In the last post I wrote about measures to strengthen\nthe immune system in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But some people could be interested to step it up a\nlittle bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note: the information below is not meant as a medical\nadvice and should be used at your own responsibility, always consult a medical\ndoctor before you start using these products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While stimulating the immune system is a good step in\nthe direction of staying healthy, it is not a specific measure. Below I will\ntalk about specific antiviral measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Viruses have always been around and are tough to deal\nwith, Also because they cannot be seen with the naked eye, unlike fungi or\nworms, or under a normal microscope, like bacteria. They are also hard to grow\nand thus to detect in a test tube. These simple organisms also don\u2019t have many\npoints in their simple structures that we can attack. And they mutate at a very\nfast pace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past viral pandemics cost the lives of millions of people:, the Spanish flu of 1918, but also HIV Ebola, MERS,SARS, and Zika are still lingering in our minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many attempts have been made to produce antiviral\nmedication, most of these not very successful for various reasons, mostly\nbecause of the side-effects of the anti-virals. But in the end if one has the\nchoice between dying from a lethal viral infection or suffer some side effects\nand still be alive, for many the choice is easy. Still, one is looking for\nproducts that will kill the virus, or stop or inhibit its multiplication within\nthe body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natural products still play an important role in these\nprocesses. Nature is one gigantic and superb chemical production plant or a\nbattlefield and testing ground for chemical warfare. No wonder that the pharmaceutical industry\nfor a large part still is based on the natural products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are some exotic natural products, that none of\nus will ever lay our hands on, since they are not for sale in the pharmacy or\nhealth food store. But some other products you might already have at home or\nseen in the health food store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of these products were researched during the last\nSARS epidemic, but by the time the research was complete, the SARS epidemic was\nunder control again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let me start with the \u201chard stuff\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kagocel\n<\/strong>is a Russian antiviral.\nIt works by stimulating interferon, a glycoprotein that interferes with viral\nreplication. (1) It is based on\nGossypol, coming from the family of the cotton plant. A substance used in the\npast for its male contraceptive qualities, but never found its way to the\nmarket. Before you jump to conclusions: the gossypol structure has been changed\nso it has lost its contraceptive properties but kept its antiviral effect. The product has been thoroughly studied. It\nhas been on the market for almost 20 years now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chloroquin<\/strong> is a 90 years medication and much used anti-malarial compound, millions\nof people have used it in the past. It\nalso has been used to counteract hepatitis C virus and even HIV. It is very well\nstudied, cheap and easily available. Its side-effects, mainly connected to eye,\nonly appear after long-term use. It has already been successfully used against\nthe COVID-19 virus. (2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isoprinosine<\/strong>: a compound based in inosine, a well-known sport\nsupplement. It is on the market since 1971. It stimulates the immune-system and\nhas been used as prevention and treatment of influenza virus as well. (3, 4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Natural antiviral products.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Licorice<\/strong>: available in the famous stick or often found in\nherbal teas and black candies. It has been used for a long time as an antiviral. (5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Curcumin<\/strong>: better known as turmeric, the yellow root that gives\nthe color and flavor to curries. A great addiction to your diet anyway as an\nanti-inflammatory and cancer chemo preventive compound (6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Green\ntea<\/strong> (Matcha) as healthy\ndrink or as a supplement (Matcha) in capsules (7)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrographis\npaniculata<\/strong>: originally used in\nAyurvedic medicine, already in use against the common cold and other\ninfections, available in commercially available preparations. Well researched in\nEurope as well. (8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Astragalus\nmembranaceous<\/strong>: originally used\nin traditional Chinese medicine, a excellent stimulant of the immune system (9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Betulin<\/strong> derived from the birch tree has a proven antiviral\neffect as well (10)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sambucus\nnigra<\/strong> or elderberry has been\npart of folk\/herbal medicine for many years, and recently its antiviral\nproperties were proven (11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quercetin:<\/strong> an important flavonol, component of apples, berries,\ntea and onions, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, mast cell stabilizer and\nantiviral (13) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some researchers have written extensive reviews about the use natural products that can be used, to counteract viruses and other infections (14,15,16,17)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Limited bibliography<\/em>: (I won\u2019t bore you with a massive amount of the research articles, you can look everything up yourself))<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Borovskaya, T.G: Preclinical and clinical evidence\nof safety of antiviral drug with immunomodulatory activity; Ser J Exp Clin Res 2018; 19 (3):pg. 271-276.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Gao, J; Tian, Z; \nYang, X: Breakthrough: Chloroquine phosphate has shown apparent efficacy\nin treatment of COVID-19 associated pneumonia in clinical studies; BioScience\nTrends Advance Publication<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3 Beran et al.: Inosine pranobex is safe and effective\nfor the treatment of subjects with confirmed acute respiratory viral\ninfections; BMC Infectious Diseases (2016) 16: pg.648.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 Sliva et al.:\nInosine Pranobex: A Key Player in the Game Against a Wide Range of Viral\nInfections and Non-Infectious Diseases \nAdv Ther (2019) 36: pg.1878\u20131905.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 Cinatl, J: Glycyrrhizin, an active component of\nliquorice roots, and replication of SARS-associated coronavirus; The\nLancet, Vol 361, June 14, 2003, pg.2046.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6 Mathew, D; Hsu, W.L: Antiviral potential of\ncurcumin; Journal of Functional Foods 40\n(2018) pg. 692\u2013699.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7 Xu, J; Xu, Z; \nZheng. W: A Review of the Antiviral Role of Green Tea Catechins;\nMolecules 2017, 22, 1337.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8 Melchior , J; Palm, S; Wikman, G: Controlled clinical study of standardized\nAndrographis paniculata extract in common cold – a pilot trial; Phytomedicine\nVol. 3 (4), pg. 315-318, 1996\/97.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9 Cho, W.C.S; Leung, K.N: In vitro and in vivo\nimmunomodulating and immunorestorative effects of Astragalus membranaceus;\nJournal of Ethnopharmacology 113 (2007) pg. 132\u2013141.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10 Pohjala, L: \nBetulin-Derived Compounds as Inhibitors of Alphavirus Replication; J.\nNat. Prod. 2009, 72, 11, pg.1917-1926.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11 Porte, R.S; \nBode, R.F: A Review of the Antiviral Properties of Black Elder (Sambucus\nnigra L.) Products; Phytother. Res. (2017).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 13 Gansukh, E: Probing the impact of\nquercetin-7-O-glucoside on influenza virus replication influence; Phytomedicine\n23 (2016) pg. 958\u2013967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 14 Patwardhan, B; Gautam, M: Botanical\nimmunodrugs: scope and opportunities Drug Discovery Today,Volume 10, No.7,\nApril 2005, pg. 495-502.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15 Marathe, S.A; Datey, A.A; Chakravortty, D: Herbal Cocktail as\nAnti-infective: Promising Therapeutic for the Treatment of Viral Diseases; Recent\nPatents on Anti-Infective Drug Discovery, 2012, 7, pg. 123-132.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 16 Dhama, K, et al: Medicinal and\nTherapeutic Potential of Herbs and Plant Metabolites \/ Extracts Countering\nViral Pathogens – Current Knowledge and Future Prospects; Current Drug Metabolism,\n2018, 19, pg. 236-263.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17 Tiwari, R, et al.: Herbal\nImmunomodulators – A Remedial Panacea for Designing and Developing Effective\nDrugs and Medicines: Current Scenario and Future Prospects; Current Drug\nMetabolism, 2018, 19, pg. 264-301<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the last post I wrote about measures to strengthen the immune system in general. But some people could be interested to step it up a little bit. Note: the information below is not meant …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1900"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1906,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1900\/revisions\/1906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}