If you haven’t heard the news, Joe Rogan caught Covid:
Let’s talk about his response to the virus: at the onset of symptoms, he self-isolated as
is the responsible thing to do. He got tested as soon as possible. Then he “threw the kitchen sink
at it,” taking “all kinds of meds.” His cocktail included monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin, Z-Pak
and prednisone. He also got an NAD drip and a vitamin drip three days in a row.
Now before we go any further, I want to stress that we don’t know if Joe has or hasn’t been
vaccinated. In fact, he told Variety news back in April: “I’m not an anti-vax person.
In fact, I said I believe they’re safe and I encourage many people to take ’em.
I just said, I don’t think that if you’re a young, healthy person, that you need it.”
While this statement is not directly dismissive of the virus or the vaccination,
it has implications that must be considered when dealing with an influencer with as
widespread popularity as Joe. When you have a viewership numbering in the millions
there are always larger societal implications to the things you say.
Initially, it was true that Covid didn’t seem all that bad for healthy people.
But due to the variants, the virulence has changed and now even healthy people are getting
sick. Over 95% of the people who are admitted to the hospital right now
are unvaccinated, some of these people are actually young and otherwise healthy.
In an article for CBC, an intensive care physician Dr. Lovedeep Khara warns
"We are in big trouble," and that patients being admitted to UHNBC are coming in "sicker, younger,
and requiring ICU and intubation faster than in previous waves."
Khara said before they are intubated, 'almost
every patient is crying and saying 'Don't let me die. I'm scared.'
So in the chance that a young person is indirectly influenced by a celebrity into
not taking the vaccine, the following must be considered.
1) Because while you can be healthy and not necessarily die from it,
you may take up resources and hospital space that might otherwise be used to
care for someone else who is ill, not just with Covid, but with any health issue.
2) Inside of you, the virus is still replicating
and you are giving it another opportunity to mutate and potentially become stronger.
3) If it is replicating inside of you and you are fighting it through natural immunity,
the viral count in your bloodstream will be higher than an infected vaccinated person.
Studies have confirmed this. So if myself (who has been vaccinated) and an unvaccinated carrier
of the virus both infect a third party, the dose that is transmitted from the unvaccinated carrier
will be worse than the dose from myself, if the duration of exposure is the same.
Basically, I’m saying that the decision to be unvaccinated is a decision that you make for
yourself, but that has very real ramifications on other people in your environment. Does
something rhyme with shellfish? So I am not sure if Joe has changed his statement since
the introduction of the Delta variant, but these facts must be taken into consideration.
You don’t live on an island. The world’s population is more than 1.
Many places around the world, intensive care staff are feeling a
very real strain. Our medical system is only designed to handle so much.
While we still don’t know if Joe is vaccinated, we know how heavily he leaned on modern medical
solutions (many of which have little to research surrounding their long term effects) to nullify
the virus. Rogan said he took “all kinds of meds,” including monoclonal antibodies,
ivermectin, Z-Pak and prednisone. He also got an NAD drip and a vitamin drip three days in a row.
Monclonal antibodies are a therapy that have been shown to lessen the effects of
COVID and are the only treatment option for people with mild to moderate cases
who aren’t yet in hospital. In most locales, it has been approved only for emergency use,
and is administered to people who have just been exposed, or who have tested positive and have
mild to moderate illness. The main drug used is a dual-antibody cocktail called Regeneron,
the same drug used to treat Donald Trump when he was hospitalized. It contains lab-created
antibodies that specifically target the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2.
Ivermectin is a medication that is used to treat parasitic roundworm infections.
It works by paralyzing and killing parasites. Although this is its main action, it has
apparently exhibited anti-viral activity against a number of RNA and DNA viruses such as Zika,
dengue, and yellow fever. It is currently being studied for its efficacy against
COVID and has not yet been approved for use a treatment or a prophylactic. Some studies have
suggested that it might effective, but the largest of these studies has been retracted
due to concerns of fraud. So at this time we are not sure if it is actually effective, and it is,
what the effective dose is. Further study is required for this information to be obtained.
