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Autoimmunity Resulting from Molecular Mimicry between COVID Vaccine and Human Proteins

I’ve been seeing this for two years, elevated d-dimers, blood clots, myocarditis, spontaneous colitis non-responsive to anti-biotics, sudden spontaneous bruising and bleeding after vaccination. Now, it all makes more sense.

In a recent study, researchers discovered molecular mimicry hotspots in the Spike protein and highlight two examples with very high autoimmune potential. This helps us understand the prolonged COVID-19 complications we’ve been seeing for the last two years. The spike protein shares similarities with 34 different human proteins in amino acid sequences in sets of sixes. These similarities stimulate high potential for autoimmune attack – causing the body’s immune system to attack its own organs with similar protein sequences.

These protein sequences are found in the thyroid, brain, nose, ear, skin, muscles, heart, blood, nerves, joints, intestines, and many more. In my office, I’ve seen over 50 patients with bleeding, bruising, rash, heart inflammation, intestinal inflammation, uterine and ovarian inflammation and abnormal menstrual changes spontaneously that I have never seen in 22 years of medical practice. All of these patients have had prolonged d-dimer levels elevated for 12-18 months post vaccination. These symptoms all started with in 4-8 weeks of vaccination as well.

The spike protein may also trigger Guillain-Barre syndrome, viral arthritis, immune thrombocytopenic purpura (bleeding), antiphospholipid syndrome, Kawasaki disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, and many others.

Two other recent studies here and here confirm that autoimmunity is the driver behind these post COVID vaccination symptoms. These two studies demonstrated that people who were vaccinated for COVID-19 had more antibodies against human tissues than people who were not infected and/or had natural infection.

How the CDC Spins a Worthless Study to Sell a Vaccine

The CDC just published a study on COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and death. The table below shows the 13 US Jurisdictions it was taken from between April 4th and July 17th, 2021.

I am now seeing a number of my medical colleagues posting information and telling my patients that they are 10 times more likely to die if they are not vaccinated based on this study. Yet, THAT IS NOT what the study shows.

In this very limited ecological study that DOES NOT take into account MULTIPLE variables linking causality to the absence of a vaccine, it is essential to understand some basic points about those with “COVID related” disease.

  1. 92% of the people in this study were not vaccinated. 8% were vaccinated.
  2. 92% of the people hospitalized were not vaccinated. 8% were vaccinated.
  3. 91% of the people who died were unvaccinated. 9% were vaccinated.

Did you notice that the rate of death is higher if you’re vaccinated?

In this study, just by the simple numbers alone, you are less likely to die if you are unvaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines.

Yet, they had the audacity to state “In 13 U.S. jurisdictions, rates of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were substantially higher in persons not fully vaccinated compared with those in fully vaccinated persons . . .”

Well, of course the numbers are “substantially higher,” because 92% of the people that entered the study were unvaccinated! 92 is bigger than 8. We learned that in grade school . . . at least some of us did.

Yet, as you can see by the advertisement below, the CDC spins these numbers and claims that if you are vaccinated you reduce your risk of infection, hospitalization and death by 10%.

In their own study they state that six severe limitations in this study exist:

  1. Many of the “unvaccinated” were partially vaccinated
  2. Variable linkage may completely change the incident rate ratio (IRR) for which this whole study was completed.
  3. Ecological studies have never been effective in determining incident rate ratios (IRRs)
  4. Vaccine effectiveness can never be determined based on an ecological study due to such uncontrollable variables.
  5. They don’t really know if the delta variant was >50% of the cases because they didn’t check.
  6. This data only accounts for ~ 25% of the population, so you really can’t generalize the results.

What is the take home message?

This is a trash can study that is being used as propaganda to continue selling a vaccine to unsuspecting population, and the CDC knows it.

If you are a medical professional, and you’re going to try to scare my patients into getting this vaccine by touting big numbers, please read the damn study before you speak.

Three Questions To Ask Yourself About Any Therapy Including The COVID-19 Vaccine

[Updated August, 28, 2021]

I’ve had thousands of patient’s ask about the COVID-19 vaccine and whether they should consider taking it or not. At the outset, let me make it clear that I am not opposed to vaccines, nor am I an anti-vax proponent.  I am very much a proponent of safe and effective vaccines and therapies.  I present this information so that my patients and readers can make an informed choice about their individual health.  Many of my patients have chosen to get vaccinated, and many have not.  Many are still on the fence.

This information is continually changing and I will try to update this post when important information is available. You can find a summary and links to recent research on a previous blog post here.

Any time you use a therapeutic, medication or vaccine, you need to evaluate it with three guidelines in mind:
      1. Is it safe?
      2. Is it effective?
      3. Do you actually need it?

Survivability Points to Ponder

Currently, children under 18 years old have a 99.998% chance of survival if they get COVID-19 and are untreated.  Why would you inject a child with a vaccine when there is no need for treatment?  Yet this vaccine is being pushed upon our children 12 years of age and older by schools, sports programs and government officials.
The risk of death in a young adult who contracts COVID-19 between the ages of 19 to 44 years old is 99.95%.  Again, why would we force vaccination or treatment upon anyone who’s risk is 0.05%?
If everyone on the planet were to get COVID-19 and not get treated, the global death rate would be less than 0.5% of the global population.  That is identical to influenza.  After you read the information below, you need to ask yourself: Does the potential risk of the COVID-19 vaccine warrant force vaccination the entire global population?
If we have effective outpatient treatments, and the risk of death was no greater than the flu, why would you consider use of a vaccine with significant sides effects and poor overall effectiveness?

How Does the COVID-19 Vaccine Work?

As of today, the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson Johnson COVID-19 vaccines consist of a snippet of genetic code directing production of an immune response identical to what the actual virus causes to occur. This response stimulates the production of a coronavirus spike protein. In the Pfizer.BioNTech & Moderna vaccines, it is delivered in a tiny fat bubble called a lipid nanoparticle. Some researchers suspect the immune system’s response to that delivery vehicle also causes some the short-term side effects, and may post greater risks in the long term.
What we know today, is that the spike proteins, whether produced by the virus or by the vaccine is the “toxic” portion to the body. A percentage of people have significant adverse responses to this spike proteins. This protein binds to those tissues with the highest concentrations of ACE2 receptors on their cell membranes.  The binding of ACE2 receptors by spike proteins causes a release of inflammatory cytokines (protein signals to stimulate the body to fight infection).   However, this cytokine release is amplified significantly when T cells are suppressed or not functional.  We know that obesity, diabetes, prediabetes and insulin resistance states cause a suppression in T cell function.  Within four hours of blood sugar and insulin levels spiking and staying elevated, something that commonly occurs in diabetic, pre-diabetic and obese patients, T cell immunity is suppressed and cytokine levels, like IL-6, are elevated.
A recently uncovered Pfizer study in Japan identified that these proteins and the nano-particle transport system concentrate and bind at the spleen, bone marrow, liver, adrenal glands, mesenteric lymph-nodes, and ovaries within 48 hours of vaccination (1).  Originally, it was thought that the vaccine only concentrated in the deltoid muscle where the vaccine was given. According to Dr. Robert Malone the creator of the mRNA technology, the spike proteins are biologically active. Because of this distribution throughout the body, and according to Dr. Malone, there is significant potential for leukemia, lymphoma and female fertility issues 1-3 years from vaccination and auto-immune disorders 2-3 years from vaccination.  Because we have no data in humans at the 2-3 year mark, the actual risk of this is still unknown.

