Ok, I went ahead and got a temporary Wordpress site to host the Covid19 Megafiles online, so you can read them without downloading them.
You can view them here: Peak Prosperity Covid19 Library of Files
For now just the three megathreads are up, but over the next few days I’ll get some of the other compilation put up there, and try and update the megathreads to current videos.
You can search the files for keywords (like “mask” or “bleach”) by using your browser’s “Find” option under Tools.
That should solve the false malware alerts some of you were getting.
Well, the Wuhan Virus has arrived in my neck of the woods. There is a case about one block from me so its pretty damned close. Can’t say where that is exactly because I just pissed off a lot of gold bugs and some miners in my prior post, but it’s arrived. What took it so long?
Looks like I will have to avoid the 7-11 and shopping mall after all. Dang.
Hi DavidDD,
Happy to see that some people are beginning to look beyond the “COVID CRISIS” and to ask the right questions.
There are many opinions out there, but few based on significant thought. It’s all about emotion.
You should read Plan B in the addendum of the free book FROM FREEDOM TO FASCISM. You can download it from B&N but Amazon expunged the entire addendum.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/from-freedom-to-fascism-skip-sparks/1130048697
SARS2: Why the Old, not the Young, Why Chinese?
Mortality from SARS 1 and 2 was/is highest in the elderly, especially in those with comorbidities (pregnancy is not a comorbidity ?). This is not hard to accept given the general immune decline as we age. But why is mortality inchildren, who are relatively inexperienced immunologically, the exact opposite of that for the elderly for both SARS 1 and 2? This is not the case for influenza, in which younger children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems are at greatest risk.
SARS 1 and 2 both enter the target cell via the ACE2 receptor site. Without getting too technical suffice it to say that the SARS virus saturates these ACE2 receptor sites and essentially remove them from play. Absence of ACE2 increases a hormone (angiotensin II) that latches onto another receptor site (ATR1). This latter mediates inflammation by a well known signaling pathway. ATR1 receptor activity is a direct measure of biological age. Old people have no buffer (low ACE2), but the young have plenty of ACE2. Blockage of the ATR1 has been proposed as a longevity strategy. Alzheimers disease is associated with its overactivity.
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.118.313477
SUMMARY: Less ACE2 availability means more Angiotensin II and subsequent inflammation via ATR1 receptor activity. This leads to more inflammation and accelerated aging. The elevated ACE2 in children oppose this.
The Chinese are more susceptible to SARS 1 and 2 because of the prevalence of certain HLA genotypes
In their population not because they have more ACE2.
TECHNICAL DISCUSSION
If you want the more technical explanation supported by the medical literature, then read on. Otherwise skip to the conclusion.
WHY THE OLD BUT NOT THE YOUNG
Basically ACE (enzyme 1) produces the active Angiotensin II from the inactive Angiotensin I, while ACE2 (enzyme 2) inactivates Angiotensin II. The young have more ACE2 (the good kind) and less of the bad. ACE (enzyme 1) isn’t really bad, since our very existence depends on Angiotensin II, as it regulates fluid and electrolyte balance (fights dehydration and low BP (blood pressure)).
https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/26/4/322/439241
https://www.nature.com/articles/nm0805-821
But Angiotensin II does much more than that!
Angiotensin II works thru two counter regulating receptor sites, ATR1 (“bad”) and ATR2 (“good”).
However, within the last decade or two Angiotensin II has been shown to play an additional vital role in inflammation and aging-related tissue injury. ATR1 mediates the BP elevating/pro inflammatory arm and ATR2 counters both.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3377325/
ACE/ACE2 increases as we age. Angiotensin II and ATR1/ATR2 also increase as we age, especially upon pursuit of a sedentary lifestyle. This has been shown in mice and rats. Don’t hold your breath for clinical studies in human children.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4855022/
https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/73/12/1594/4969203
Additional evidence underscoring the benefits to the lungs of blocking Angiotensin II at its ATR1 receptor site but without the ACE2 receptor targeting by SARS:
“Plasma levels of angiotensin II, a major regulatory peptide of the renin-angiotensin system, are markedly elevated in H7N9 influenza patients and are associated with disease progression. Moreover, the sustained high levels of angiotensin II in these patients are strongly correlated with mortality.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24800963
“Avian influenza A H5N1-infected patients exhibit markedly increased serum levels of angiotensin II. High serum levels of angiotensin II appear to be linked to the severity and lethality of infection.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24800825
“ACE2 and the angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2) protect mice from severe acute lung injury induced by acid aspiration or sepsis. However, other components of the renin-angiotensin system, including ACE, angiotensin II and the angiotensin II type 1a receptor (ATR1), promote disease pathogenesis, induce lung oedemas and impair lung function.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16001071
“The levels of Angiotensin II were elevated following down-regulation of ACE2, causing severe lung injury via AT1R during the process of RSV infection.” (mice)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4728398/#!po=9.25926
So it appears that for influenza viruses Angiotensin II and its ATR1 receptor mediate an inflammatory process through a mechanism unrelated to the ACE2 receptor sites preferred by SARS 1 and 2. Higher ACE2 levels in the young are apparently not helpful in fighting influenza viruses (v SARS 1 and 2).
