Clean Air

Column #248

It’s amazing that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic our best and brightest medical types decided Americans should stop working and hole-up in their homes and not venture outside. They did that, yet historically, being outside has proven to be more beneficial for overall health.

Vitamin D is known for improving immunity and we get it from exposure to the sun. That’s why a research team from Northwestern University studied the vitamin D data from hospitals and clinics across China, France, Germany, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom (UK), and United States. They concluded that patients from countries with high COVID-19 mortality rates had lower levels of vitamin D compared to patients in countries that were not as severely affected.¹

During the 1918 pandemic, medics found that severely ill flu patients nursed outdoors recovered better than those treated indoors. It was attributed to fresh air and sunlight not only preventing deaths among patients, but also infections among medical staff. Outdoor air is a natural disinfectant in that it can kill the flu virus and other harmful germs. Equally, sunlight is germicidal and there is now evidence it also kills the flu virus.^{2 3}

Researchers have shown how “normal speech generates airborne droplets that can remain suspended for tens of minutes or longer and are eminently capable of transmitting disease in confined spaces.” This is why wearing even simple masks is so important when you’re with other people in confined indoor spaces. A mask, even a wet washcloth, can potentially catch at least some of the droplets from getting into the air. Yes, face coverings protect others probably better than it protects the wearer from catching COVID-19.⁴

Recently the MSM published derogatory propaganda about the use of ultraviolet light (UVC) in treating COVID-19. The treatment proposal is called Healight and current experimental treatments are underway to see if it can be applied somehow to COVID-19 victims. The basis for the experiments is that UVC from manufactured lamps/lights has been widely used as a commercial germicide. The lamps are in most hospital waiting rooms, often installed in air conditioning ducks, and most recently in New York City’s subway cars. It’s well known that UVC “between the 200 nm and 300 nm wavelengths are strongly absorbed by nucleic acid (DNA & RNA), leading to nucleic acid damage, and resulting in inactivation of the organism or death.”^{5 6}

For about 20 years now I’ve had an Air Oasis Ionic Air Purifier in my home. The air smells fresher and the device runs 24/7 pumping air through a small chamber with an AHPCO germicidal UVC lamp in the center. I do not know how effective it is in killing bacteria and viruses, but it’s certainly better than nothing at all when inside confined spaces. I assume that’s why hospitals use the same technology in their waiting rooms.⁷

Clean air and sunlight go hand in hand with a recent Consumer Report suggesting additional steps we should all pay attention too such as:
●    Wash hands with soap
●    Use disinfectant wipes for grocery store carts and other touch points
●    Use properly designed UVC radiation devices
●    Get a COVID-19 test when you feel under the weather
●    It’s unlikely that letters, packages, and most surfaces can be sources of COVID-19 infections
●    Infections can come from touching the clothes of an infected person⁸

The CDC has been well funded these past 60 years with a budget that has exceeded economic growth generally. In constant dollars the GDP grew 5.5 times since 1962. During the same period the CDC budget increased about eight times and the NIH budget increased ten times. As with many government agencies mission creep took over and that dulled the senses of the bureaucrats. Lots of rules were created and many wasteful missions were developed because budgets “had” to be spent in order to qualify for next year’s allotment. Partially because of that the agencies’ response rates to COVID-19 were actually restricted by their own rules.^{9 10}

People in ivory towers (government bureaucracies) are often no longer in touch with reality because they live in an insulated economic environment. That contributed to some of the rules they imposed on the country such as the closing of parks and beaches and telling people to stay indoors. Worst of all was the shutting down of the world’s largest economic machine. That tossed 38.6 million people out of work and 77 million students out of school! That dislocating shock stressed out 329 million Americans—many to the max! Amazing.

This column does not suggest folks should rush out and get some vitamin D supplements. With some sun exposure plus animal meats and seafood in the diet, humans get what they need. A major immunity improvement comes from a diet that balances by weight the ratio of the Omega-6 and Omega-3 essential fatty acids. Rounding out the immunity building dietary recommendations is a focus on low glycemic whole foods that are nutrient dense and diverse. Of course that includes grass-fed meats, Omega-3 meats, and wild-caught seafood.^{11 12 13 14 15}

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

1. Vitamin D Appears to Play Role in Covid-19 Mortality Rates by Amanda Morris from medicalxpress.com

2. Coronavirus and the Sun: a Lesson from the 1918 Influenza Pandemic by Richard Hobday from Medium

3. The Open-Air Treatment of PANDEMIC INFLUENZA by Richard A. Hobday, PhD and John W. Cason, PhD

4. Tired Of Wearing A Face Mask In Public? New Research Underscores Why You Still Need To by Bruce Y. Lee from Forbes Magazine

5. Healight Platform Technology from AYTU BioScience

6. MTA Invests $1 Million in Ultraviolet Light Machines to Clean Subways by Dan Rivoli New York City

7. Ionic Air Purifier, a Filterless, UV Air Purifier by Air Oasis

8. Consumer Reports Consulted with Scientists and Doctors to Address Reader Questions About COVID-19 by Rachel Rabkin Peachman

9. Coronavirus and NIH/CDC Funding by Chris Edwards from Cato Institute

10. Real Gross Domestic Product from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

11. The Importance of the Ratio of Omega-6/Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids by A. P. Simopoulos, PhD