Coronavirus Self-Assistance – Part 2

Written by Geraint Hughes on March 30, 2020. Posted in Current News

I am really am surprised by the lack of advice of what to actually do should you catch Coronavirus from the Government.  I found more assistance on the Fox News website, than I did on UK.Gov, so I have decided to help fill the void.

It’s surprisingly easy to find treatments which are cheap, readily available and from the looks of the studies conducted on in China and elsewhere, might actually work.  In the last article, I looked at Sambucol, in this one, I am looking at GLYCYRRHIZIC acid.  Don’t be scared by the name, it has another more well known name too, Liquorice.

Yes, that’s right, liquorice root contains an active compound, which gives it its anti-viral properties called Glycyrrhizic acid.  Treat Corona with Liquorice?  Surely not.

Let’s take a brief look at some of its history in the medicinal world.

“The food choices we make can have an important impact on health”. This was known since antiquity for Hippocrates is quoted as saying, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”  Something that seems to have been forgotten in modern times, with its relentless focus on profits, trademarks, copyrights and worldwide vaccination schemes.

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-science-space/medieval-medical-books-could-hold-recipe-new-antibiotics-007935

In medieval times, fever was treated with Coriander, something which still seems to be a thing (cant think why?)  https://bowlofherbs.com/recipe/treat-fever-coriander-seeds-diy/ .

Stomach aches were cured with balm, mint and wormwood concotions.    http://www.lordsandladies.org/medicine-in-the-middle-ages.htm  This too still seems to be a treatment some use.  https://www.emedicinehealth.com/wormwood/vitamins-supplements.htm

Lung problems such as coughs and pneumonia were commonly medicated with a combination of comfrey and liquorice.  http://www.lordsandladies.org/medicine-in-the-middle-ages.htm

It is not only well known to help for lung problems in Europe, it has been well known in China also.

It is a well known herb in traditional Chinese medicine.  The Chinese call it “gancao” (“sweet grass”) and was even written about in ancient Chinese Medical book called the Shennong׳s Classic of Materia Medica thought to be written roughly around 2100 BC.

https://www.jcm.co.uk/the-first-materia-medica-the-shen-nong-ben-cao-jing.html & it is even available in amazon.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Divine-Farmers-Classic-Materia-Medica/dp/099134295X  Is this the oldest book available?  Could be.

This book claimed liquorice was life-enhancing & so for thousands of years liquorice has been present in most of Chinese traditional prescriptions.

The use of liquorice has unsurprisingly been widely studied, one such example here found that liquorice, was effective against asthma and recommended that further studies be conducted into it, for its potentially beneficial effects.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3957157/  This study concluded, “The results of this study suggest that the group receiving glycyrrhizin had amelioration of all established chronic histopathologic changes of lung in the mouse model of asthma. Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of glycyrrhizin in the management of asthma.”

Now, asthma and Coronavirus are not the same thing, the knowledge about liquorice as a treatment for lung problems was not only common in medieval ages, its still common nowadays throughout the alternative health industry, to the point where doctors considered researching it for use against Sars.

Heres an article from the Lancet.  https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS014067360313615X.pdf    “Glycyrrhizin, an active component of liquorice roots, and replication of SARS-associated coronavirus”  Below is a picture of the results they had using Glycyrrhizin.

They concluded “Of all the compounds, glycyrrhizin was the most active in inhibiting replication of the SARS-associated virus. Our findings suggest that glycyrrhizin should be assessed for treatment of SARS.”

Another research team came up with similar conclusions. Antiviral Activity of Glycyrrhizic Acid Derivatives against SARS−Coronavirus https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jm0493008   “ Glycyrrhizin (GL) was shown to inhibit SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) replication in vitro.” “Amides of GL and conjugates of GL with two amino acid residues and a free 30-COOH function presented up to 70-fold increased activity against SARS-CoV”

Has anyone used it against Corono-virus itself?  It would seem that they have been treating most of their patient using traditional methods.  “On 17, February, National Health Commission (NHC) of the People’s Republic of China reported that 60,107 confirmed COVID-19 patients (85.20{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117} of total confirmed cases) had been treated with TCM”  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7098036/

They took inspiration from SARs and they had this to say about it.  “The dramatic reduced fatality from late May in Beijing was believed to be associated with the use of TCM as a supplement to the conventional therapy ⁴⁴.

Lau and colleagues reported that, during SARS outbreak, 1063 volunteers including 926 hospital workers and 37 laboratory technicians working in high-risk virus laboratories used a TCM herbal extract, namely Sang Ju Yin plus Yu Ping Feng San. Compared with the 0.4{154653b9ea5f83bbbf00f55de12e21cba2da5b4b158a426ee0e27ae0c1b44117} of infection in the control group, none of TCM users infected.”  So they actively took the same approach with COVID-19.

Now TCM covers a broad spectrum of treatments of which liquorice is only one.  It is something to be considered should you come down with coronavirus.  What are you going to do when the hospital beds are full, you just going to sit it out, cross your fingers and hope for the best or are you going to ask your doctor if it is safe to try the same treatments the Chinese have?

It seems that liquorice also has some side effects when taken in large amounts, so please read up on it first, take it in advisement with a medical specialist and take account of these side effects which are listed below.

• Absence of a menstrual period
• Congestive heart failure
• Decreased sexual interest (libido)
• Erectile dysfunction
• Excess fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema)
• Fluid and sodium retention
• Headache
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Hypertensiveencephalopathy
• Hypokalemic myopathy
• Lethargy
• Low potassium levels (hypokalemia)
• Mineralocorticoid effects
• Musclewasting
• Myoglobinuria
• Occasionally brain damage in otherwise healthy people
• Paralysis(quadriplegia)
• Swelling (edema)
• Tiredness
• Weakness

https://www.rxlist.com/consumer_licorice/drugs-condition.htm

In any event, why is it down to me to tell the world about this?  Surely the NHS and Government of the UK should be doing this. I hope I have been of help to you all and I know for sure, next time I pop down to Holland and Barrett (it’s still open) I will be stocking up on the liquorice.

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