WHY THE CHINESE
In a January 2020 study of uninfected lung cells from 8 normal donors (2 males, 1 Asian) the 2 male donors had a higher ACE2-expressing cell ratio than all 6 female donors (1.66% vs. 0.41% of all cells => 4x more). Furthermore, the only Asian donor (male) had a much higher ACE2-expressing cell ratio than the white and African American donors (2.50% vs. 0.47% of all cells => 5x more). Consequently the authors concluded that “this study provides a biological background for the epidemic (sic) investigation of the 2019-nCov infection disease, and could be informative for future anti-ACE2 therapeutic strategy development.”
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.26.919985v1
So ACE2 seems to be bad, according to this article. Seems logical since this ACE2 receptor is the target for SARS entry. But ACE2 appears to be highly beneficial in the young in fighting SARS and infusion of ACE2 is highly effective in fighting influenza H5N1, influenza H7N9, acute lung injury from sepsis and acid aspiration, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms4594
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep07027
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03712 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4728398/
So which is it?
ACE2 has a circulating component and a membrane bound component. Perhaps increasing the circulating component acts like an antibody and soaks up virus that would otherwise attach to the membrane bound component for cellular entry.
The “ACE2 is bad” study is seriously flawed (extremely small sampling), stands alone unsupported, and contradicts much larger studies.
- Estrogen down regulates both ACE and Angiotensin II, contradicting the limited study findings https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9931124
- We already know the elderly have low ACE2 and are more susceptible, which means that high ACE2 would be good not bad.
- SARS susceptibility in Han Chinese is more about the prevalence of certain genes and specific HLA genotypes (human leukocyte antigen system for encoding histocompatibility) in its population than the ACE2-expressing cell ratio from one Asian male. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300723620_Association_Between_HLA_Gene_Polymorphism_and_the_Genetic_Susceptibility_of_SARS_Infectionand https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2334-6-106
- Whether the Chinese do have more ACE2 is not known, but they are more likely to have lower ACE and that is a good thing! Chinese have more of the I (I for insertion) allele (.70) v Caucasians (.43) than the D (D for deletion) allele in the ACE (enzyme 1) genotype. ACE II genotype (denotes homozygous for the insertion allele and not ACE2) has lower ACE than ACE DD genotype. https://www.nature.com/articles/1000856.pdf?origin=ppub
Now, THIS, is the type of information, and opinion, I like to see!
You have written a very good article and illuminated the subject nicely!
Thank you.
Dont you love how the media is portraying people who are stocking up as “panic buyers”? Or people who are selling risky investment instruments are now “panic selling”. Making strategic adjustments to your life in the face of pending crisis is depicted in a negative light. You are “panicking”. I guess the implication is that you are a coward or something. lol.
You are not supposed to react to global crisis in any way. You should stand in front of the coming freight train and never move a muscle, all for the collective good. You should risk your retirement savings, your families well being, risk illness, starvation and death, and never make any move to ameliorate your condition.
“Why is human recombinant ACE2 not available?” There was a successful phase II clinical study more than a decade ago.If you read the paper linked to after this statement, it concludes,
However, GSK2586881 infusions did not result in improvement in physiological or clinical measures of ARDS in this small studyI am not sure I would call this a, "successful" study. I'll take the malaria drug Chloroquine with some extra Zinc, Thank you.
