Research Roundup: Preventing and Mitigating COVID-19

Hi everyone, 

As I mentioned last week, my focus over the next few weeks is to help Genetic Lifehacks' readers to find personalized ways of combatting COVID-19.

The CDC's current recommendations for preventing COVID-19 are:  get vaccinated, wear a mask, clean your house, and improve ventilation. 

For anyone who has not yet had the covid, the articles below cover research-backed options for prevention and treatment.  

I feel like I'm tiptoeing through a minefield when I write about the covid, but I want to share the clinical trial information with my readers. People that I've talked with seem to fall into two camps: some believe there is nothing that can be done for any viral illness, while others tend to believe a dozen different homeopathic remedies will cure all. Many no longer keep up with the latest news, burned out on the topic.  I get that. 

Why now? While several of the natural antivirals featured below have been theorized to help with Covid from the beginning, I was waiting for clinical trials to be published. Moreover, news on the vaccine front is changing:  the efficacy of the mRNA vaccines seems to be waning significantly by 6-7 months; the vaccines are less effective against the Delta variant; and vaccinated breakthrough cases may have similar infection viral loads to non-vaccinated. [ref] [ref] [ref] [ref] [ref] [ref][ref][ref]

Please pass these articles along to friends and family who may be interested. I'm not pushing articles on social media anymore, and I doubt that these particular articles will find their way into Google search results.

And yes, I'll move on to a new genetics topic soon :-) 

Debbie Moon

Research Studies on Plant Compounds for SARS-CoV-2
This article explains the current research (August 2021) on natural compounds that may help to combat SARS-CoV-2. This round-up of research is simply for educational purposes — please read the studies, talk with your doctor, and make informed decisions. While there are other natural compounds with theoretical efficacy, I’ve chosen only to include the plant compounds that have human clinical trials here.

Read the full article...

Examining the Research on Vitamin D and SARS-CoV-2
The news headlines can be confusing. The talking heads on TV seem to change their minds daily. And Google search results can be contradictory!So let’s cut through the BS and look at the research studies on vitamin D and SARS-CoV-2 (and genetics, of course).Read the full article...

Research studies on melatonin and SARS-CoV-2
It may be odd to think of a ‘sleep supplement’ as possibly helping to prevent or treat COVID-19…But the research on melatonin over the past couple of decades shows that it plays an important role in our body’s inflammatory response to pathogens.This article covers the current research on melatonin for COVID-19 and explains the science behind how it impacts immune response. As always, talk with your doctor if you have any questions on whether a supplement is right for you.Read the full article...