! It has also not been used by large numbers of people. So if you’re cautious, you may want to wait and see how others do on this protocol before trying it yourself.

I can no longer recommend a booster for anyone, even if you have risk factors. But if you want to get a booster, don’t take these supplements for at least a month after your booster, or you will reduce your body’s ability to make antibodies.

Don’t fear, but be smart!
Erik

Case Update, August 22, 2023; New Variant EG.5

August 22, 2023All Articles, Case Update, OmicronErik P. Johnson

I have a case update, and also some news about a new variant, EG.5.

There has been a significant uptick in new cases in the US, California, and San Diego County in recent weeks. However, since cases have recently been very low, the uptick in cases still results in very few cases by pandemic standards, as many as we had in Spring of 2021 before Delta came around. Arguably, these new cases are already starting to subside.

World Wide Daily COVID Deaths, Worldometer/coronavirus.

Variant EG.5 Why is this news? Rumors are circulating that this represents a dangerous new wave of COVID cases. Indeed, a new variant is currently spreading that many do not seem to have immunity to. Variant EG.5 has been spreading since May and now represents a majority of new cases. In fact several universities including Rutgers and Brown are bringing back COVID mandates, as well as some Hollywood studios.

From the CDC page on Variant Proportions for the United States. Updated for August
22th, 2023. EG.5 currently represents 20.6% of new cases.

Should you be concerned? There is not yet any evidence that EG.5 is any deadlier than other mild Omicron strains. If you’ve already had COVID, you needn’t be concerned. EG.5 may simply represent a free booster for you.

If you haven’t had COVID yet, I can no longer recommend a vaccine or booster for anyone, even those of you at high risk. If you’re concerned about getting COVID, I suggest wearing an N95 style mask while indoors in public. The mask must fit snugly, and must filter air coming into your nose and mouth. Do not wear a blue surgical mask. Blue surgical masks are not useful for preventing Omicron infection.

Don’t fear, but be smart,
Erik

_______________________________________________
Update: September 1st, 2023

BA.2.86, Pirola: Just a few days after the US media began to announce potential new lockdowns due to the EG.5 variant, now called “Eris”, the British government announced concern over a variant called BA.2.86, called “Pirola”. This new variant has 36 mutations in the Spike protein as compared to the currently circulating XBB variants. According to Dr. John Campbell, the UK government is even announcing that their new version of the COVID vaccine will be released early.

Is Pirola a concern? No, not really. While the new variant may evade the immune symptoms of many, infection appears to cause the same mild symptoms as a common cold, just like other recent Omicron variants. As for EG.5, those with natural immunity need not be concerned. As with EG.5, if you’re concerned about getting BA.2.86, I suggest wearing an N95 style mask while indoors in public. The mask must fit snugly, and must filter air coming into your nose and mouth. Do not wear a blue surgical mask. Blue surgical masks are not useful for preventing Omicron infection.

Case Update, July 28th, 2023; Patient Zero identified, Effectiveness of Boosters, Batch Dependent Adverse Events, Excess Deaths During COVID

July 28, 2023All Articles, Case Update, Omicron, VaccinesErik P. Johnson

It’s been more than 2 months since my last post. Today, I’ll give a little update on new cases, plus a collection of brief but interesting stories. Michael Shellenberger claims to have interviewed 3 “patient zeros” from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Then I’ll discuss a study from the Cleveland Clinic on booster effectiveness, a report from John Campbell on adverse events from vaccines, and a story about excess deaths pointing to vaccine injury, supported by another video from John Campbell.

I am only collecting data once a week now, just to monitor new cases, so my graphs are pretty low-resolution. New COVID cases are as low now as they were at the very beginning of the pandemic, even lower than the Spring of 2021 before Delta arose and spoiled the party. New deaths due to infection are also very low. There was an apparent spike in new deaths in San Diego County in mid-July, but this may have represented a bunch of hospitals reporting at once, and not a spike in actual deaths.

