TUCSON, Ariz., March 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Despite following prescribed masking and distancing measures, family physician Craig Wax, D.O., of Mullica Hill, N.J., a member of the board of directors of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), became very ill with COVID-19. He describes his experience and his early home treatment regimen, in the spring issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.
When he first suspected the diagnosis, he continued his daily regimen of multivitamins/multi-mineral supplements, vitamin D3 5,000 IU, and vitamin K-2 180 mcg; added N-acetylcysteine (NAC) 600 mg daily; increased his hydroxychloroquine from 200 mg weekly as prophylaxis to 200 mg twice daily and zinc to 220 mg (50 mg elemental) per day; added azithromycin 250 mg twice daily; and then added ivermectin 15 mg daily in sequenced multi-drug early home therapy.
When symptoms continued to worsen, he consulted colleagues who recommended adding a tapering dose of prednisone starting with 30 mg a day and aspirin 325 mg daily. “Over two exceedingly difficult nights, the tide turned,” he writes. By day 12, he could resume his daily strenuous outdoor bicycling.
In contrast, the physician from whom he probably acquired the infection received little pre-hospital treatment and had an extremely severe course, including six weeks on a ventilator, Dr. Wax reports.
“This is just one example of the superior outcome with early home treatment versus therapeutic nihilism (‘stay home and come to the hospital if you worsen’), he writes. “Therefore, it is critical that physicians and patients are not only free to use new medications, but free to use any and all repurposed old medications, vitamins, minerals, exercise, and nutritional strategies.”
Dr. Wax emphasizes the importance of a healthy lifestyle, but warns that even low-risk persons may be severely affected by this disease. This is likely due to yet unconfirmed risk factors like blood type, A, B, or AB vs O. “We have more than 12 months of experience with this disease, and why haven’t we spent more time on risk factor stratification, especially for isolation and other preventative strategies?” Dr. Wax asks. “Why did federal and state governments mandate methods of isolation for all, at risk of compounding commonplace morbidity and mortality for the population at large?”
“Unfortunately, governments, politicians, media, medical organizations, hospital health systems, pharmaceutical, and other industry interests have worked to hamper early treatment and block access to repurposed generic medications like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin,” he concludes.
The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons is published by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943.