Is The Vaccine Effective?

Currently the only data we have on the vaccine effectiveness comes from a brand new package insert released on the 23rd of August, 2021.  Studies in 44,000 people demonstrated it has a 94.7% confidence interval over 6 months.  That means, in lay terms, that the vaccine will decrease your likelihood of caching COVID-19 by an “estimate” of 94.7% within six months of your first shot.  However, data coming out of Israel where 85% of the population has been vaccinated for the last eight months shows that that this effectiveness drops to 39% by the eighth month.  Anything less than 40% effectiveness is considered no more effective than placebo.
If you’ve never had a COVID-19 infection, then this vaccine will give you short term protection for 2-8 months as it’s protective effect rapidly wears off.  Hence, Pfizer and Moderna have recommended a third dose of the vaccine starting in September.  However, there is no information about the risks and benefits of a third dose.  And, if a third dose is necessary, will there be a fourth?  And a fifth?
In the short term studies (two month period of time), vaccine manufacturers stated that there was a 66% reduction in hospitalizations due to COVID-19 with the vaccine use.  This is not what is being seen in Israel, where 85% of their population has been vaccinated.  In fact, people vaccinated in January had a 2.26 times greater risk for a breakthrough infection with the Delta variant than those vaccinated in April.
The rate of infection and hospitalization rates remain the same as the unvaccinated as you can see in the graphic below:
In another study just released on August 25, 2021, as a pre-print in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), data from Israel paints a very interesting picture of what happens when the majority of the population is vaccinated.  This real world observational study of over 800,000 people compares the unvaccinated  to those with prior COVID-19 illness, those with prior COVID-19 + 1 dose of vaccine and those who are vaccinated with two doses.
This study demonstrates that those who received the COVID-19 vaccine (two shot series) have a 13.06 times GREATER risk of infection with the COVID-19 Delta variant compared with those who were unvaccinated but had previous infection with COVID-19 alone.
Additionally, those who received the vaccine had a 6.7 fold greater risk for admission to the hospital compared to those with natural infection.  The conclusion in this, the largest real world vaccination study on COVID-19 to date, is that natural immunity confers a 13 times greater protection than the vaccine.

Acute or Short Term Issues:

First these vaccines contain a black box warning for people under age 55 years old. This warning is that there is a significant increased risk of a forms of inflammation of the heart called myocarditis and fluid build up around the heart called pericarditis.  This risk was set at 13 per million, or one person in every 76,900 doses given.  As of August 20th, 2021, Moderna’s vaccine is being evaluated for an even greater risk seen from Canadian data.  “There might be a 2.5 times higher incidence of myocarditis in those who get the Moderna vaccine compared with Pfizer’s vaccine,” Reuters reported.
Second, Blood clot formation is the number one risk of these vaccines. The spike proteins that form from the vaccine are identical to the same proteins caused by the virus itself. It’s not the virus that’s the problem, it’s the spike proteins that act like a toxin. The Salk Institute has identified that these spike proteins bind to the ACE 2 receptors on multiple organ tissues, damaging the lining of blood vessels and increase the risk of blood clot, stroke and heart attack. The increased risk of clots is most dramatic in the first week after a vaccine is given, however, this risk is elevated as long as these proteins are circulating in the blood stream.
Given this information, and the number of blood clots I and many others have seen clinically post vaccination, this vaccine has been aptly called “The Clot Shot.”
Third, data demonstrates that patients given this vaccine in their 1st trimester of pregnancy have an increased risk of miscarriages from 10% to 80% above the average. This is likely due to spike protein deposition in the uterus, however, this is still under evaluation.

Sub Acute Issues:

In all other attempts at making a coronavirus vaccine in the last 25 years, animal studies have show the development of antibody dependent enhancement (ADE). This is where re-exposure to the virus causes a 10 fold immune response above the norm.  This also causes what is called cytokine release syndrome.  However, because this vaccine was released under an Emergency Use Authorization, these animals studies were never performed on this vaccine to determine the potential for these syndromes to arise.
I am seeing signs that ADE is starting to happen in a percentage of my patients who have been vaccinated with both the first and second doses of vaccine.

Long Term Issues:

There is definite scientific evidence that these spike proteins may damage ovarian function. There is definite evidence that they may lower sperm counts. There is definite evidence that they will effect autoimmunity in a percentage of the population. There is definite evidence that it may cause various forms of cancer.
According to a recent article by Talotta et at., “Young patients and female patients who are already affected or predisposed (e.g. immunological and serological abnormalities in absence of clinical symptoms, familiarity for immune-mediated diseases) to autoimmune or autoinflammatory disorders should be carefully evaluated for the benefits and risks of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination” (4).
Lipid nano-particles have been shown to concentrate themselves in the ovary with a 16% decrease in fertility that was identified in the animal studies recently made available to the public.
Recent research from Read et al. demonstrates that vaccinating people with vaccines that do not completely stop transmission actually increase conditions that promote more severe strains of the virus.  “Our data show that anti-disease vaccines that do not prevent transmission [vaccines that don’t completely stop transmission] can create conditions that promote the emergence of pathogen strains that cause more severe disease in unvaccinated hosts” (5).

What is the Actual Risk Of:

      • Infertility
      • Autoimmunity
      • Cancer after getting this vaccine?
We JUST DON’T KNOW!

Who Should NOT Receive the Vaccine:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an update on those who should not receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Recommendations cover:
      • Patients who have had a severe allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine.
      • Patients who have had an immediate non-severe allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine.
      • Patients who have had an allergic reaction to polyethylene glycol (PEG) or polysorbate.
      • Patients who have had an allergic reaction to other types of vaccines or an injectable therapy.
      • Patients who have had allergies not related to vaccines (food like shell fish, nuts, etc).
Common Side Effects that can and will occur with both versions of the vaccine (lower side effect profile in Pfizer/BioNtech version):
      • Fever up to 104 F (40 C) for 24 hours in 2-4% of participants.
      • Severe fatigue in 4%- 9.7% of participants
      • Muscle pain in 8.9%
      • Joint pain in 5.2%
      • Headache in 2%-4.5%.
That’s a higher rate of severe reactions than people are accustomed to, and it occurs because the vaccine is actually producing the same toxin in the system that the virus does – spike proteins.
      • The likelihood of a severe problem if you get a COVID-19 infection is about 0.5%.
      • Where the likelihood of side effects from the vaccine is 1-10%.
With those odds, you be the judge.