Graph is by me, from data collected from San Diego County Public Health. Graph is presented in a linear format. San Diego County now only releases information on Thursday each week. Data points shown are extrapolated using this information.

Daily COVID Deaths, World Wide, Worldometer/coronavirus.

A new Omicron variant, EG.5 is rising in prominence, but this new variant is apparently no deadlier than other Omicron variants, so is not of great concern.

3 “Patient Zero”s identified: Journalist Michael Shellenberger claims that the identities of 3 “patient zero” individuals are now known, and all of them worked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. These people were likely the very first people in the world to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. One of these individuals is Ben Hu, the 2^nd in command at the WIV, and someone who was directly involved in Coronavirus research. Shellenberger was not shocked to discover that the initial patients were from the WIV. Rather, he was shocked and dismayed that he had to discover this for himself, rather than the information be released by the WHO, the CDC, the FBI, or a number of other agencies who should have informed the public. Shellenberger is now 100% convinced that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from the lab in Wuhan.

The Hill interviews Michael Shellenberger.

Boosters increase likelihood of reinfection: A study from the Cleveland Clinic claims that the likelihood of reinfection with COVID-19 actually increases with more vaccine boosters. The study began in the Summer of 2022, during the BA.5 outbreak, and shows increased likelihood of infection by later variants the more boosters a person had! It’s unknown why this phenomenon occurs, but it may be a mechanism similar to Antibody Depen d ent Enhancement (ADE) which I was concerned about early on. Happily, available data doesn’t appear to show that ADE has caused more severe symptoms in COVID patients.

The paper also shows that the new Bivalent boosters, containing both the original Wuhan strain and an Omicron strain, has only a mild benefit to prevent infection.

Adverse events were batch dependent: A paper from a lab in Denmark appears to show that the number of adverse events associated with vaccines, referred to as “suspected adverse effects” (SAEs), were dependent on the batch in question. Adverse events appeared to cluster in 3 groups, some vaccine batches produced very few events, while others produced thousands. This difference probably contributed to the confusion and the difficulty of identifying real problems. The worst batches produced adverse events at a rate of almost 9%, and also produced the most severe effects.

These results should provide some clues as to what went wrong with the vaccine rollout. Unfortunately, this data comes from cases in Denmark so is less relevant to the US. This is the kind of information that is the CDC’s job to produce. The fact that the CDC is not producing data like this is a big worry, and shows that the agency is in dire need of reform.

John Campbell: Adverse events are batch d ependent.

Excess deaths may be related to vaccine induced inflammation: Ed Dowd was on the Dr. Drew podca st. Dowd has an interesting take on adverse events. He is an analyst for an investment firm, and looks for trends to help in making investment decisions. He often uses information from insurance claims to analyze trends in worker health, illness, accidents, and death. He noticed that in the UK, there were approximately 500,000 excess deaths in both 2021 and 2022, many among younger people. This effect was correlated to being in the Millennial generation and being employed. He says that in late 2021, excess deaths among Millennials was 84% above normal.

He says that hematological (blood related) illnesses were up 522% in 2022, during the time when Omicron was dominant. That’s 61 standard deviations above the expected trend. For those of you who know statistics, you know that this is far, far, above what you would expect for a random event. Dowd is asking physicians to help his team interpret this data.

John Campbell has also reported a higher number of excess deaths in 2021, 2022, and 202 3. Because of tech censorship, he can’t make any connections to spike protein from the COVID vaccines, but he strongly implies that there is a connection. Interestingly, Dr. Campbell strongly advocated COVID vaccination until at least mid-2022.

At this point, it seems unlikely that we will get accurate information on adverse events in the US. Unfortunately, the CDC is too politicized to perform its function.

I’m not a physician. But in my informed opinion, there is no longer a benefit to getting a COVID vaccine booster, even if you are at high risk.

Don’t fear, but be smart,
Erik