Doctor says all-natural treatment for COVID-19 shows promising results
HOUSTON - A treatment being used to help patients who suffer from a lung disease called pulmonary fibrosis is now being used to help people with COVID-19 recover more quickly.
We caught up with Dr. Neha Shah from Pulmonary Fibrosis NOW and the VA Hospital, who says the results are very promising.
The most prevalent symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis are coughing and shortness of breath. That's why doctors decided to test an all-natural treatment on COVID-19 patients, that's been working for fibrosis patients.
"It's a combination of systemic enzyme supplements and probiotics. And I'll tell you how I came about this. So in my research for pulmonary fibrosis, looking for supplemental alternative treatments to treat patients with pulmonary fibrosis, which is a relatively rare progressive lung disease, with no cure, I came upon systemic enzymes, and I found a lot of historic anecdotal and some pre-clinical and clinical evidence showing the benefits in terms of reducing pain, inflammation, infection, swelling, and coughing," explains Dr. Shah.
Dr. Shah says it also reduced shortness of breath and increased quality of life in both patients with pulmonary fibrosis and patients with COVID-19. You may have heard of digestive enzymes that break down food, but the enzymes Dr. Shah is suggesting are different from that.
"Systemic enzymes are not meant to act on food. They are taken on an empty stomach, and they enter your bloodstream to act on your cells, tissues, and organs," states Dr. Shah.
The other supplement is a probiotic with certain strains of so-called "good bacteria".
"The formula that we used specifically contained Bacillus clausii, Bacillus coagulans, and Bacillus subtilis, which have been shown to be helpful in respiratory infections," says Dr. Shah.
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She believes these two supplements, which are available over-the-counter, may not only help treat and lessen the symptoms, but perhaps also serve as an ounce of prevention.
"Our initial study was on hospitalized patients that tested positive with SARS-CoV-2 virus. We saw a clinical improvement, which was significantly greater, like 93% of patients who were receiving the supplements showed clinical improvement on day 10, versus only 60% of patients in the control group. We also saw that the clinical improvement was earlier in patients on the supplements. They were fever-free faster than patients in the controls, which did not receive the supplements, and also had reduced hospitalization time," says Dr. Shah. She goes on to say that she has seen the effect of the treatment vary from helping patients within a few days for some, while it's a few weeks for others, but all in a positive direction.
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We looked up the supplements, and it can be a challenge to find the exact products that Dr. Shah is referring to. She said these are the products used in the study, that can be purchased in a bundle: Click here.
It’s important to note that other companies do make similar products and that Dr. Shah is not affiliated with the supplement company and does not financially benefit from sharing this information. This is the amount of supplements used in the study:
1. ImmunoSEB (2 capsules 2 times a day on an empty stomach, i.e 2 hours after a meal or 1 hour before a meal with 8-12 ounces of water
2. ProbioSEB CSC3 (2 capsules once a day with food, preferably lunch)
It’s always very important to talk to your own doctor before taking any new supplement, to make sure it’s safe for your body.