Additional Cautions in Pregnancy/Breast Feeding:

Directly from the CDC website: “Observational data demonstrate that, while the chances for these severe health effects are low, pregnant people with COVID-19 have an increased risk of severe illness, including illness that results in ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death compared with non-pregnant women of reproductive age. Additionally, pregnant people with COVID-19 might be at increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth, compared with pregnant women without COVID-19.”
“Based on how mRNA vaccines work, experts believe they are unlikely to pose a specific risk for people who are pregnant. However, the actual risks of mRNA vaccines to the pregnant person and her fetus are unknown because these vaccines have not been studied in pregnant women.” However, as noted above, vaccination in the 1st trimester of pregnancy increases miscarriage rate up to 80%.
“There are no data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in lactating women or on the effects of mRNA vaccines on the breastfed infant or on milk production/excretion. mRNA vaccines are not thought to be a risk to the breastfeeding infant. People who are breastfeeding and are part of a group recommended to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, such as healthcare personnel, may choose to be vaccinated.” Yet, in light of these assumptions by the CDC, studies in this group has NOT been completed, so we just don’t know the answer.
For those outside of the United States, the UK government’s safety instructions recommend that “no pregnancy or breast feeding should be planned within two months of each COVID-19 vaccine dose.”

Does the Benefit Outweigh the Risk?

Does the benefit of two to six months of protection outweigh the risks that are being seen with these vaccines?  Ultimately, that decision is yours.  My profession opinion is that the risk is greater than the benefit.  Especially when we have effective, inexpensive treatments available.
The NIH, CDC, Hospital Associations, Health Systems and big Pharma have spent hundreds of millions trying to convince the American public that these vaccines are safe.   As of December 2020, prior to completion of any safety studies on these vaccines, the US government alone had spent $250 million dollars trying to convince you and me that these vaccines are worth the risk.  Yet, as a physician who weighs risk to benefit outcomes of treatments with 20-30 patient’s every day, those risks just don’t add up.
When in the history of mankind have you ever heard or seen such powerful propaganda regarding health and safety of every soul on the planet?   The only time I have heard or seen anything remotely similar is in the 1940’s.
Hitler rose to power by convincing the entire nation of Germany that the Jewish population carried typhus, an infectious bacteria that was perceived as an imminent threat to the country.  The typhus vaccine was developed in 1939 in Poland and was in use during WWII.  In order to stop the spread of typhus three things occurred:
  1. Those at risk (mainly the Jews) were quarantined.
  2. Everyone in the nation was required to carry papers documenting full medical history, travel history, vaccination status and typhoid risk.
  3. Those that were not compliant were excluded from socialization and work, or were they were imprisoned.
Sound familiar?

Sources:

  1. https://Pfizer COVIDvac_report_Japanese government.pdf
  2. https://www.cdc.gov/…/recommendations/pregnancy.html
  3. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/information-for-healthcare-professionals-on-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7833091/
  5. https://europepmc.org/article/MED/26214839

Unethical to Require COVID Vaccination in College Students

More than 450 U.S. colleges and universities are mandating that all students be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before the fall 2021-22 semester.  This is  both unethical and dangerous.  Some are even requiring vaccines for summer classes.
Though the FDA has issued emergency authorizations (EUA) for the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, none of the three have actually been FDA approved.  That is a legal and ethical problem for schools that want to force student to get the shots.
In my practice, I see 10% of those getting the vaccines having significant reactions, some of which last over 6 months.  I’ve written about those side effects here.   Of greatest concern to me is the potential for spike protein induced sterility, preterm births, and other adverse pregnancy outcomes in our young men and young women as the long term effect on conception & pregnancy has still not been deemed “safe” and scientifically cannot be for at least another year.
In a statement taken directly from the CDC website: “Observational data demonstrate that, while the chances for these severe health effects are low, pregnant people with COVID-19 have an increased risk of severe illness, including illness that results in ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death compared with non-pregnant women of reproductive age. Additionally, pregnant people with COVID-19 might be at increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth, compared with pregnant women without COVID-19. . . Based on how mRNA vaccines work, experts believe they are unlikely to pose a specific risk for people who are pregnant. However, the actual risks of mRNA vaccines to the pregnant person and her fetus are unknown because these vaccines have not been studied in pregnant women.”
I do not understand how school administrators, in the institutions that actually teach ethical fundamentals, can take such an unethical position on this,  not allowing free choice and/or medical exemption.  Whoever the school’s medical advisers are are blatantly ignoring the massive share of college students who have already recovered from COVID-19 and have natural immunity.  Studies suggest that immunity formed from natural COVID-19 infection is MORE robust and durable than vaccine immunity.  I am just dumbfounded by the medical ineptitude these people have.
Then there is problem that the schools’ vaccine policies would subject populations that were deliberately excluded from clinical trials to “experimental risks,” including people who have recovered from infection, actively pregnant women, and breast-feeding women. Schools are pushing mandates that violate basic principles of medical ethics.
Even if the vaccines receive full FDA approval, no sensible understanding of herd immunity can justify forcing vaccinations on healthy young adults who are at minimal risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19, especially those who already had COVID. We don’t immunize children against diseases that primarily harm the elderly in hope of reducing transmission risks for the elderly.  That would use the recipients as a means to another end, which is blatantly unethical.
To quote Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Medical Ethics Program at the University of California, Irvine, and Gerard V. Bradley, a law professor at Notre Dame in their Wall Street Journal OpEd:
“Consider the analogy of nontherapeutic research, from which the research subject doesn’t stand to benefit directly. The central canon of medical ethics in this situation is the free and informed consent of the research subject, as articulated in the Nuremberg Code and the Helsinki Declaration. Informed consent is likewise required for medical decisions in all adults of sound mind. This is arguably the most deeply rooted doctrine in contemporary medical ethics.
“A person may freely choose to accept medical risks for the benefit of others, as when one donates a kidney for transplant. But there is no moral duty to do so. This is why we don’t harvest organs without consent, even if doing so would save many lives. Those who make such sacrifices for others must truly be volunteers, not conscripts drafted by college administrators.”
Yea, but the school administrators claim that if people are vaccinated then “everyone will feel safer.”
Yet, it’s wrong to risk harming healthy people so that colleges can peddle a psychological placebo.  There is nothing about this or any other issue that justifies coercive policies to steamroll fundamental liberties.

Door-to-Door Vaccine Status Visits Unconstitutional and Unethical

The Biden Administration announced plans this week to send agents “door-to-door” in order to “get remaining Americans vaccinated, by ensuring they have the information they need on how both safe and accessible the vaccine is.”

A leaked script from the Lake County Health Department in Illinois tells the door-to-door Community Health Ambassadors to keep track of the addresses and responses from residents in a “Door Knocking Spreadsheet.”

