COVID-19 INFORMATION AND POLICY UPDATE

RVAchironeuro • March 16, 2020

  3.16.2020

  As a health-care provider, it is important to keep our office open and our services available to you. We will still be seeing patients and we have initiated protocols to ensure that all surfaces are disinfected. Right now, there are no vaccines or other anti-viral medications that are known to be effective against COVID-19, thus only supportive care is available. At this point, your best defense is your own health, and this is where the supportive care we offer can be helpful and may often be critical. A list of supportive care supplements and actions you can take will follow below.

STOP and THINK BEFORE COMING IN TO SEE US

We also need your help to make sure we can continue to be here to serve your supportive health care needs. To that end, we ask anyone wanting to come to our office to stay home if they’re not feeling well and/or have had any contact with any ill/sick people. There are a lot of respiratory viruses out there, and just because you have symptoms does not necessarily mean that you have COVID-19, and these include the flu, rhinoviruses and other corona viruses. However, you should be aware what the symptoms of COVID-19 are and if these appear, you need to contact your primary care physician or nearest Emergency Department:

·       Any sign of respiratory illness, any trouble breathing

·       Coughing (usually dry or non-productive)

·       Sneezing

·       Fever (usually greater than 100.4 F but can be less)

·       Shortness of breath

WHY the QUARANTINE?

The U.S. health care system is not adequately prepared to handle an additional stressor to public health. In a recent  interview , infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Osterholm describes the health care system as “stretched thinner now than ever” with no “excess capacity,” especially given concerns with current levels of public health funding. The current government strategy is as follows: Essentially, the rationale is that effective quarantine can reduce the rate of disease spread even if the total number of cases over time remains the same, which would help prevent the health care system from being overloaded.

Just like you, we have families we care about and want to keep safe. When something like the coronavirus hits the news, it can make us worry about everyday decisions. One of the most important things we can do is continue with our normal lives, doing the things we enjoy and need to stay healthy, while taking reasonable precautions. Living our lives keeps us healthy and happy and teaches our kids good behaviors. Here are some tips to help you and your family feel safe and ready to face the world.

In General

Wash, wash, wash your hands . Did you know soap and water are more effective than hand sanitizer (and apparently easier to find right now)? To really get rid of any germs, wash for at least 20 seconds – which just happens to be how long it takes to hum Row-Row-Row Your Boat three times.

Be sneeze- and cough-courteous . Coughing or sneezing into the inner crook of your arm catches the droplets that would otherwise end up in the air or on the surfaces around you. The COVID-19 virus is transmitted through droplets, not through breathing, so this is important.

Save the mask for Halloween . The benefit of a mask is that it controls the outbound expression of germs when someone coughs or sneezes. If you’re healthy, a mask won’t be very effective in preventing the spread of germs. If you’re sick and need to be out in the world, a mask can help protect those around you from the germs you send out when you cough or sneeze.

Don’t touch your face ! The easiest way to get sick (with any kind of virus) is to introduce germs from your hands to mucus membranes – like your eyes, nose and mouth.

Netflix and chill . If you’re not feeling well (whether it’s coronavirus or an old-school cold) please stay home, cuddle with your dog and catch up on your favorite show.

Out in the World

Wipe it out . Many of us do this anyway, but grab one of those wet wipes at the grocery store entrance to clean the cart (buggy for you southerners) handle.

Declutter!  A clean desk or counter makes it easier to run a cleaning cloth across.

Personal space.  Keep at least 6 feet between you and someone who is sneezing or coughing.

Sharing = caring? Not right now!  We’re usually all about sharing, but for now the kindest thing you can do is avoid sharing food, drinks, even lotion or sanitizers – and the germs that ride with them.

Breathe in, breathe out.  Ventilation is a good thing. Weather and location permitting, crack a window.

Taking Care of Yourself

Be on your best behavior.  Keep yourself in good shape by getting plenty of sleep, being physically active, drinking lots of water and eating nutritious foods. A stressed body is a weak body, so manage your stress through exercise, meditation or conversation with a trusted friend. Caring for yourself is the best thing you can do for your overall health.

