HOW TO TREAT LONG COVID
Today I received an email from an acquaintance requesting what I would recommend for one of their friends experiencing the symptoms of Long Covid. After replying with an explanation that effectively discussed how unethical that would be. I was then motivated to expand on my reply publicly below.
Lots of discussion around Covid and the vaccines, particularly around supplementation for enhancing your immune system and treating Long Covid. People are more than happy to trot out a scientific paper as though it represents absolute truth and therefore, we should all be doing the same thing. Health is an individual matter. The last time I looked in the mirror I am quite sure there is no one else on the planet that is identical to me. Hence, how do I know unequivocally the medicine or treatment regime that worked for Joe Smith down the street will work for me. I do not know, and this is the point. The only fact that remains clear is there are fundamentals such as good lifestyle practices we should all be doing like eating well, exercising, and doing our best to sleep and recover well that can virtually guarantee what could be regarded as a state of resilient health.
The problem is that stuff does not make anyone any money. And let us face it we live in a commercial society so it makes sense to sell something that will enhance our wellbeing particularly if the proceeds of will contribute to putting food on your own table or a roof over your head. So, the question begs, "What do you do or how do you know what will work for you?" And again, you are going to have to pay money for that advice in the hope the doctor or health practitioner knows how to help you. The problem is that they too are reading those same research papers available to you and me and are making recommendations accordingly. In my view, all science suffers from the phenomena of "Research Bias". This is not a terrible thing, however there are many influences in the modern era where things like research funding have critical implications effecting research outcomes. If we take a quick gross look historically at the development of medicine, we find the more traditional use of plant medicines i.e., herbs, to assist with health issues ranging from the acute to the chronic where this information was handed down through generations of healers first utilized through trial and error. There was never an entity involved to my knowledge that had a single interest extending beyond assisting an individual to get better.
So how does a health practitioner today with the above in mind find a balance between helping their clients towards a state of health they are happy with, and receiving financial reward for the service provided? This will be an individual exercise for each health practitioner to find what works best for them. In my case for me to go to bed with a clear conscience I need to know within me with full consideration of the hierarchical nature of health I have only made recommendations that will fully support the client in question as per their individual needs.
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