I find the following four observations essential for you and I to understand:

  1. The U.S. Constitution provides no authority for the federal government to be involved in medicine, for example, by recommending, promoting, or mandating treatments.
  2. If the Ambassador knows a person’s vaccination status, the government has already been collecting personal health data and sharing it with agents having nothing to do with the person’s care, a violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will not protect you—it allows very broad disclosure to government officials.
  3. States have the lawful authority to regulate the practice of medicine, but the Ambassadors are evidently not under any constraints regarding training, credentialing, documentation, or scope of practice, although they are collecting data and giving medical advice without supervision. Even medical assistants and medical scribes need to meet certain qualifications.
  4. Ambassadors are promoting an experimental product, with no information on risks. COVID-19 vaccines were authorized via the EUA (Emergency Use Authorization), not FDA approved.  Even if a product is FDA-approved, advertisers and medical professionals must divulge risks, such as heart inflammation, paralysis from Guillain-Barré or other causes, miscarriage, or death. Contrast the Ambassador’s script with the disclosures on a television ad for a drug, say one to treat your dog’s heartworm.

It is my opinion and the opinion of other organizations like the AAPS that this door-to-door solicitation violates the ethical principles of protecting confidentiality and informed consent. Health professionals need a patient’s implied consent even to be seen; they may not simply show up uninvited at a stranger’s home.

Vaccine Guidance Got You Confused?

Do you find yourself confused about mixed guidance when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines and safety concerns?  You’re not alone.  Even we, as physicians, struggle to wade through the ever changing guidance, research and new adverse events popping up every day.

Today, the Surgeon General recommended that we as physicians try to calm your concerns about the vaccine and encourage you to get it. While the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Surgeon General are marketing widespread use of the emergency-use vaccines in the U.S. for both old and young alike, many other countries are limiting COVID-19 vaccine use. Health officials around the world are giving varying advice on safety issues as COVID-19 vaccines are given to more people, and more information can be collected.

Below are summaries of some of the concerns as of July 15th, 2021, that have emerged or been raised by medical officials around the world.  I’ve written about many of them.  Hopefully, this summary gives you a good 30,000 foot perspective.

General

Fifty-seven authors from 17 countries have signed an endorsement urging that Covid-19 vaccinations be stopped unless new safety mechanisms are immediately implemented.

The authors include Dr. Peter McCullough, cardiologist and Vice Chief of Medicine at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, who has called for a halt to vaccinating 30-year olds due to “no clinical benefit” and safety concerns.

In the United Kingdom, some scientists analyzed adverse event reports and called upon the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to stop the Covid-19 vaccines as “not safe for human use” due to reports of issues with bleeding/clotting, pain, immune system, neurological, loss of sight/hearing/smell/speech, and questions about impact in pregnant women.

A petition of scientists led by Linda Wastila, Professor, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is calling for Covid-19 vaccines to be disapproved.

Guillain-Barre Syndrome Autoimmune Paralysis

As of July 13th, 2021, the FDA issued a warning about Guillain-Barre autoimmune paralysis, in which the immune system attacks the body’s nerves, after immunization with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. According to reports, the cases have primarily been reported about two weeks after vaccination, mostly in men, and “any aged 50 and older.” The risk of contracting this syndrome is 3-5 times higher, meaning up to 10 out of every 100,000 vaccinated persons are at risk.

Numerous case reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome paralysis after Covid-19 vaccine have prompted scientists to warn that “all physicians” should be “vigilant in recognizing Guillain-Barre syndrome in patients who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.”  Observations suggest that “this clinically distinct [Guillain-Barre syndrome] variant is more severe than usual and may require mechanical ventilation.”

In the U.K., scientists flagged “bifacial weakness and normal facial sensation in four men between 11 and 22 days after their first doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine.” A case has also been reported in a patient who got the Pfizer vaccine. In India, there are reports of seven severe cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome 10 to 14 days after the first dose of AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Six were women, all had facial paralysis, “all progressed to quadriplegia, and six required respiratory support. Patients’ ages ranged from 43 to 70. Four developed other cranial neuropathies, including abducens palsy and trigeminal sensory nerve involvement.”

Guillain-Barre syndrome has been reported after other mRNA vaccinations like Gardasil. The cause is believed to be damage to the immune system. The disorder can be extremely serious and can lead to total paralysis with dependence on artificial respiration. Even those who recover may have serious muscle wasting and may have to slowly teach the body to relearn most every normal task, such as walking.

Statistically, one in 20 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome is fatal.

Heart Issues

The Food and Drug Administration has added a new warning to Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines about risk of heart inflammation.

As of June of 2021, CDC said that more than 1,200 cases of heart inflammation (myocarditis of pericarditis) in young people had been reported after Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccination.

  • More than half were after the second dose.
  • Most of the injuries are in males under age 30.

The Israeli Ministry of Health announced it’s monitoring for heart inflammation after Pfizer’s vaccine due to reports of problems.

Myocarditis and Other Cardiovascular Complications of the mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccines [Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna] in a number of patients are described in a scientific article:

  • Two patients with clinically suspected myocarditis
  • One patient with stress cardiomyopathy 
  • Two patients with pericarditis 

According to the research: 

  • The two patients with clinically suspected myocarditis were otherwise healthy young men who presented with acute substernal chest pressure and/or dyspnea after receiving the second dose of the vaccine and were found to have diffuse ST elevations on electrocardiogram (ECG), elevated cardiac biomarkers and inflammatory markers, and mildly reduced left ventricular (LV) function on echocardiography. Both patients met the modified Lake Louise Criteria for acute myocarditis by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. 
  • A case of stress cardiomyopathy occurred in a 60-year-old woman with known coronary artery disease (CAD) and previously normal LV function, who presented with new exertional symptoms, ECG changes, and apical akinesis following the second dose of the vaccine. 
  • The two patients with pericarditis who presented with chest pain, elevated inflammatory markers, and pericardial effusions after receiving the vaccine.

Blood Clots

In late June, the first case of a blood clot disorder called “thrombosis with thrombocytopenia” after an RNA double-dose vaccine was been reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The case was that of a 65-year-old man who developed symptoms ten days after his second dose of the Moderna vaccine. Because the blood clot disorder was not previously warned about in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, doctors treated the patient with heparin, the very drug that’s not supposed to be used in post-vaccine patients suffering from the disorder because it could actually worsen the condition.

The Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine was temporarily removed from the market in the U.S. on April 16, 2021 while health officials studied reports of blood clot injuries. Among them was an 18-year old teen named Emma Burkey, who got sick about a week after the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine and ended up having three brain surgeries related to blood clots and seizures.

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine was allowed back on the market April 27, 2021 with new warnings about the disorder.

Swedish health officials determined that people under age 65 should not get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine due to reports of blood clots.

An editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association recommended women under age 50 avoid the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine due to concerns about blood clots. The recommendation discussed 12 case reports of a blood disorder known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) with thrombocytopenia following the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine (not currently approved in the U.S.) has been linked to a dangerous disorder involving blood clots with low blood platelets. On April 7, 2021, the European Medicines Agency says it made the association after it analyzed 62 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and 24 cases of splanchnic vein thrombosis reported in the EU drug safety database (EudraVigilance) as of March 22, 2021. Eighteen of these cases of were fatal.

An otherwise healthy South Florida doctor, Gregory Michael, died of a brain hemorrhage 16 days after he got Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. Authorities concluded he died of a blood disorder called “immune thrombocytopenia” (ITP) that can prevent blood from clotting and cause internal bleeding. His wife said a blood test showed the level of his platelets to be at “zero.” She said before the shot, Dr. Michael had “absolutely no medical issues” and no underlying conditions. However, authorities later categorized his death as “natural.”

Dr. Charles Hoffe, a Canadian physician with 28 years of medical practice, was relived from hospital duty and placed on a gag order after sounding the alarm that 62% of the 900 dose of the Moderna Vaccine he gave in his office caused an elevated D-Dimer test, implying microscopic clotting throughout the body.

I’ve personally seen and treated five patients with elevated D-dimer and abnormal blood clotting post COVID-19 vaccination in the last 6 months. These clots have occurred with 4 hours to 2 weeks after vaccination in otherwise healthy patients with no other risk of clotting.

In Spain, the AstraZeneca shot has been restricted in people under age 60 due to reports of blood clots in younger people.

Bulgaria, Iceland and Norway have halted AstraZeneca shots. 

Austria, Italy and Romania banned certain “lots” or batches of the AstraZeneca shots.

Denmark stopped using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine altogether as well as the Johnson and Johnson vaccine after investigations into blood clots, saying “the benefits of using the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson do not outweigh the risk of causing the possible adverse effect in those who receive the vaccine.”

The Italian government recently restricted AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to adults over age 60 after a teenager who got the shot died from a rare form of blood clotting. Eighteen-year-old Camilla Canepa died after getting vaccinated May 25, 2021. 

Several other European countries have also stopped giving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to people below a certain age, usually ranging from 50 to 65. 

Grave’s disease Autoimmune Disorder

Studies in Mexico and Turkey link the autoimmune thyroid disorder Grave’s disease to Covid-19 vaccination in numerous female health care workers, including two who were breastfeeding. Pfizer-BioNTech was the vaccine given in Mexico. A Chinese vaccine was given in Turkey. Read more here.

Frail & Elderly

Health officials in Norway sounded the alarm after 23 patients died shortly after getting the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. They advise doctors to use caution in administering the shot to “very frail elderly patients.” 

After investigating 13 of the deaths, the Norwegian authorities concluded that common side effects from so-called “RNA” vaccines may be too much for a frail elderly person to handle, and may contribute to their death. 

“There is a possibility that these common adverse reactions, that are not dangerous in fitter, younger patients and are not unusual with vaccines, may aggravate underlying disease in the elderly,” said Steinar Madsen, medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency.

CDC said it is monitoring the impact of the vaccines on already-frail patients such as the chronically ill in nursing homes.

Several clusters of elderly patients in U.S. nursing homes died after Pfizer or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. In one group, a number of the patients who died tested positive for Covid-19 after vaccination.

Pregnant Women

Several Brazilian states suspended use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women in May 2021 after a pregnant woman died after getting vaccinated. The decisions follow the recommendation of the country’s National Health Surveillance Agency, which recommended “immediate suspension” of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women after results of vaccine adverse events monitoring in the country.

CDC says that with limited data on impact of Covid-19 vaccine in pregnant women and on their unborn children, the decision on whether to vaccinate while pregnant is an individual decision to be made between a woman and her physician.

Previously-Infected

CDC falsely claimed that studies showed Covid-19 vaccines are effective for those who already had Covid-19. In fact, studies showed the opposite.

Manufacturing Problems

On June 11, the European Union’s drug regulator announced it will not use batches of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that were made at a Baltimore, Maryland-based plant around the time that cross-contamination manufacturing problems were reported at the facility.

Anonymous sources claimed that up to 60 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine had to be thrown out. But the FDA issued a news release saying that two batches from the Baltimore plant were safe to use. The FDA said “several other batches are not suitable for use, but additional batches are still under review.”

Lack of Immunity

Israel announced that about half of the adults infected with Covid-19 during its outbreak in the June 2021 time period were fully vaccinated. The fully-vaccinated individuals had gotten Pfizer’s shots.

According to Epoch Times, in June 2021 nearly 4,000 fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts tested positive for Covid-19. On April 30, “the CDC reported that some 10,626 breakthrough cases were reported in 46 states and territories.” Breakthrough cases are where fully vaccinated people still end up infected with Covid-19.

Scientists hoped that Covid-19 vaccines would be effective in variants of Covid-19, which are mutations that occur naturally with viruses and were always expected with Covid-19. However, the vaccine effectiveness against variants may be limited. CDC and vaccine makers are studying the medical landscape to find out more. Other states, such as Maine, are noting Covid-19 deaths occurring in fully vaccinated people.

Long-Haul COVID Syndrome

Following the initial surge of COVID-19 infections, there has been a shift in focus on a new group of illness survivors, those with “post-acute COVID.”  This group is also known as the “COVID long-haulers” or colloquially as “long COVID.” 

I am seeing this syndrome arise in about 20-25% of those who had mild to severe COVID-19, up to 50% of those who were hospitalized and 10-15% of those who were vaccinated.  This seems to correlate with the recently published data that others in the medical community are seeing (1, 2, 3).

Long-Haul COVID-19 Symptoms

The most common symptoms that have been seen in this long-haul COVID group are general body pain, breathing difficulty, loss of taste or smell, brain fog, elevated cholesterol profiles, malaise, fatigue and hypertension (elevated blood pressure). However, some of the more severe cases have low blood pressure and orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure drops on change of position).

Not only am I seeing this in post-COVID infection, but I am also seeing these symptoms occur in patients post COVID-19 vaccination with all the vaccine types.  The vaccine was designed to stimulate the same immune response that COVID-19 caused.  They seem to experience the same symptoms above with additional bruising, elevated D-dimer (protein fragments from breakdown of a blood clot), and changes in patients clotting factors.

These symptoms and presentations are going unrecognized and/or ignored by a large number of physicians.  This under recognition is suggested by the fact that large patient support groups are forming at locations like wearebodypolitic.com and longcovidsos.org with trending hashtags of #longcovid on Twitter.

Autonomic Nervous System & COVID-19

Many of these symptoms seem to correlate with autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction after infection or vaccination.  These symptoms (fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell, light headedness, increased bruising) are commonly persisting for longer than four weeks.

Many of my patients experiencing post-COVID symptoms have been found to have ANS dysfunction with orthostatic intolerance syndromes (light-headedness with change of position).  This occurs in men and women, but the literature seems to demonstrate a higher prevalence among females in the 26-50 year old range (2). Post-COVID syndromes, however, seem to be more prevalent in men as noted in the FAIR Health study (1).

