It’s been 6 months since my last blog, and in that time, so much of our reality has shifted! My last post was about our amazing yet delicate immune systems. And look at us now! We are trying to protect that very system from a new Virus which is reaping havoc globally. I do not intend to recreate the timeline of what we have already learned, but to simply pick up where we currently are. A recent article strongly points us towards a better understanding that the Covid-19 virus infection process is a blood vessel and cardiovascular disease process and not a respiratory disease. This helps explain the recent findings of younger patients dying of strokes or developing Covid Toes and other bizaare symptoms. In other words, we’re looking at a vasculotropic virus, which means that it affects the blood vessels. The results of this inflammatory response seems to be leading to a cytokine storm.
Along these lines of thought, I am currently researching a supplement called CDP Choline. It has shown potential in blocking an initial step in the Covid-19 infection by competing with PLA2 for a receptor site which Covid-19 utilizes, one that triggers an inflammatory response. This is the same inflammatory pathway that is triggered in the body from a bee sting or snake bite. The enzyme Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is involved in this way in the replication of the Covid-19.
But we are not all the same. The higher titers of PLA2 one has, the greater probability that they will be affected by this infection pathway. We are all different and each of us has our own genetic variants, so that PLA2 is found to be in excess in some people but not in others. This can be determined by a lab test (see below).
I recently watched a webinar from Great Plains Labs (LINK) founder William Shaw PhD where he goes into great detail about this process. The webinar is 1:40, but if you jump to :50 you’ll cut to the chase. Dr Shaw introduces CDP Choline as a very promising, safe and inexpensive supplement which is likely to disrupt this inflammatory step of infection. According to Dr Shaw, Great Plains is the ONLY lab in the world that tests specifically for PLA2 levels (tests are less than $100). So is this supplement the holy grail? Probably not, but for some, it could save their life.