I debated for a long time whether to write an article on corona situation; it is such an inflammatory subject, as a business, I am always afraid to create enemies, or to be totally misunderstood. But is fear a good reason for holding back questions?
I do have questions. I do have opinions; some are probably different than yours. I think that is healthy. We should be discussing ideas openly since that is the only way we get smarter; by exchanging information. Disagreements that are respectful, kind, and constructive are the way to growth and advancement.
I used to work in an immunology lab. I am not debating the very seriousness of the health complications from COVID infection. The lives lost has been a great tragedy. But especially because of all the lives lost, we must honor these lost souls by making sure that we ask questions and don't live in fear.
Much like many of you, I have been overwhelmed by the tragedy of the virus. I diligently run the business to keep everyone safe, shifted to online teaching, wear my mask at the grocery store. I am doing my absolute best to keep with all the current guidelines.
But as the days go by, to be honest, the only thing that I can see is that we don't know a darn thing. We get conflicting messages all the time.
Mask don't work – must wear masks in public.
The virus stays on the surface for days – the virus is not viable on surfaces.
The virus is affecting the elderly – young people are getting sick.
Respirators are needed to save lives - respirators are the thing that kills the sick…
So I decided to be well informed, but open-minded to different ideas. I decided to practice yoga and be OK with the unknown. And I am sorry to say, but I lost faith in some large organizations that at this point show more corruption than knowledge. So I started looking for knowledge outside the beaten path.
Then, I stumbled onto this video interview with Dr. Bush
I have to be honest; this is the first approach that makes sense to me. He is a triple board-certified MD who has been fighting how the medical system is set up for a long time… So have I…, but he is braver than me, I dropped out to teach yoga, he stayed in the system to make it better. Kudos to you Dr. Bush
He argues that we are missing the big picture. He talks about:
the role of nutrition
the role of harmful monoculture driven by chemicals and profits
overmedication of the elderly, specifically the statin drug overuse by the elderly. (he thinks that the over-prescribed medications in the USA cross-react with the virus and make it deadlier. It makes sense to me when I look at the numbers..)
and our lack of microbiome,
and how the high number of deaths are due to the ventilator usage – as ventilators actually make the situation worse
he thinks this should be handled as a hypoxic injury and treat it like cyanide poisoning
It is a long interview, but I think it is the kind of big picture vision that we are missing. I have a hard time watching Del Bigtree, the guy who is interviewing him, but I really like the doctor.
Yes, the whole interview is a bit simplistic, but it is on Highwire, and I think he is doing his best to explain something very complex to the public in understandable terms.
While you watch the video and read the rest of this blog. Ponder the possibility that the virus is a symptom of a much larger dysfunction; that COVID sheds light to where we need to be more attentive:
Our planet; pollution and human population
Connections between our soil, food source, and health
Connections between government and food manufacturing
Holding this bigger picture in mind, I do get emotional, so do allow me just one paragraph to be vulnerable and angry. If you have no interest, simply skip down a beat. :-)
This virus should be making all of us ask questions about the environment, about large food corporations lobbying government while poisoning us with sugar.
Why the government never thinks about shutting down corporations that produce food that is killing America. Oh no, those institutions can remain open even during the shutdown because they are "essential." Never mind that diabetes related complications kill significantly more folks yearly than COVID, and never mind that people with diabetes are much more likely to die from COVID. Oh no, but the government gets money from these corporations, so they remain open, and the FDA is happy to support them.
Then this virus comes around that takes down the immunocompromised, which all of us are if we are high on sugar – and all we talk about is the virus but not the underlying problem – our overall ill health caused by poor nutrition and overmedication.
Here is the opportunity government, now you are shutting down businesses left and right, why not shut down some that are adding to our ill health and prevent folks from getting ill the first place.
Oh yes, that would be prevention - and there is no profit in that...
Ahh, OK at least I emotionally let go some baggage, yes that was Dora getting caught up in her usual anti-sugar rant. Apologies. But seriously so flipping frustrating. Our society is always reacting and putting bandaids on symptoms. Can we just once dig deeper...
I think if we are asking the right questions, this horrible disease could be the spark of something new; a way to live in better harmony with nature and one and other.
I just hope we are not too blind and too scared to see the opportunity.
– OK back to Dr. Bush and his amazing video –
If you watch the video all the way through, you may or may not agree with his spiritual perspective. I happen to agree with him, and I agree as well that we have hospitalized the process of death to the point where it is inhuman and unkind to the elderly. Nobody should die alone in a hospital bed.
You may find the beginning a bit slow if you are well versed in science, but it is worthwhile to watch it through in detail without skipping.
If nothing else, it should inspire us to eat better and to take care of our planet better.
Some afterthoughts;
After listening to his interview, I looked it up, 80,000 people died in the USA in 2018 from the flu - that is CDC numbers, we never heard a beep in the news... That is only 20,000 less than current numbers with corona. I am not dismissing the danger, and I know that more deaths would have occurred if we don't isolate.
But why is 100,000 a catastrophic one year, but 80,000 never mentioned earlier? That is puzzling and worrying to me; it is a weird thing as far as "newsworthy vs not worthy".
Nowadays, we show these death numbers, and they create fear, but death has been around us at a high rate. Why did we get the "bug" so to speak to look at these numbers in fear every morning? That is curious…
I do believe that by staying home, we do slow down the virus. This is what we are taught that we need to flatten the curve, so the healthcare workers are not overwhelmed. The slow version of COVID will take 2 years.
Here is my question;
Is a shutdown a sustainable approach? How long can we keep it up?
So many people out of work living on food stamps and food banks; do you think that is the right nutritional prevention against the disease?
Are we saving people in the long run, or are we hurting them? I do not think we know. I sure do not know. But I am willing to ask the hard question.
We made the decision to collapse all other businesses and our economy because we don't want hospitals overwhelmed.
But we are finding that hospitals don't help. Did anybody try to think outside of the box? Why care for the ill in hospitals?
Since there is no cure and respirators make it worse, why go to the hospital? People could stay home; mobile nurses could visit with saline and medication once a day. Only a very small percentage of folks should go in for hospital care.
We could keep most COVID patients away from hospitals that would allow hospitals to serve the public with other needs like cancer treatment and a bunch of other life-saving surgeries that have been cancelled because all we do now is monitor the virus. – Do I need to bring up the fact that UW just laid off a whole bunch of nurses because there is not enough work due to cancelled surgeries and appointments? Do you really think that all other illness ceased being because now there is COVID? I just talked to nurse friends whom for privacy reason won't mention where they work, they stated that all that their institution is doing is testing, everything else stopped. Testing, which is a totally skill-less task that could be done by some of the folks freshly laid off from other industries and it would allow our nurses to go back to nursing. Again, why are we not thinking outside of the box.
How does it make sense to downsize our hospital staff in the middle of a medical crisis?
We gotta ask better questions, we gotta ask more questions.
Everybody is counting death due to COVID when we don't even know what COVID is. Nobody is counting the dead due to human management of the virus. All those who can't get surgeries, with no insurance, with no jobs to feed a family. Who is counting those numbers?
How long do you think you can keep an economic shutdown and avoid riots, famine, illness from other causes untreated? Which one is more harmful?
Again – the only thing I know is I do not know, but I am willing to listen and keep an open mind!
We need to learn how to exchange information better; the reason why we are sick is not just this darn virus, but the fact that we do not know how to speak to one and other.
We scream, we attack, we poison our politics, our institutions with angry attacks but no listening and no constructive deep questions.
But I digressed, that could be a whole different blog.
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