Figure 1 – Post-COVID medical conditions more common in males than females: Mar 2020 -Feb 2021

Orthostatic intolerance syndromes are controlled by the ANS and include orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure on standing), vasovagal syncope (stress induced passing-out), and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) causing pulse rates greater than 110 with standing or simple walking.  All of these symptoms point to an autonomic nervous system disruption.

When a healthy person stands, blood pools in the pelvis and legs, reducing venous return to the heart. This is detected by baroreceptors in the heart and aorta, which respond by increasing sympathetic neural and adrenergic tone (mediated by norepinephrine and epinephrine respectively). This results in tachycardia (thus compensating for reduced stroke volume). This is then followed by vasoconstriction in the splanchnic vascular bed, which increases venous return to the heart.

In orthostatic intolerance, the release of the adrenal hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine causes pronounced tachycardia (rapid heart rate), which is experienced as palpitations, breathlessness and chest pain (common symptoms of ‘long COVID’). Very high catecholamine levels can lead to paradoxical vasodilatation, sympathetic activity withdrawal and activation of the vagus nerve resulting in hypotension, dizziness and ultimately syncope (4-7).  If a person is ill, or already dehydrated, these symptoms can be prolonged or exacerbated.

In my office, we regularly assess the autonomic nervous system as part of the yearly wellness exam. This is a 15-20 minute test looking closely at heart rate variability, blood pressure and sweat response to some simple vagal maneuvers.

COVID-19 & Autoimmunity

There is hypothesis that COVID-19 infections and the immune response to vaccination affects the autonomic nervous system.  The relationship between the two is very complex leading to the well documented “cytokine response syndrome” and “cytokine storm” from sympathetic activation inducing a pro-inflammatory cytokine release throughout the body.   Vagal stimulation results in an anti-inflammatory response, and suggests that the autonomic nervous system is a possible therapeutic target of treatment.

Because autonomic disorders have been associated with autoantibodies (8), there is speculation that there may be an underlying autoimmune component to the post-COVID syndromes we are seeing (11,12).  

Post-COVID Syndrome is Complex

Significant impairment along any of the extended autonomic nervous system (EAS) pathways when affected by COVID-19 infection has the potential to lead to death.  This is a very complex system with multiple variables.  We’ve seen this over the last year in various presentations of COVID-19. 

Figure 2 below demonstrates the potential for various intervening variables to adversely affect the EAS system and lead to death (8). Five systems are interactive at the same time: Sympathetic Adrenergic System (SAS), Sympathetic Noradrenergic System (SNS), Arginine Vasopressin/Anti-Diuretic Hormone (AVP/ADH), Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortical (HPA) Axis, and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS).

Figure 2 -From EAS system activation to dyshomeostasis to death. Five effector components of the EAS are on the left. Intervening variables are in the center. Factors contributing the critical illness or death are on the right. The red bar under PNS indicates PNS inhibition. AI angiotensin I, ACE angiotensin-converting enzyme, AII angiotensin II, Aldo aldosterone, ATN acute tubular necrosis, IL-6 interleukein 6, Myo. myocardial, Cor. coronary, TNFa tumor necrosis factor alpha

Intravascular Clotting Problems

In the COVID-19 pandemic there has been an unexpectedly high frequency of intravascular clotting, manifested by deep vein thrombophlebitis, pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction, or stroke. It has been proposed that an imbalance between coagulation and inflammation results in this hypercoagulable state. Thrombosis (clotting) initiated by the innate immune system may limit SARS-CoV-2 dissemination, but aberrant activation of this system could cause endothelial (lining of the blood vessel) injury, with dysregulation of fibrinolysis and formation of blood clots (9). The complex roles of neutrophilia, neutrophil extracellular traps, platelet activation, and proinflammatory cytokines are a subject matter of active investigation and ongoing clinical trials.

Adrenaline is also a potent hemostatic agent because of both vasoconstriction that it causes and promotion of platelet aggregation in part through its antagonizing effect at the alpha-2 adrenoceptors.  It’s contribution in clotting in COVID-19 patients is still unknown.

In December 2021, Yi Zheng and colleagues discover that the “SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can compete with anticoagulation factors. . . leading to exacerbated coagulation and other adverse consequences, especially in critically ill patients. This rapid coagulation response may be an additional independent factor for the inflammatory storm of severe COVID-19 patients.” (21)

In my office, this increased coagulation response can be identified by checking a D-Dimer level in the blood. I have found that the D-Dimer can be elevated for over 12 months in those with Long-Haul COVID symptoms after infection, and more commonly after vaccination.

Anxiety & Post-COVID Syndrome

It is theorized that feedback looping of the autonomic nervous system may be prevented with the use of benzodiazepines like alprazolam, or even L-DOPA to increase dopamine release. This has been seen clinically in those with anxiety as a part of their post-COVID syndrome.  These approaches are undergoing clinical trial currently.

Ketogenic Diets and Exogenous Ketones

Inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome has been shown to modulate the cytokine storm.  This can be done with ketogenic diets or the use of exogenous ketones.  The ketogenic state has been demonstrated to suppress the cytokine cascade in COVID-19 syndromes (10).

I have had great clinical success in my medial office through the use of ketogenic states (use of ketogenic diet and/or exogenous ketone salt use) to treat and prevent the post-COVID symptoms and syndromes when they present.

Mitochondrial Dysfunction

I have found in my clinical experience that the autonomic dysfunction correlates with mitochondrial dysfunction. Loss of function in mitochondria, the key organelle responsible for cellular energy production, can result in the excess fatigue and other symptoms that are common complaints in almost every chronic disease. At the molecular level, a reduction in mitochondrial function occurs as a result of the following changes: (1) a loss of maintenance of the electrical and chemical transmembrane potential of the inner mitochondrial membrane, (2) alterations in the function of the electron transport chain, or (3) a reduction in the transport of critical metabolites into mitochondria. In turn, these changes result in a reduced efficiency of oxidative phosphorylation and a reduction in production of adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP). Several components of this system require routine replacement, and this need can be facilitated with natural supplements (12).

Management of Post-COVID Syndrome

Education

Education, explanation and reassurance provide a cornerstone in understanding the post-COVID syndromes and orthostatic intolerances that can arise.

Exercise

Regular structured exercise that incorporates both aerobic and resistance elements help to re-balance the autonomic nervous system.  For those with severe orthostatic symptoms in upright positions, the use of recumbent exercise bikes or swimming may be used.

Fluids and Salt

Fluids cannot be emphasized enough.  Ensuring fluid repletion (2–3 liters or 64-100 oz of water per day and avoiding caffeine and alcohol) should be encouraged.  Additionally, one to two teaspoons of pink salt supplementation per day helps maintain plasma volume and avoid hypovolaemia (low intervascular volume).  I recommend the pink salts because of the additional magnesium, zinc and manganese these provide in fluid replete states.