Websites

For additional trusted resources about the coronavirus, we recommend these websites. We will monitor and update the list as the situation evolves.

 

 

SELF-CARE SUPPORTIVE STRATEGIES (for the next several months only)

Vitamin C 500 mg. three times a day

Vitamin D: 4000 i.u. per day for adult sized individuals/2000 iu for adolescents/ 1000 iu per day toddlers.

NAC: 600 mg. three times a day

Oil of Oregano: one capsule three times a day, or liquid oil of oregano 5 drops per day, with food.

Selenium: 200 mcg. per day (mcg is micrograms)

Zinc: 30 to 50 mg. per day (zinc lozenges may work better..Cold Eeze is one brand)

Immunopad: 1 capsule 3 x per day. (contains Andrographis and other herbs for immune support)

Reishi mushrooms: 1 capsule three times a day

Quercitin: 250 mg. at 4 per day

 

Other helpful hints:

1) NO HANDSHAKING! Use a fist bump, slight bow, elbow bump, etc.

2) Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches. elevator buttons, etc.: lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.

3) Open doors with your closed fist or hip – do not grasp the handle with your hand, unless there is no other way to open the door. Especially important on bathroom and post office/commercial doors.

4) Use disinfectant wipes at the stores when they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in grocery carts.

5) If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have no other choice. The clothing on your elbow will contain infectious virus that can be passed on for up to a week or more!

Note: This virus is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you! BUT all the surfaces where these droplets land are infectious for about a week on average – everything that is associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious. The virus is on surfaces and you will not be infected unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed upon.

If you are seeing Dr. Smith only for nutritional needs,  then you can certainly schedule a phone consultation/appointment at 804-897-9194.

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Health News Update: Inflammaging is Bad News

By Mark Smith • August 25, 2025
Hello everyone: I think I have mentioned inflammaging before but never really focused on it. So, let’s dig into this interesting topic. Inflammaging is when chronic, low-grade inflammation develops with age as dietary and environmental stress accumulates, contributing to the development of all of the various age-related diseases and health issues. It results from a loss of control over systemic inflammation, which tends to come from an unbalanced and dysregulated immune system. One of the key drivers of inflammaging is diet…which means that one of the key tools to slow and reduce aging is our what we eat as well as what we don’t eat. In this paper, the authors reveal that the typical Western Diet (what science calls the Standard American Diet or S.A.D.) is the best example of a pro-inflammatory diet pattern. “ Conclusion: Inflammation is a key physiological process in immunity and tissue repair. However, during aging it becomes increasingly more chronic. In addition, we found that certain foods such as saturated fats have pro-inflammatory activity. Taking this into account, in this review we have proposed some dietary guidelines as well as a list of compounds present in foods with anti-inflammatory activity. It must be taken into account that the amounts used in the studies that detect anti-inflammatory activity of these compounds are very high, and the intake of a single food to achieve its anti-inflammatory power is not feasible. (My Comment: what this means is that it is the overall dietary pattern that matters the most.) However, the combination of foods rich in compounds with anti-inflammatory activity could exert beneficial effects during aging and in pathologies associated with inflammation and in reducing the detrimental effects of foods with pro-inflammatory activity. Therefore, we can conclude that the compounds in our diet with anti-inflammatory activity could help alleviate the inflammatory processes derived from diseases and unhealthy diets and thereby promote healthy aging. Thus, we can use diet not only for nourishment, but also as medicine.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8389628/ anti-inflammatory diet and health aging https://www.healthline.com/health/5-minute-guide-to-inflamm-aging Bottom Line: We all must age, and how we do so is largely under our own control. To create an anti-inflammatory lifestyle is not that difficult, especially if you put it all together in stages. Start with a clean, whole-food, unprocessed plant-based food plan. And to begin, first focus on what you can add into your menus and use those additions to sort of crowd out the things that are more inflammatory…sugar, refined grains, processed and pre-packaged things. Set realistic goals such as going plant based one or two days a week, or even one meal…just start and gradually work up. It has to be doable so don’t stress. Next, start moving and doing regular exercise at least three times a week…and find what you enjoy doing and focus on that. Then add activities that de-stress you, whether that is socializing, church, meditation, prayer, yoga, etc. Overall, shift your attention to giving love to things that love you back. Sugar, drive-thru and processed food like thingies do not love you back but apples or kiwis or berries or veggies do. Sitting around does not love you back but going for a short walk after a meal does love you back. Hang out and give love to the people you really like to be with, they will most always love you back. Create a love you back lifestyle and see how you feel.

