- Excerpt
The mortality profile of COVID-19 runs practically parallel to that of natural mortality. In other words, as the risk of dying increases with age, so does the risk of dying with COVID-19. The two statistics overlap more or less. This means that, since only a very small percentage (6 %) of infected people die of COVID-19 alone, most people (94%) die withCOVID-19. You can reduce the risk of dying with COVID-19 by taking care of your vascular system
Table of contents
Co-morbity
The word for dying with COVID-19 is “co-morbidity.” Ninety-six percent of people infected with COVID-19 die of some form of co-morbidity. Which means that COVID-19 alone has a slight chance of killing you. It may go by unnoticed or it may cause flu-like inconveniences, but COVID-19 alone is a problem most people can easily deal with. However, its chances to really hurt you rises in conjunction with the progress of all kinds of degenerative diseases. In this respect, its dangers are similar to those caused by the flu or influenza, conditions which, by themselves, are hardly ever lethal.
“Le terrain, c’est tout”
It is common knowledge that degenerative diseases take their toll over time, when the wear and tear of living begins to take its toll on our defense system and when our natural healing powers begin to wane. So, the message is clear. Keeping your body in excellent condition is vital when you want to deal with COVID-19. As the French biochemist Pierre Jacques Antoine Béchamp (1816 – 1908) said: “le terrain, c’est tout.” It’s your body, the “terrain,” that counts, not any of the several Corona viruses. When your “terrain” is in top condition and taken care of, you will be capable of overcoming most of the stressors and disturbances that form the common cause of so many degenerative diseases. You won’t have to be afraid of COVID-19. C’est tout.
COVID-19 Mortality Statistics
On the 3rd of September, the Swiss Policy Research (SPR) team reported on its website that the mortality profile of the COVID-19 coronavirus is essentially zero for children and young adults and near zero below 50. The mortality statistic begins to rise slowly above 50 and then very steeply above 70 and especially above 80. Not unexpectedly, it peaks in nursing homes, the places where we find the old and sick. This shows that the COVID-19 mortality profile is almost identical to that of natural mortality. “This doesn’t mean,” says SPR, “that covid-19 doesn’t increase someone’s risk of death – it absolutely does – but this increase is proportional to the pre-existing risk of death of the respective age and risk group.”
Microvascular Complications
According to SPR, “the characteristics of covid-19 may have to do with the cardiovascular and immunological effects of the virus and they explain the high death rate in nursing homes (up to 70% of deaths), in people above 70 years (about 90%), and in Western countries in general.” Indeed, as I wrote before, the cardiovascular system is the playground for COVID-19. Most of the complications arise in the vascular system, especially at its “micro” level where we find the capillaries (hair-vessels) and where the thin layer of endothelial cells organizes and controls the delicate exchange between blood and tissues and vice versa between tissues and blood.
Endothelialitis or Inflammation of the Endothelium
Earlier this year a scientific team supervised by Swiss doctor Frank Ruschitzka showed “the presence of viral elements within endothelial cells and an accumulation of inflammatory cells, with evidence of endothelial and inflammatory cell death. These findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection facilitates the induction of [inflammatioin of the endothelial cells] in several organs as a direct consequence of viral involvement […] and of the host inflammatory response.” This, in turn leads to the induction of a process known as “pyroptosis,” which is a highly inflammatory form of programmed cell death. Pyroptosis occurs when immune cells recognize within themselves foreign danger signals, such as viral components. The cells respond by inflaming, as if they set themselves on fire. They swell, burst and die. The inflammatory compounds attract other immune cells to fight the viral infection and thus cause more inflammation in the tissue. According to the Rutschitzka team, “organized cell death and pyroptosis might have an important role in endothelial cell injury in patients with COVID-19.”
Killer No. 1 is not COVID-19
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) ranks top on the Causes of Death List. CVD is “Killer No. 1” in Western societies. Not unexpectedly, the risk of dying from CVD keeps pace with the progression of the aging process. This is due mostly to the gradual degeneration of the vascular system. Our Western way of life and the dietary pattern followed by most people isn’t very helpful in this respect. Anyway, when it comes to explaining “natural mortality,” CVD is a major contributor. This makes your cardiovascular system the main playground for COVID-19 and other Corona viruses. One might even say that the COVID-19 mortality profile is very similar to that of CVD.
The “best answer” to COVID-19
So, what makes sense ? The SPR team concludes that “because of the covid-19 mortality profile, mass PCR testing and contact tracing in the general population make little sense and create an additional ‘casedemic’ on top of the pandemic. Mass vaccinations will also make rather little sense, especially because at the time experimental vaccines might become available, many people will already have been exposed to the wild virus.” SPR concludes that “the best currently available answer to these issues is early and prophylactic treatment based on simple and effective means, as emphasized by many leading experts from around the world. Simply isolating sick people at home until they cannot breathe anymore is the worst possible approach. Unfortunately, in most Western countries, it is still the most common approach.”
An even better Answer to COVID-19
Yes, that is unfortunate. What’s even more unfortunate is that an approach aiming at “early and prophylactic treatments” and developing immunity against the virus completely disregards the most obvious and compelling approach, which is taking good care of your “terrain,” more in particular of your cardiovascular system. When the COVID-19 mortality profile runs in parallel with that of natural mortality, and when “natural mortality” seems to be the decisive and driving mortality factor, because most people die with not from Corona, the best advice is to reduce your risk of developing a degenerative disease and so influence your personal “natural mortality.” It is a shame that this approach is not only disregarded, but frowned upon and dismissed as dangerous nonsense.
Microvascular Homeostasis
What all this boils down to is that COVID-19 seems to have its most serious impact when the capacity of the microvascular system to maintain itself is already exhausted. This capacity to maintain itself is called homeostasis, a kind of complex “cruise control” system that supervises the dynamic and constantly active interplay of numerous means and modes of action that support the survival and health of our bodies. The microvascular endothelium forms an integral and essential part of that whole system. Numerous pertinent human, animal and cell studies strongly support the claim that Masquelier’s OPCs can help maintain healthy microvascular structures and functions by positively acting on the microvasculature’s homeostasis. OPCs support the constituent network of the microvascular wall by protecting collagen and elastin fibers against degradation as well as enhancing synthesis of collagen and by combating inflammation and oxidative stress. Depletion or impairment of the microvascular homeostatic capacity may eventually find its expression in the various phenomena of endothelial dysfunction.
Masquelier’s OPCs and COVID-19
The relationship between Masquelier’s OPCs and COVID-19 mortality is evident. When infinitely more people die withCOVID-19 than from COVID-19 alone, the most sensible approach is not to fight COVID-19 with masks, social distancing and lockdowns, but to strengthen its “playground,” its “terrain,” which is your vascular system. Masquelier’s OPCs is one of the most important compounds that has been proven to facilitate the dynamic mechanisms of remodelling and self-repair that strengthen microvascular homeostatic capacity and balance the “internal milieu” of the microvasculature. The effects of OPCs are robustly present in healthy and diseased populations, meaning that supplementation of the daily diet with Masquelier’s OPCs is relevant for healthy people as well as people suffering from vascular problems. This is how you can reduce the risk of dying with COVID-19.
