The Germ Theory of Infectious Disease
“You exist in time, but you belong to eternity. You are a penetration of eternity into the world of time. You are deathless, but living in a body that will die. Your soul knows no death, and no birth. It is only your body that is born and dies. The day we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity. For death is no more than a turning of us over from time, to eternity.”
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on.”
In response to numerous questions that we receive daily concerning the Coronavirus Pandemic, I feel it necessary to send an email addressing the situation at hand. It is important to have a balanced view based on the facts.
We are in the midst of a historically unprecedented event. And as such, we need to take a step back and evaluate this for what it is. Let's first go back in time and look at the roots of our perception of infectious disease and how we came to our current paradigm as it relates to us and our health worldwide.
The Germ Theory of infectious disease
The Germ Theory (AKA Pathogenic Theory) of disease causation was first popularized by Louis Pasteur in 1860 who theorized that infectious disease was a result of microscopic pathogens either viral, bacterial, or parasitic that when present in the human or animal host would cause disease. According to this theory, these pathogens are contracted from other sick individuals or substances that contain these germs and spread these microorganisms to others creating illnesses specific to the disease organism. Distinct organisms create specific diseases that require treatments designed by science to kill the offending pathogens, hopefully, without killing the patient. It is the paradigm that nature is at odds with us and dangerous and as such we need to initiate warfare against all known pathogens with every weapon we can create through a pharmaceutical arsenal. This is now how we approach infectious disease based on the Germ Theory.
At first glance this would seem logical, in that in many disease states, when the sick or infirm are examined, a specific pathogen may be identified. But to the contrary Germs do not always cause disease when the host is exposed to a specific pathogen. So why do some get sick when exposed to germs while others seem immune to them?
The answer is found in the research and writings of Pasteur's contemporaries Antoine Beauchamp and Claude Bernard. Both of these scientists’ research showed that the true reason for susceptibility to these pathogens rested on the condition of the internal milieu of the host. Also called the Cellular Terrain theory or Environmental Terrain theory as these two researchers believed that it was the environment of the host that determined the germ's pathogenicity (ability to cause disease).
If your body is healthy and strong the germ finds no home in which to establish residence. But if your system is depleted from high stress, poor diet, lack of rest, water, and exercise you will be susceptible to the germs that are naturally occurring in our body and to those with which we are exposed externally (e.g. Coronavirus)
These supposed pathogens are part of our natural environment and when the environment or terrain is compromised they are there to clean up the mess. Microorganisms as a whole are opportunistic and become a pathogen when the environment allows. If the mess is great, so are the symptoms of the clean up which we call the symptoms of the infection(e.g. fever, chills, mucous production, cough, etc). If the mess is small or not present the symptoms are reduced or absent. Thus we have a broad spectrum of symptoms from minor to dire from a single microorganism.
Why the predilection to find pharmaceutical interventions?
Based on the germ theory of disease Science has spent the last century and a half chasing the magic pill (antibiotic or vaccine, etc.) that will eradicate the Microorganisms responsible for the over 10,000 diseases recognized by the American Medical Association. It is this pursuit that has led to the creation of the pharmaceutical industry and the myriad of chemical interventions that they have created.
The responsibility of health now rests in the hands of the drug manufacturers and the onus has shifted from us to them. We no longer have to take responsibility for staying healthy as we have pharmaceutical preparations from birth to the grave that is touted as panaceas for our multiple infirmities. They would have us believe that these diseases are pharmaceutical deficiency disorders.
On the contrary, if we take care of our terrain and avoid the hazards and pitfalls of modern life that are rife with ill health causing affronts we can take hold of our health and make inroads to disease prevention. Studies show that if you change your diet to the Mediterranean Diet, even after the age of 65, you can reduce all-cause mortality by 75%. That is a reduction, in any way you can die, by 75%.
No pill or potion can offer this kind of outcome. The 3rd leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer is properly prescribed prescription drugs. Over 100,000 deaths per year are the result of prescription medications that are rightly prescribed. Iatrogenic(i.e. deaths due to medical procedures) deaths exceed these at over 700,000 per year due to the consequences of medical interventions. One of these common iatrogenic causes is Hospital Acquired infection (HAI). 5-10% of all hospital stays result in an infection that results in 99,000 deaths per year. Maybe our resources should be directed elsewhere when trying to reduce morbidity and mortality.
Given these statistics, I would fear medical interventions over any virus out there. Viruses’ for the most part are self-limiting and again, depending on the health of the terrain, will either cause no symptoms or mild symptoms. If the terrain is compromised you can expect more severe symptoms. This is why the infirm and elderly, tend to be the most at risk.