Health News Update: Blocking Internet on Smartphones Improves Mental Health

By Mark Smith • August 18, 2025
Hello everyone: I frequently hear about mental health issues with the people in our practice. They could be experiencing depression, or anxiety, feel flat, can’t focus or sustain attention, or may not feel well in general. These comments can come from anyone of any age…I can hear from parents about their kids, or it may be themselves experiencing these feeling. So, when I read this paper, it felt important to share it because we all seem to have mobile phones. Here is how the paper is summarized: “Concern about how smartphones affect users is widespread: half of American smartphone users—and 80% of those under age 30—worry that they use their device too much, and correlational research suggests that smartphone use is negatively related to mental health and cognitive functioning. However, few large-scale experiments have tested for causal effects. We report such an experiment, finding that blocking mobile internet for 2 weeks reduces smartphone use and improves subjective well-being (SWB) (including life satisfaction and positive affect), mental health (more than antidepressants), and sustained attention (as much as being 10 years younger). Despite the many benefits mobile internet offers, reducing the constant connection to the digital world can have large positive effects.” https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/2/pgaf017/8016017?utm_source=klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=%28Email%20-%20Chris%20Kresser%20General%20News%29%20Chris%27s%20Friday%20Favorites&utm_term=randomized%20controlled%20trial&utm_content=randomized%20controlled%20trial&_kx=fARhTo_gi8X3B_2-MaeO_RyzUl9tvT3tr4re-Dy7cNQ.my75y6 Bottom Line: It seems like a smartphone ‘timeout’ can be very beneficial for mental, emotional, physical health and can be an important part of stress reduction. The world today, with nearly instant communications, the almost constant bad and anxiety promoting news, and the fast pace of data consumption can add up to significantly stress us out and pull us down…or just simple keep us distracted. From what I can see, a ‘timeout’ may be just what the doctor ordered.

Health News Update: Diet can Alter Your Disease Trajectory

By Mark Smith • August 11, 2025
Hey there everyone: As you know, inflammation causes, perpetuates, and/or aggravates every known human condition, including aging. As we age, we become more vulnerable to non-communicable diseases such as heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, dementia, arthritis and more. How we eat can massively reduce our inflammatory burden and promote health as we age. It is your choice. One reason that I keep writing on this is that I keep running into the mindset that these diseases are inevitable and that there is nothing we can do about it. Plus, because there are so many different diets for sale out there, it becomes hard to know what to eat. What is important for you to know is that there is a growing scientific consensus about what to eat, but the media rarely mention it and our public health authorities don’t either. It definitely seems like money is more important than our health. So…consuming an overall low-inflammatory diet is what the science is adding up to show it is the healthiest way to go, plus it actually gives you power over your future. This is a great article worth the time it takes to read it as it is pretty comprehensive. Bottom Line: “To adopt an anti-inflammatory dietary pattern, it is recommended to replace refined grains with whole grains, substitute healthy fats (such as nuts, seeds and fatty fish) for saturated and trans fats and increase the consumption of colorful fruits and vegetables while reducing the intake of sugary and processed foods. Additionally, choosing lean protein sources like fish and legumes over red and processed meats, using herbs and spices (such as turmeric, ginger, garlic and cinnamon) in place of excessive salt and sugar and consuming probiotic-rich foods (such as yogurt and kefir) instead of processed and sugary snacks are advised. These dietary adjustments can help mitigate inflammation and promote overall health.” https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/overview-of-antiinflammatory-diets-and-their-promising-effects-on-noncommunicable-diseases/AA3166846841DCC1B219C063F52E2A7F (anti-inflammatory diet)
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