I lived in a small, rural, town in Western MA for 12 years that did not have cell service. I have subsequently moved closer to town where there is cell service. But I’ve never bothered to upgrade my cell phone from my tracfone flip phone, which is pre-paid. I can buy a block of minutes in advance and use it as needed. No monthly payment. The workaround I used while living rural for people being able to text me was a google voice number, which shows up on my computer, not cell. At this point I would like to upgrade the tracfone to a smart phone of some sort so that I can stop pushing buttons over and over to text and also get on the internet if I need to. And in researching this am finding that tracfone now offers “plans” where you can pay $20 or more a month to get unlimited talk and text (which seems potentially useful in an emergency) but does require the banking system to be functional in order for automatic payments to go through in order to keep the service running (not great in an emergency). So what I may do is simply get the upgraded phone with better texting and internet capabilities and not the plan, but continue buying the blocks of time so that it’s already there if I need it. Or get the new phone with the plan, and keep my block of minutes on the old flip phone as backup. But then I’ll have 2 cell numbers. Wondering what others are thinking about cell phones/payment plans and how to keep connected with loved ones. I also recently heard a friend of mine on the west coast talking about getting a CB radio as part of her emergency planning and remember using CBs as a kid with my family on long car trips to hear where the “speed traps” are. Also interested to hear if people thing that having a CB radio on hand is a good investment for this type of emergency. I’ve not seen much discussion of the implications for our cell service or phone/internet system.
Might be more complicated than we can perceive. So many power players, so many unknowns, yet we all must act as if we know what we need.
this just out today:
Rome, March 11 - A commonly used arthritis drug has shown "excellent results" in two coronavirus patients and a national protocol for its extensive use against the virus should be drawn up, oncologist Paolo Ascierto of Naples' Pascale Hospital said Wednesday. The drug, tocilizumab, "has shown it is effective against pneumonia caused by COVID-29," he said.http://www.ansa.it/english/news/science_tecnology/2020/03/11/coronavirusarthritis-drug-seems-to-work_8113f9d9-9bb8-4181-9c02-3e314c30e7e9.html from what i gather this drug can stop a cytokine storm: ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocilizumab )
Cytokine release syndrome
On 30 August 2017, the FDA approved tocilizumab for cytokine release syndrome, a side effect of CAR-T cell therapies.[15]Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
On 11 March 2020 Paolo Ascierto confirmed that tocilizumab has proven effective in a couple of cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in Italy.[citation needed]I’m watching the state news right now on NPO 1.
They stated that housedoctors have been testing since the very beginning everybody with symptoms and they only found one.
That is a BOLD FACED LIE considering the effort you guys KNOW i’ve gone through to try and get tested.
I called the doctor 6 times. the GGD 4 times. 112 twice. Been to the emergency room twice.
And i COULD NOT get a test, because, according to policy, if i hadn’t been abroad, and i could not show a sustained 38c RECTALLY MEASURED temperature, the policy was i had 0 chance of having it. that was the LITERAL policy (it was even posted on this site on whatever article was out that day). i could show a 37.8 rectally measured temperature, i have PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE but because of a 0.2C degree difference they DID NOT TEST ME.
<supermario voice> I’M-A SOH MAD! </supermario>
Being in Hospice means they will not provide ANY additional medical care. For his own best interest, when he can no longer feed himself, any intake of food and water must be cut off. I cringe when i hear of people using feeding tubes on their parents. Caregiver where my father in law was staying was fired, because she was giving him sponges filled with water, “because he’s a sweetie”. Nobody could figure out where the water in his lungs was coming from. It’s a super hard decision, and worse watching him dying is the worst helpless feeling one can have.
This is a time for the family to come together to provide comfort to the patient and to each other. My wife had to deal with her father by herself (I was of course there supporting her), but younger brother ran out of the room, ran out of the room screaming and crying because he couldn’t see dad in that condition. Older brother is a POS who couldn’t be bothered to come see dad. He lived for 14 days with no food nor water (minus the little bit he was given against dr orders), and finally my wife asked him who he was waiting for, there was nobody left, only she and I. He passed a couple of hours later.
That is not hospice care. Feeding tubes are one thing, withholding water from someone able to take it with assistance is cruelty. Comfort care is an important part of demonstrating our compassion for the weak and dying.