This geriatric population is usually on a myriad of drugs (polypharmacy) for different health issues, confined to care facilities, lacking exercise, fresh air, and sunlight, are exposed to poor dietary choices and therefore their environment is compromised. Is it any wonder that this population suffers the most at the hands of common microorganisms. Pathogens are opportunistic and will take a foothold where there is ill-health. In contrast, in a healthy individual, it will be much more difficult for these germs to create morbidity or mortality.
In other words virulence of a pathogen is dependent on terrain or environment and the health of the individual is key. No microorganism is indiscriminately pathogenic. Ebola, SARS, MERS, West Nile, H1N1, Swine Flu, Avian Flu, etc were all self-limiting and continue to be self-limiting. These did not require the level of planetary hysteria that we currently see with the Corona Virus to resolve. The statistics bear it out. The flu virus kills over 1,700 per day and 600,000 per year worldwide and on average and to date the Corona Virus has killed only 5,000 people worldwide. Corona virus' have been known to be a part of the general plethora of virus' that cause the flu for over 15 years, yet this seemingly benign and common affliction (see Greenmedinfo link below-Medical Testimony) has been publicized to the point of insanity as a caustic agent that we should all fear as the Black Plague.
Speaking of the Black Plague it was also self-limiting. It did not kill all it touched and the reason that it became so lethal were the conditions at the time it was pandemic. Europe was not new to rats and squalidness, so why did this new organism (Yersinia Pestis) suddenly become so pathogenic.
The region where the bubonic plague began in Europe was in Sicily where the largest sugar production in Europe existed. Sugar was introduced in the 13th century and the Black Plague began in the mid 14th century. If you trace the course of the Black Plague it followed the sugar routes through Asia and into the Middle East. Finally ending in Europe with the largest producer of sugar being in Sicily where the plague made landfall in 1347. It devastated Europe killing 1/3 the population over 20,000,000 people.
Again, terrain compromised by toxic agents, such as sugar, is to blame. That in conjunction with effluent filled water and filth and squalor at unprecedented levels. Yet, even with this environmental toxicity and sugar as a physiologic poison, 2/3 of the population still survived.
Another major pandemic that I hear mentioned when comparing Coronavirus to other pandemics is the Spanish Flu of 1918. This pandemic affected approximately 500,000,000 million people (1/3 of the world's population) and killed 50,000,000.
Again we have to look at the environmental conditions in which this pandemic occurred. It started as the first world war was coming to a close and originated in the soldiers that were in the trenches in wet and malnourished conditions. This was a brutal war that was fought in the trenches hand to hand and the decimation and brutality were incredible. The whole world was malnourished, impoverished, depressed, and suffered PTSD as a result of this war. The planet was ripe for devastation by a pathogen of this nature. The areas hardest hit were those where close quarters were kept. Thus sailors were especially vulnerable as were the soldiers in the trenches where it originated.
The Swine flu or H1N1 presented 2009-10 and killed an estimated 150,000 to 570,000 people worldwide in the first year. Note that this was one year after the economic downturn of 2008 that stressed out the entire nation and of course as a consequence would also lower immune function and competence.
We could go on into great detail concerning the conditions that created higher mortality rates at the beginning of the 20th century with infectious diseases like measles, diphtheria, pertussis, polio, etc. But that would require a whole newsletter in and of itself. Suffice it to say, we were exposed to toxic compounds in our air, water, and food, some newly developed, that wreaked havoc on our immune and nervous systems and created ripe terrain for these microorganisms to cause higher than normal death rates. Note that when the measles vaccine was first administered in 1962 that it was the 6th lowest cause of death in the US. 400 per year would die from measles and in contrast over 6,000 would die from asthma. This being said the virulence of that virus had been considerably reduced as a result of hygiene improvements like cleaner air, water, and food. If you think that mortality rates have anything to do with the inordinate response to the Coronavirus, consider this fact. 300,000 people a year die from obesity and our response is to make a new Dorito flavor and a KFC chicken sandwich with a donut bun.
Another point of view is that viruses may act to upregulate system function through their infection. When the body needs correction the viruses in our environment will activate causing upregulation in certain metabolic functions leading to improved health after the infection. There are even Provirotics that are being created to support our endogenous viral environment much like Probiotics support our bacterial biome. According to this concept, we should welcome viral infections as necessary afflictions that will improve our health after a brief episode of discomfort. Viruses' are also responsible for 8% of our genome, meaning we have been integrating with them forever. Are they responsible for improvements in our functions? It would seem so, when looking at the research, and would beg the question...Do we want to avoid their interaction with our immune system? Is it possible that they are in the constant process of modifying our function to help us more beneficially integrate with our environment? (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191010113231.htm)
How does our current response to the Corona Virus help abate the negative outcomes of the infection?
