Not much new news. My brother continues to ask every time we talk “Are you deep breathing?” He still urges me and my mother to do “10 deep breaths every hour.” I can’t say I get to it every hour, but I do remember several times a day.

(Speaking with a friend today – 24 April, 2020 – who has epilepsy, she cautioned that in those with the condition, repeated deep breathing has the possibility of triggering an epileptic episode. She said it is safer to take a deep breath, then a few normal breaths, and only then another deep breath.)

He said that the worst cases he sees are in people with pre-existing respiratory and breathing issues. And that COVID in the lower lungs is what creates the the breathing problems – which as I understand is the bulk of the severe problems. (see previous post on Deep Breathing) I’m wondering if it has to do with the TYPE of breathing – i.e. deep vs shallow breathing. I think many of us – myself included – don’t breathe as deeply as we could! And maybe a lot less than we should for optimal health.

Important thing about the breathing re: COVID – as I understand – is to get the air into the bottom of the lungs, as this is where COVID does the worst damage. In my learning, it is diaphragmatic breathing that he’s referring to – the kind that makes the sides of your waist expand and contract when you breathe… NOT the kind that makes you shoulders raise and lower! You can put your hands lightly on the sides of your waist and feel it while you breathe. I believe this exercise gets air in to the lungs, and also help to expand capacity.

There is a breathing technique called the Buteyko Method. It was controversial when I first ran across it some years ago. I’m not sure where it stands now. I believe it was designed to help with asthma. One of the experts in this breathing system has a special page on this kind of breathing and its possible efficacy in relation to other coronaviruses. It struck me because he discusses “surfactants” in the lungs, as did my brother.

I’ll post it here, and you can make your own assessment of it (as indeed of everything I post here!)

Corona Virus

Stay safe. Be well.

Message from brother Eric today. He is still working in the hospital this week, but reaches out from time to time.

“Musings from the front lines:

“The correlations are those with worse disease are those who do not or cannot take deep breaths at baseline [before catching anything]. Smokers, silica damage, other chronic lung disease, obesity, sleep apnea… it makes some sense.

“Deep breathing stimulates surfactant production. Surfactant in the lower airways works like a detergent, and detergents opsonize and neutralize viruses.

“There you go – hand washing for the lungs. Take 10 deep breaths (ideally fresh air) multiple times a day.”

My thought: use something I already do several times a day – like washing my hands! – to remind me to take 10 deep breaths regularly.

(Speaking with a friend today – 24 April, 2020 – who has epilepsy, she cautioned that in those with the condition, repeated deep breathing has the possibility of triggering an epileptic episode. She said it is safer to take a deep breath, then a few normal breaths, and only then another deep breath.)

A BBC article has been brought to my attention that calls into question a couple of items I listed in my first post. (I have changed them there, but want to call them out directly):

• staying hydrated (keep sipping water throughout the day) This is one the things you can do for your general health. AMENDMENT: a BBC article reports a “rumour” (it’s British!) that drinking water kills the COVID virus, which is untrue – it was not my intention to imply such a thing.
• spraying, gargling, swishing our mouths and noses with water (you’ll want saline for your nose!) – keeping those membranes moist will help viruses you come in contact with to slough off into our stomach where it doesn’t survive.

  CORRECTION: the same BBC article reports that other coronoviruses can resist diluted stomach acid. It is yet unknown if the COVID-19 virus is resistant to stomach acid, though there are signs it CAN infect the digestive tract.

23 March, 2020

Hello Friends and Family from Raji,

We are living in peculiar times. The world – ALL of us – are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a lot of information flying around and it’s difficult to know what to believe, how scared to be, what we can do. My particular “Cosmic Mischief” at this time is to convey information that might just keep more of us healthy and alive.

I am not a medical or science professional, not in the health-care field nor in any related field. My source is my brother Eric, who is a hospitalist currently working on the “front lines” in Seattle with COVID-19 patients. He is a medical doctor (internist) with more than 20 years experience, and was an electrical engineer before that. I have found him to be very thoughtful and analytical in his approach to health-care. What I share with you here is my interpretation of what he has been telling me and how I am understanding the situation and the choices I am making. I share this with you as a courtesy – please do your own research and make your own assessments and choices.

