Thoughts on the coronavirus – Let’s stay calm while gaining understanding

***Disclaimer, this is not medical advice, it is personal opinion.  Please receive the care you need when you need it.

Many of my clients have been asking what I think about preparations for the coronavirus scare. I believe while information is important, our news as usual has the intent of scare tactics which create panic where there is no basis for it in the present moment.

• There is a big difference between a public health threat (currently causing the stock market crash) and individual risk which is extremely unlikely right now based on the current threat assessment. The media needs to explain this better.
• Again, individual risk in the US is very low. There are close to 330 million people living in the USA and as of 3/2/2020 there are 15 confirmed cases and 2 deaths related to this virus but we cannot say caused by it as we don’t know the underlying conditions of the individuals to really assess the overall cause.    https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html
• The current medical information is stating there is not enough information to say if this new virus is any worse than the normal flu we see in the U.S., it’s just new and not studied so we are learning. The fear being propagated is more fear of the unknown, yet we do know some information already and it’s best to work with that while we are learning.  Therefore, as the symptoms are like the normal flu, just like with the flu, those with compromised immune systems are hit harder and care is needed for those who get ill.  And just like with the flu, many people come in contact but don’t get ill because they have strong immune systems.  As an individual, the best thing you can do is keep your body strong through good sleep, healthy food and overall taking care of yourself.  This is best every day as well so win-win.  The ONLY potential new possibility, per John Hopkins Medicine, is the possibility it can sometimes be airborne, so those with compromised immune systems and in areas of China where there are outbreaks are being encouraged to consider using masks and, again, this is at this point not confirmed to be useful, just a consideration.
• It’s important to realize that our immune systems will differ from someone in another country due to our climate, terrain and how our immune system responds to the environment is key. Author Adrian Liston, head of the VIB-KU Leuven Translational Immunology Laboratory in Belgium. “Diversity isn’t just programmed into our genes — it emerges from how our genes respond to the environment.”  Therefore we don’t know yet how our immune systems respond to this virus, it could be the reason we aren’t getting sick in the US is because our immune systems have a resiliency due to our different environment.
• Also, for perspective, according to the CDC 80,000 people died (they keep changing this number so it’s the current estimate) from actual flu-like situations (remember, we don’t actually know the causes of many as we don’t know their underlying health situations) in 2019 in the US according to the CDC.  According to John’s Hopkins, the average numbers of those who get sick in the US each year with flu-like symptoms is 9.3-45 million and the number who die each year from flu-like symptoms is 12-60k.  These are big ranges, meaning, we don’t have exact numbers as there are many factors in determining this AND the numbers are exponentially more than the coronavirus so let’s keep clear while we are learning.

Thoughts on homeopathy, herbs and preparations

• As a homeopath/herbalist, while I do some prophylactic work, I treat mostly based on symptoms when someone gets sick. Yes, for those with compromised immune systems who are at some elevated risk (going to china, being on long flights, etc.) I can also offer remedies that could precursor getting sick and ensure they have what they need for the ‘usual symptoms’ should they get sick to help their immune system respond in a healthy way.  Regardless of the way I treat, I treat the individual, not the dis-ease so one remedy does not fit all.

Overall my belief is we are learning at a fast rate, so far it’s like the flu and very few people in the US have tested positive so let’s watch and learn as we go.  It could very likely be in a couple of weeks we realize it’s just another version of the flu that in the US is less virulent due to our environment being different and we can treat that accordingly if needed.

Hope this was helpful, blessings and good health! Satya