Z-pack is the name given to a course of the antibiotic azithromycin. It is a commonly
prescribed antibiotic that is used to treat bacteria that cause ear infections, pneumonia,
upper respiratory infections, throat infections, and STDs. It kills bacteria by preventing protein
synthesis. Antibiotics do not work against viruses which are a different form of organism.
Azithromycin was initially considered as a potential treatment as a result of its
anti-inflammatory properties, however, subsequent study has shown that it offers no clinical benefit
in treating COVID. It will only offer benefit if there is a concurrent bacterial infection.
Prednisone is a corticosteroid that is used to decrease the negative effects of systemic
inflammation that damages the lung and other organs during COVID infection. It has been shown
to decrease the risk of death after infection and the duration of mechanical ventilation,
but has been associated with delayed virus clearance, and can have other
side effects. It is recommended for use in an outpatient setting, only with patients
who have a need for supplemental oxygen., and is not recommended for routine use.
NAD drip is an intravenous infusion of of Nicotinamide Adenine dinucleotide. NAD is
a metabolic co-enzyme that has a myriad of roles including mitochondrial function,
DNA and cell repair, gene activation and deactivation, and maintaining
neurotransmitter function. NAD deficiency has been associated with higher mortality with COVID,
so NAD supplementation has been hypothesized as a potential treatment.. HOwever, To my knowledge,
there are no studies yet that show it is effective as a treatment or a prophylactic.
Vitamin drips, particularly those with high levels of Vitamin C,
have been suggested by some as effective in the protection against, and treatment of
COVID. High-Dose vitamin C has previously been useful for the treatment of severe sepsis and
septic shock following bacterial infections. While preliminary data would suggest that high-dose
vitamin C may improve oxygen requirements in patients who are already intubated, it does not
support the use of vitamin drips as a treatment in infected patients who are not intubated.
So when a well respected celebrity “throws the kitchen sink” at a virus like Covid,
we must again consider the widespread societal repercussions.
These drugs are not necessarily benign or proven effective in this context. Moreover, the effects
of taking them all together at the same time are also unknown, and dare I say EXPERIMENTAL.
It is strange to me that Joe would be so outspoken about taking a cocktail of this sort,
and not equally forthcoming about whether or not he has taken the vaccine.
He might be influencing people to take things that have not been
shown to work. And we cannot give him a free pass due to his celebrity status.
I think there is a double standard that must be addressed here.
If some dude on facebook said to take two big swigs or roundup powermax herbicide,
a whole bottle of ibuprofen, and some horse steroids all at once…
And he was the same person that I let influence my opinion on whether I should or shouldn’t take
the vaccination for Covid in either direction, then perhaps I have some self-reflection to do.
People are less critical of less proven methods presented by social icons instead
of what the doctors are saying. And this most definitely should not be the case.
So can you tell me why nobody wants to believe the doctors? Many of the people making claims
about Covid, and the vaccination aren’t the ones in the operating room. They aren’t in the ICU
or on the front lines in the Emergency Department. And they certainly aren’t the
ones comforting people as they die in isolation. When it comes to matters of critical importance,
a person’s area of expertise MUST be taken into account. If you distrust the media,
ask a doctor. I wouldn’t let a carpenter give me a tattoo.
If you understand anything about the scientific principle, then you know that skepticism is at the
basis of all things scientific. Basically, doubt everything until there is reproducible evidence
to back up the explanation for events that have transpired. This includes the treatments that
have been proposed for the illness at hand. While it was understandable that people were initially
skeptical of the vaccine, we now have data that suggests that it is quite effective for certain
period of time. Although it is not 100% effective, it is certainly more so than no immunization,
or any of the other proposed treatments. The data supports this. So while people argue about the
origins of the disease, or how the Illuminati are using the pandemic to obtain control of
the global population, the fire is literally burning around us when we have an extinguisher
in our hands. And to be honest, what’s the difference between taking the vaccine
or any of the other proposed treatments? People worry about what is in the vaccine or about it’s
long term effects, but can any of these people speak cogently about what is in Ivermectin,
or about it’s long term effects when used in this context? Especially, when used
in combination with a host of other unproven treatments such as with Joe Rogan? I think not.
Thanks for watching, I will see you for rounds next week. And as always,
that’s been a word from Dr. Chris, not your everyday ortho.