Pharmacological Treatment

Discontinue any NRI’s like duloxeting, nortryptiline and tapentadol.  These just make the potential for cytokine release worse. Fludrocortisone can be used to expand fluid if hypovolemia persistently is present. However, fluid retention and hypokalemia can be a problem.

Midodrine is a sympathomimetic alpha-1 agonist and can increase vasoconstriction and venous return to the heart.  This may be helpful to treat the lower blood pressure and tachycardia that can arise.

Beta blockers may make the tachycardia and palpitations worse and should be avoided.  In severe cases L-methyldopa could be considered to help alleviate the hyper adrenergic symptoms with change of position.

For those with prolonged elevation in D-dimer levels, the use of colchicine 0.6mg daily has been found to effectively reduce the inflammatory and hyper-coagulability response to the virus and the vaccine. The GRECCO-19 randomized open-label trial in 105 hospitalized patients demonstrated colchicine to be effective in reducing the D-dimer levels and improving clinical outcomes (22). This approach to lowering the coagulation response was also demonstrated to be effective in the WHO R&D Blueprint (23). Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine also have a significant effect on lowering the d-dimer levels.

Treating the Autonomic Dysfunction

Many pharmaceutical medications can have suppressive effects on the autonomic nervous system. These include medications that affect the heart, blood pressure and hormones of the brain.  The list of medications is vast and more than I can address here in this post. 

Thyroid dysfunction can also adversely affect the ANS and it is essential that the thyroid function is assess and balanced. Hashimoto’s and autoimmune thyroiditis must be treated as this will play a major roll in autonomic dysfunction.

Clinical trials have shown the notable improvement with using oral replacement supplements, such as l-carnitine, alpha-lipoic acid (α-lipoic acid [1,2-dithiolane-3-pentanoic acid]), coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10 [ubiquinone]), reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), membrane phospholipids, and other supplements. Combinations of these supplements have been effective in reducing the fatigue and other symptoms associated with COVID-19 and other chronic disease.  Supplementation has been shown to naturally restore mitochondrial function, even in long-term patients with intractable fatigue (13,14).

Clinically, I’ve found that effective refueling of the dysfunctional mitochondria and priming the autonomic nervous system can be done through the use of the following supplements (13-20).

  • Pregnenolone: 30 mg nightly
  • CoQ-10: 300-400 mg daily
  • D-Ribose: 15-30 grams daily
  • Magnesium glycinate: 400-600 mg daily
  • NADH: 10 mg twice daily
  • L-carnitine: 1000-2000 mg daily (Vegetarians and Vegans may need more as this is only found in red meat and avocados.)
  • Alpha lipoid Acid: 300 mg daily
  • Liposomal Glutathione 500 mg twice daily
  • Rosmarinic Acid 300 mg twice daily

Finding all these supplements can be a challenge. I designed my multivitamin with mitochondrial dysfunction in mind it contains the CoQ-10, L-Carnitine, alpha lipoic acid you need. It also contains N-acytylcystine (NAC) the cofactor for glutathione and NADH production in your body.

If you are using my vitamin supplement, I’ve provided links below to make it easier if you are looking for the other components on the list above.

For those with long-haul COVID syndrome, the treatment protocol above combined with a ketogenic diet, and exogenous ketones where needed, has been a game changer.  Hopefully, this will help you as well.

If you need my one-on-one help, sign up for one of my membership programs and I’d love to help you return to better health.

References:

  1. A Detailed Study of Patients with Long-Haul COVID. FAIR Health White Paper, June 15, 2021. (https://s3.amazonaws.com/media2.fairhealth.org/whitepaper/asset/A%20Detailed%20Study%20of%20Patients%20with%20Long-Haul%20COVID–An%20Analysis%20of%20Private%20Healthcare%20Claims–A%20FAIR%20Health%20White%20Paper.pdf)
  2. Dani M, Dirksen A, Taraborrelli P, et al. Autonomic dysfunction in ‘long COVID’: rationale, physiology and management strategies. Clin Med (Lond). 2021;21(1):e63-e67. doi:10.7861/clinmed.2020-0896.
  3. Logue JK, Franko NM, McCulloch DJ, et al. Sequelae in Adults at 6 Months After COVID-19 Infection. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(2):e210830. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.0830
  4. Freeman R, Abuzinadah AR, Gibbons C, et al. Orthostatic hypotension: JACC State-of-the-Art Review. J Am Coll Cardiol 2018; 72:1294–309. 
  5. Jardine DL, Wieling W, Brignole M, et al. The pathophysiology of the vasovagal response. Heart Rhythm 2018; 15:921–9.
  6. Fenton AM, Hammill SC, Rea RF, Low PA, Shen WK. Vasovagal syncope. Ann Intern Med 2000; 133:714–25.
  7.  Fedorowski A. Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: clinical presentation, aetiology and management. J Intern Med 2019; 285:352–66. 
  8.  Goldstein DS. The extended autonomic system, dyshomeostasis, and COVID-19. Clin Auton Res 2020;30:299–315
  9. Colling ME, Kanthi Y. COVID-19-associated coagulopathy: an exploration of mechanisms. Vasc Med. 2020 doi: 10.1177/1358863X20932640. 
  10. Bradshaw PC, Seeds WA, Miller AC, Mahajan VR, Curtis WM. COVID-19: Proposing a Ketone-Based Metabolic Therapy as a Treatment to Blunt the Cytokine Storm. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, Vol. 2020, Article ID 6401341, 34 pages, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6401341
  11. Guilmot A, Maldonado Slootjes S, Sellimi A, et al. Immune-mediated neurological syndromes in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. J Neurol 2020, in press ( 10.1007/s00415-020-10108-x).
  12. Ruzieh M, Batizy L, Dasa O, et al. The role of autoantibodies in the syndromes of orthostatic intolerance: a systematic review. Scand Cardiovasc J 2017;51:243–7.
  13. Nicolson GL. Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Chronic Disease: Treatment With Natural Supplements. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2014;13(4):35-43.
  14. Kerr DS. Treatment of mitochondrial electron transport chain disorders: a review of clinical trials over the past decade. Mol Genet Metab. 2010;99(3):246–255.
  15. Murugan S, Jakka P, Namani S, Mujumdar V, Radhakrishnan G. The neurosteroid pregnenolone promotes degradation of key proteins in the innate immune signaling to suppress inflammation. J Biol Chem. 2019 Mar 22;294(12):4596-4607. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.005543. Epub 2019 Jan 15. PMID: 30647133; PMCID: PMC6433066.
  16. Sinha R, Sinha I, Calcagnotto A, Trushin N, Haley JS, Schell TD, Richie JP Jr. Oral supplementation with liposomal glutathione elevates body stores of glutathione and markers of immune function. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2018 Jan;72(1):105-111. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2017.132. Epub 2017 Aug 30. PMID: 28853742; PMCID: PMC6389332.
  17. Agadjanyan M, Vasilevko V, Ghochikyan A, et al. Nutritional supplement (NTFactor) restores mitochondrial function and reduces moderately severe fatigue in aged subjects. J Chronic Fatigue Syndr. 2003;11(3):23–26.
  18. Dimauro S, Rustin P. A critical approach to the therapy of mitochondrial respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation diseases. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2009;1792(12):1159–1167.
  19. Luan H, Kan Z, Xu Y, Lv C, Jiang W. Rosmarinic acid protects against experimental diabetes with cerebral ischemia: relation to inflammation response. . J Neuroinflammation.  2013;10:28. 
  20. Rocha J, Eduardo-Figueira M, Barateiro A, Fernandes A, Brites D, Bronze R, Duarte CM, Serra AT, Pinto R, Freitas M, Fernandes E, Silva-Lima B, Mota-Filipe H, Sepodes B.. Anti-inflammatory effect of rosmarinic acid and an extract of Rosmarinus officinalis in rat models of local and systemic inflammation. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2015;116(5):398–413
  21. Zheng Y, Zhao J, Li J, et al. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein causes blood coagulation and thrombosis by competitive binding to heparan sulfate. Int J Biol Macromol. 2021;193(Pt B):1124-1129. doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.10.112
  22. Deftereos SG, Giannopoulos G, Vrachatis DA, et al. Effect of Colchicine vs Standard Care on Cardiac and Inflammatory Biomarkers and Clinical Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized With Coronavirus Disease 2019: The GRECCO-19 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(6):e2013136. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.13136
  23. World Health Organization. R&D blueprint and COVID-19. Available at: https://www.who.int/blueprint/priority-diseases/key-action/novelcoronavirus/en/. Accessed March 25, 2020.