From my perspective, none of the things currently being employed are helpful in actually stopping the spread or decreasing the morbidity and mortality rates associated with this Corona Virus infection.
We should first be told that this infection is benign as compared to the seasonal flu in its many derivations and will more than likely only result in mild cold symptoms in 90% of the population. In Italy right now, where the high population of elderly leads to a higher death rate, 92% of the cases still present as mild. The Italian government states that 99% of their fatalities were already sick and 1/2 had 3 or more diseases. (See Greenmedinfo.com for a more balanced and scientific point of view. https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/italian-government-study-99-their-coronavirus-fatalities-were-already-sick-half-dee) (Here is another link with a scientist explaining that the coronavirus is nothing new-https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/medical-testimony-by-dr-wodarg-on-the-corona-panic)
China, a country of 1.7 billion people, had only 3,000 deaths where social distancing cannot be practiced, they smoke pandemically, live in high pollution, and are stressed by adverse conditions. These numbers do not warrant such a universally inordinate and catastrophic response.
Social distancing only creates more anxiety and alienation that decreases immune competence. Like a child secluded from the mother at birth, the lack of human contact only increases the risk of future negative outcomes. We are social beings and as such to deny this aspect of our lives for a disease no more virulent than the common flu is injurious.
Disrupting our economic system with mass closures, curfews and quarantines absolutely put the nail in the coffin of virulence upregulation of this benign infectious process. If you wanted to replicate the conditions that allowed the Spanish flu to kill millions these would be the tactics that would be employed.
Just to make my point, a patient came in recently and told the story of a couple who shared an oxygen mask with a subsequently confirmed Coronavirus patient who thought he was suffering from altitude sickness. After 14 days of quarantine, the couple who shared the infected mask were without symptoms of the virus and released from quarantine in perfect health.
In Conclusion
Given all this information what should be our response to the present hysteria, we are experiencing over the Corona Virus?
1) To date the Coronavirus is not as virulent as H1N1 or the common flu virus and is causing less morbidity and mortality than either of these other infections which should in theory create less panic. Take a deep breath and be no more concerned than you would during any normal flu season. The calmer you can remain concerning these issues will result in less cortisol (stress hormone) production, which will enable your immune system to function optimally and create a better emotional effect. Remember, FEAR is an acronym for= False Evidence Appearing Real (shout out to DC).
2) Knowing that Terrain is preeminent as concerns immune competence and the pathogen or microorganism, being opportunistic, is not virulent in a healthy system. We should all breathe easier knowing that if we eat well, drink clean filtered water, exercise, get adequate rest and sunlight, when possible, our immune systems should be strong enough to avoid any negative consequences of any supposed pathogen we encounter. If you have any concerns about what you may do nutritionally to support your immune system at this time, please refer to our Immune Protocol which is found in the link below.
http://www.rejuvenatewellnesscenter.com/healthy-choices/holistic-illness-protocol.html
3) Turn off the news and social media as they continue to barrage us with negative, false, or embellished information concerning this pandemic. Turn on music, meditate, listen to comedy shows, read a book and immerse yourself in positive affirming practices that will boost your immune system and positively affect those around you. We all need more positive environments at a time like this.
4) Do be courteous to those around you that may not have the information that you do and practice reasonable hygiene with a natural hand sanitizer and hand washing. If you are feeling ill in any way do not expose the elderly or compromise to your illness and maintain social distance from those we know would benefit from less microbe exposure.
5) Practice social proximity with those you know and love and reach out to those who may be isolated and feeling anxious and concerned about the current events and find time to encourage them as we all need to feel cared for and loved. Many people right now are not as concerned about the actual illness as they are about the changes that are being made and the impact that these changes are having on their lives. Find ways to comfort them and help them to cope with all that has arisen as a consequence of this inordinate and hypervigilant response to the Corona Virus pandemic. It is time to come together and create community again in the face of these changes. We can use this time to be better friends, neighbors, partners, and parents. We can turn this entire ordeal into a positive outcome for generations to come. Fear is the mind-killer, Let not your heart be troubled.
Let us not be caught up in the what if's of tomorrow and find the precious moments and blessings of today. Practice being in the now and anticipate what miraculous outcomes await us because often the fire of today precedes the transformational metamorphoses of tomorrow. This will all not be for nothing. Promise!!
Please know that during this time, we intend to always keep our doors and phone lines open for anyone feeling a need to be encouraged or comforted as concerns any of the current events or any events in your lives for which you may need support.