Not true, you can choose what care is provided while in hospice. Hospice care just means that they are not expected to live past 6months/year, and sometimes they get better. My mother passed last year while under hospice care and she had a feeding tube, oxygen ( comfort mask) IV drip and antibiotics. She was not expected to live long, but she had relief and less symptoms with that care. Her thinking was much clearer on the antibiotics, for example, and why have her die of dehydration ? She died of pneumonia, which is what she had when entering hospice. What was stopped was shoving intubation tubes down her throat and there was a non-rescuscitation order, so no CPR.
To clarify, she was already on a feeding tube when she got the pneumonia, it was not started then. It was how she ate, she had developed an inability to swallow due to years of a particular medication, but at that time, you could see how hard she was trying ! I have never seen someone with such a will to live and someone working so hard, chewing and trying to swallow, but the swallow reflex just gone. SO, just want to say, do not judge about feeding tubes ! Why should someone be left to starve when they can get nutrition that way ? I even know children who will be on feeding tubes their entire lives – living like normal, except when it comes to meal times
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/stocks-puke-pandemic-cycle-lows-us-financial-conditions-crash-most-lehman
Another bad day for ye olde markets. Everything went down, except the dollar. Shows liquidity is getting veeeery tight.
Still not sad/worried about gold though. The chart of the day would be this:
It’s not even spring yet. Still though… that’s a gold ETF; which means it falls under the ETF bubble as well. Good luck actually redeeming that gold. But atleast they get it in spirit.
Having just gone thru this, well, saliva can run down into lungs, but even that isnt the issue, pneumonia is what causes water in the lungs. The body does this on its own, no need for swallowing the wrong way. trust me, a person with no mouth input of fluids or food will still get water in the lungs when coming down with pnuemonia
Sponges, the swabbing of the mouth with a wet sponge is a comfort measure that is always done ! It is not enough water to cause water in lungs or any other issue. It is cruel enough to die of dehydration, but swabbing the mouth increases comfort, and it does not prolong death as it is just moistening the mouth. It feels horrible to have a dry mouth and cracked lips. They also use lip balms for this reason.
Out here in fly over country, seems lately a few folks been have been talking up some interest in radio communications for emergencies. A few farmers still got a CB in their trucks, and maybe an old base station on a shelf somewhere gathering dust. Most have given into using cellular phones nowadays.
I got a little bit of everything, but have gotten rusty in using it. Just last weekend I pulled some GMRS and Ham radios out of storage and started setting them back up on my shelf over my desk and I’m back to rereading their manuals.
One of the best primers for a quick reading on EMCOMs is this older post (Jan 2012) over on SurvivalBlog. I still reference it once in a while to pull freqs to scan.
https://survivalblog.com/comprehensive-crisis-communica/
Today one can fill out the paperwork for a (no-exam-required) GMRS license, send it in with the $90 fee, and after a few days them and their family can legally use the higher powered GMRS-only radios.
https://nsea.com/apply-gmrs-license.html
Then in between sessions of playing around with GMRS, they could be studying for their Technician-level Ham Licence with an on-line class. http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed
The hard part will be able to find a ham-radio testing location with everything shutting down in next few months.
Really glad to see even more of the old gang bringing their gray matter into the fray here… Thank you, Jim
[Sparky1 comment: WHO’s a bit late to the party. Before they didn’t want to use the “P” word as it might convey a sense of hopelessness. So now they’re ok is using it–why? I suspect they needed extra time to get their back-channel deals in place, especially since now governments in afflicted countries are putting big money on the table. What about those “pandemic bonds” or other financial instruments tied to the use of the “P” word? Seems like there’s more to this than semantics. At the very least, it makes it look like they are “doing something”. Lame.]
WHO calls coronavirus a pandemic as Britain, Italy shore up defenses
“We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction,” Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva."
“We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic,” he said, using the formal name of the coronavirus.
'“Use of the word pandemic does not change the WHO’s response, said Dr Mike Ryan, the head of the Geneva-based agency’s emergencies program.”
"WHO officials have signaled for weeks that they may use the word “pandemic” but said it does not carry legal significance. The WHO classified the outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern” on Jan. 30, triggering an increase in global response coordination. "
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus/who-calls-coronavirus-a-pandemic-as-britain-italy-shore-up-defenses-idUSKBN20Y1RF