Findings From First COVID-19 Vaccine Autopsy

The first post-mortem case autopsy after vaccination has been published in the medical journals.  An autopsy was completed on an 86 year old male after his first SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.  It demonstrates some significant and worrisome findings.

In this particular case, the first dose of vaccine stimulated immunogenicity (a cascade of immune response) but no immunity.  Spike protein (S1) antigen-binding showed significant levels for immunoglobulin (Ig) G through multiple organs of the body, but it did not stimulate nucleocapsid IgG/IgM antibodies.

What is concerning is that the mRNA from the vaccine which should remain in the region of the injection site was found in almost every organ of the body. When this occurs spike proteins will also be found in almost every organ of the body.

Figure 1. Synopsis of the relevant histological findings and the results of molecular mapping is presented. The histomorphology is obtained by standard hematoxylin and eosin reaction, except for the myocardium on the right side (Congo red staining). The magnification is shown by bars. Note that in the lungs, we also observed colonies of cocci (arrow) in granulocytic areas. In addition, the results of molecular mapping are given as evaluated cycle threshold values of the real-time polymerase chain reaction for SARS-CoV-2. Note that only in the olfactory bulb and the liver SARS-CoV-2 could not be detected.

This research implies that a significantly higher number of vaccinated people will be forming spike proteins that will bind the ACE2 receptors everywhere in the body. mRNA from the vaccine is supposed to stay in or around the injection site. When mRNA is found in every organ, it implies that spike proteins have significant potential to be present in every organ. It is the spike proteins that do the damage, cause infertility, and lead to antibody dependent enhancement (ADE) upon re-exposure to the infection.

These findings are worrisome because it implies there is a much higher probability of ADE and a much higher incidence of side effects from spike proteins like infertility.  ADE allows for amplification of the cytokine cascade on subsequent COVID-19 exposures causing re-exposure to COVID-19 and it’s variants to be magnitudes more dramatic.  If this is not just a rare isolated case, this has the potential to be globally destructive.

Because of these and other significant findings, I am still recommending that my patients consider vaccination only after fully understanding their individual risk and the potential for future problems.

Sudden Hearing Loss After COVID Vaccination?

There is a great deal of interest in the otolaryngology (ENT) community and the general medical community at large with the perception that hearing loss rates have increased after COVID vaccinations. The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery estimates that sudden sensorineural hearing loss affects 5 to 27 per 100,000 people annually, with about 66,000 new cases a year in the U.S.

Estimates of sudden sensorineural hearing loss after COVID-19 vaccination ranged from 0.3 to 4.1 per 100,000 per year based on the recent Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) data according to Eric Formeister, MD, MS, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and co-authors in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

“Among the otolaryngology community and larger medical community, there is a lot of interest surrounding a perception of an increased rate of sudden hearing loss that has been observed in some patients after COVID vaccination,” Formeister told MedPage Today.

“However, sudden hearing loss can also occur naturally, so it is not known whether sudden hearing loss occurring after COVID vaccination is coincidental or may be related to the vaccine,” he added. “Further, some patients who have suffered sudden hearing loss after the first dose have been hesitant to receive the second dose due to safety concerns.”

Formeister and his colleagues found 147 reports of sudden hearing loss, deafness, deafness unilateral, deafness neurosensory, and hypoacusis associated with COVID vaccinations from December 14, 2020 to March 2, 2021 in the VAERS system.

However, Formeister and MedPage Today downplayed these 147 reports, stating that of these reports, only 40 had a temporal association (hearing loss onset occurred within 3 weeks of vaccination).   Because of how they were reported only these 40 were considered high credibility (they had been reported by a healthcare clinician with documented audiologic findings or steroid treatment).  Formeister states that these 40 reports were classified as “most likely.”  However, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was not included in this report.

The mean age in the most likely group was 56 years old, and most cases (63%) involved women. Twelve people received Moderna vaccines and 28 received Pfizer. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss occurred an average of 4 days after vaccination. Thirty of the 40 cases were treated with steroids.

Based on about 86 million SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses that had been administered in the U.S. during the study period and using only the 40 most likely reports, the researchers estimated a minimum incidence of 0.3 per 100,000 per year, assuming a single vaccine dose per person.

Maximum incidence using all 147 accounts in the VAERS database, based on two vaccine doses per person in the time period, was estimated to be 4.1 per 100,000 per year.  This took into account the fact that the exact number of unique individuals receiving a vaccine was unknown.

Formeister states that “These results so far provide evidence that COVID vaccination is not associated with sudden hearing loss” because it is statistically identical to the rate of hearing loss seen in the general public each year.

“One of the pushes behind this publication is to urge clinicians and patients alike to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, so we may accrue more data to allow a more accurate prediction of the rate of sudden hearing loss after COVID-19 vaccination,” he noted.

If you experience hearing loss symptoms after vaccination should contact their healthcare provider immediately.  Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is potentially treatable, but treatment efficacy is time-sensitive.

The reporting period did not include vaccines other than Pfizer and Moderna, the researchers acknowledged. VAERS reports are unverified and subject to underreporting bias. Because people may experience multiple adverse effects after vaccination and these may not be fully captured in VAERS and the reports of hearing loss may be more that we are aware.