*** Please send your good thoughts, wishes, prayers, Light, Love to all our brother/sister health-care practitioners around the world who are putting their own health at risk to care for patients. ***

By now we all know the protocol for not communicating or contracting the disease:

• 6 foot (2 meter) distance between people
• wash your hands 20 seconds with soap (hand sanitizer a second best choice)
• don’t touch your face (primarily your mouth, nose, eyes)

What I learned from Eric last night, is that we can increase our resistance to the virus in the case we encounter it by:

• staying hydrated (keep sipping water throughout the day) This is one the things you can do for your general health.

  AMENDMENT: a BBC article reports that drinking water doesn’t not kill the COVID virus – it was not my intention to imply that it does.

• spraying, gargling, swishing our mouths and noses with water (you’ll want saline for your nose!) – keeping those membranes moist will help viruses you come in contact with to slough off into our stomach where it doesn’t survive.

  CORRECTION: the same BBC article reports that other coronoviruses can resist diluted stomach acid. It is yet unknown if the COVID-19 virus is resistant to stomach acid, though there are signs it CAN infect the digestive tract.

• stay well-rested – less than 6 hours sleep per night weakens your immune system
• DON’T SMOKE! For yourself and others (this is a respiratory illness – need any more be said?!)

The complete clinical picture with regard to COVID-19 is not fully known. (From US CDC website)

I discovered what seems to be a good article – accurate and moderately detailed information understandable to laypeople (like me!)

https://healthykidshappykids.com/2020/02/27/coronavirus-covid-19/

I asked my brother to review it. He responded with these comments:

• This article is pretty good. I do note one oversight: DON’T SMOKE!!!!
1. It makes you more vulnerable to this respiratory illness,
2. if you did get it you would be contributing to the spread of the virus,
3. your secondhand smoke may make others more vulnerable as well.

It’s always a good time to stop smoking; to care for yourselves and others, this is a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY good time to stop smoking!!

• The central difference is that this is a lower respiratory illness, not an upper respiratory one. In lower respiratory illnesses such as this the time from onset of symptoms to severe distress is shorter.
• Once you get symptoms, be vigilant. If you have other symptoms, check for shortness of breath every morning: can you hold your breath for 10 seconds without inducing a cough? If you cannot, check with your doctor.
• Also, over the past few days we’ve got a better fix on the incubation time and it seems to be 5-14 days with median 8.

My understanding from Eric is that there seem to be two types serious complications from COVID-19:

1. (from CDC) Older adults and people of any age with serious underlying medical conditions may be at higher risk for serious complications (such as pneumonia) from COVID-19.
2. In a small number of those infected who have otherwise healthy immune systems, the immune system gets triggered into overdrive, which triggers an acute respiratory distress syndrome called a “cytokine storm”. This is a very serious condition requiring intensive care.

“WITH THE CAVEAT THAT THERE IS NO DIRECT DATA TO SUPPORT THIS APPROACH – but also with the knowledge that cytokine storm in the lower airways is what causes the most severe outcomes of COVID-19, (* for those with healthy immune systems *) there is a rationale for taking fish oil as an immune modulator AT THE ONSET OF SYMPTOMS (fevers, cough, shortness of breath) that might herald Covid-19. One would have to take 3000 mgs (3 grams) a day minimum of a good quality fish oil (no mercury or contaminants) once symptoms are noticed.”

Additionally, for PARENTS (from HealthyKidsHappyKids.com):

“In the US, we are on a trajectory to double COVID-19 cases every 2-5 days. At this pace, patients with serious illness requiring ICU beds will quickly outnumber availability, placing us in the same heart-wrenching situation that Italy & China have faced, in choosing which patients receive live-saving support based on likelihood to survive.

“I am NOT telling you this to instill fear, although I know that for many of you, like me, your heart skipped a beat thinking about this.

“I AM telling you this because WE, as parents, have the POWER to SLOW this trajectory and #FLATTENTHECURVE.

“Knowledge IS power.

“80% or more people with COVID-19 will have mild illness. The vast majority of children have very mild symptoms, or NO symptoms at all. While we can breathe a sigh of relief that our kids seem relatively protected – THAT is one of the biggest problems in containing & mitigating this pandemic.

“Our kids may be one of the biggest vectors in unwittingly spreading Coronavirus to vulnerable populations.

“So please: NO playdates, parties, sleepovers, or gatherings with families/friends.

“At least for the next couple of weeks. Slowing the rate of infection even by that much can make a huge difference.”