Category: COVID-19

COVID-19, cupping therapy, update

Can cupping therapy improve efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines?

An article in Acupuncture Today suggests that cupping therapy may improve the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.  Acupuncture Today bases this assumption on this research article.  According the Acupuncture Today, researched performed on animals showed that “when a DNA based COVID vaccine was administered to animals with 30 seconds of suction technique at the injection site , a technique similar to Chinese cupping, the immune response was 100 times that of the vaccine alone”.  Given this information, the article goes on to state that acupuncturists who employ cupping therapy  can play a role in improving  efficacy of COVID vaccines , and thus, “reduce COVID-related hospitilizations and deaths.”

However, is this a correct assertion? I would say the answer is no for several reasons. First, this study is done on rats. Clinical trials should be carried out to see if an immune response truly exists in humans.  Second, the study used a suction pressure of 65 kPa(kilopascal).  I don’t know of an Chinese cupping device that can deliver a specific suction power. Thus, it would be hard for acupuncturists to replicate the specific suction pressure used in the study. Third, the study used a DNA based COVID vaccine whereas the current COVID-19 vaccines are mRNA based. While “both DNA and RNA vaccines instruct cells in your body to produce a protein that induces an immune response”, there isn’t enough information to deduce that cupping therapy would increase antibody production in those people receiving  COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

Thus, while cupping therapy has documented benefits for musculoskeletal issues, for the reasons outlined above, it is wrong to suggest that cupping therapy can increase the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

 

Adrenal fatigue, COVID-19, Functional Medicine, update

COVID-19 booster case study: Alleviation of fatigue

If you have received your COVID-19 booster vaccine you may have experienced one or more of the following side effects:

  • pain and swelling at the injection site
  • muscle pain
  • headache
  • fever
  • chills
  • nausea
  • fatigue

Generally, these side effects last two to three days, but for one of my patients, the fatigue became unbearable to the point where it was impacting his daily functioning.  The patient received the injection during the day and by bedtime, the fatigue began to set in.  Since he was approaching the weekend, the patient figured he would  rest up over the weekend and that he would feel better by Monday. Unfortunately, the fatigue never let up. He did go to work on Monday but struggled to be productive.  Usually, the patient is boisterous and has a collaborative spirit, but on this day, he was very reserved and to himself.  Since the patient was feeling worse Tuesday morning, he took a sick day and reached out to his PCP who acknowledged that fatigue is common in COVID-19 booster vaccine recipients, but did not offer any supportive options, other than to rest. After 11 days with no improvement in energy level (energy level was 2/10), this patient, ‘John’, sought  me out for natural supportive options.

When one has fatigue, the usual suspects are low functioning thyroid and/or anemia. Upon doing a history and physical intake, it was noted that John has a history of hypothyroidism which is being well managed with Synthroid and his most recent blood work ( 2 weeks prior) showed a TSH at 1.5 mIU/L (milli-international units per liter).  Normal TSH levels are between 0.5 and 5.0 mIU/L So, I could rule out thyroid being an issue. In addition, his most recent CBC(complete blood count), showed a red blood count and hemoglobin level within the normal range and thus I could rule out anemia contributing to fatigue.

When these usual suspects ruled out, I turned my attention to the adrenal glands when the patient noted that he becomes dizzy upon standing up and that this dizziness started after receiving the COVID-19 booster vaccine. What does dizziness have to do with the adrenals?

In brief, the adrenal glands sit above the kidneys and play a role in secreting hormones and neurotransmitters  that help the body adapt to stress, and impact  blood pressure and sugar cravings. When the adrenal glands are over taxed and can’t buffer the stress, fatigue can come about.  Dizziness can also  occur for many reasons: heart, inner ear issues.  Another cause is low blood pressure that results when standing up. The technical term for this is orthostatic hypotension.   The patient has a history of low blood pressure (110/80)  when lying down.  What do you think should happen to blood pressure when one stands up? It should go up, at least by 5-10 points. This is a normal response to the fact that when one stands up, blood initially pools in your legs and since less blood is going to your head, in order for the body to maintain proper blood flow to the rest of the body, the blood pressure has to go up, and what organ or shall I say, gland is responsible for increasing blood pressure when standing up?….  It is the adrenal glands.

For John, I measured his blood pressure when he was lying down. It was 105/79. I had him stand up and after two minutes, I measured his blood pressure and this time it was 95/74.  His blood pressure dropped 10 points ! So, this was a clue that his adrenal glands were not functioning well.  It is important to note that John did not have a pathological issue with his adrenal glands. In western medicine, there is a condition called Addison’s disease. This is a pathological condition called adrenal insufficiency where the adrenal glands are not putting out hormones and neurotransmitters to regulate energy levels, blood pressure and sugar cravings.  What John had was a dysfunction with his adrenal glands.  If his adrenal gland hormones were measured, it probably wouldn’t a show a reduction in these hormones.  John was in a grey zone where his fatigue was not a pathological thryoid, adrenal or anemia issue, but he was experiencing fatigue that suggested his adrenal glands were over taxed.  The blood pressure evaluation that I did on John in two positions is an example of  a functional health evaluation. Functional health is about assessing how well a body system is working.

Based on the functional health assessment, I made natural recommendations to support John’s adrenal glands  functioning: riboflavin and patothenic acid and vitamin c.  Within two days of starting these supplement recommendations, John’s energy began to improve daily ,and when his blood pressure started to increase from a lying down to standing position, this equated with John’s energy returning back to normal 10/10.

If you are experiencing fatigue after the COVID-19 booster vaccine and you think it is related to adrenal fatigue,  check out my adrenal fatigue protocol. These are the exact nutrients that helped John get his energy back.