Dr. Horowitz Treatment Protocol

ADDRESSING OXIDATIVE STRESS

Covid treatment protocol (and more) from Dr. Richard Horowitz, a prominent Lyme disease doctor.

Glutathione - “antioxidant defense, nutrient metabolism, and regulation of cellular events.”  Of key importance, it’s essential to healthy lungs and respiration.

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been found to neutralize harmful bodily stressors and promote production of glutathione in cells. It also “may help to reduce oxidative and inflammatory damage in pneumonia patients,” according to published research.

https://www.lymedisease.org/pfeiffer-preventing-covid/

Horowitz protocol for prevention:

(by Mary Beth Pfeiffer)

At my request, Horowitz agreed to share his regimen to prevent infection and, further, prioritized the list for me because of the complexity and expense of supplements. He advises that “patients bring my articles to their doctor and speak to them” first.

Top tier:

Glutathione, 250 to 500 mg twice a day

N-acetylcysteine (NAC), 600 mg twice a day

Second tier but makes above even better:

Alpha lipoic acid, 600 mg once to twice a day

Zinc, 40 to 50 mg a day

Icing on the cake:

Curcumin, 1000 mg twice a day

Sulforaphane glucosinolate (broccoli seed extract), 100 mg twice a day

3, 6 Beta glucan, 500 mg to 1000 mg once a day

To treat the infection, Horowitz uses the same supplements as in the prevention protocol but in higher doses. He further adds high-dose Vitamin C and ivermectin, which shows promise for COVID and would have to be prescribed by a physician. (See treatment details below.)

To treat the infection, Horowitz uses the same supplements as in the prevention protocol but in higher doses. He further adds high-dose Vitamin C and ivermectin, which shows promise for COVID and would have to be prescribed by a physician. (See treatment details below.)

Horowitz, Freeman and their spouses take the supplements. Richard and Lee Horowitz recently vacationed in Cape May, N.J., where, he said, “I didn’t have an iota of worry. And we are two people in our 60s.”

‘Helped me breathe’

Among Horowitz’s ardent new fans is Dr. Lou Rotkowitz, 43, a Queens, N.Y., emergency room physician who said he almost died from COVID, contracted five months ago when he intubated a patient. He spent 10 days in critical care, leaving the hospital debilitated, with only inhalers and oxygen, and “on my own to figure out” how to fully recover. He called Horowitz, whose glutathione success was featured in a New York Post article. Horowitz explained how supplements might repair the cellular damage of COVID.

“It was all starting to make sense to me,” he said. “It’s basic molecular physiology.” Rotkowitz took glutathione, NAC, alpha lipoic acid and ubiquinol QH, a form of  CoQ10 that reduces stress on cells and supports the heart, among other things.

In looking back, Rotkowitz, who is also a New York City Fire Department physician, says three things saved him: A high-flow breathing machine called Vapotherm in the hospital; two rounds of hydroxychloroquine, and, finally, Horowitz’s supplement regimen.

“It helped me to breathe better, helped my energy level to improve,” he said. “I had a really, really rough go of it. These things are really of value.”

Other protective protocols

Horowitz’s regimen isn’t the only option to protect against COVID.

Quercetin and Vitamin C, according to a review of the medical literature, prompt a “synergistic antiviral action” that may prevent infection and quell symptoms.

Elderberry has been shown to have antiviral qualities and to promote cytokine production (though it should be stopped at the first sign of COVID).

Zinc, Vitamins C and D3, and N-acetylcysteine can be effective against COVID, the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine has reported.

Why are these supplements effective?

In brief, here’s what the scientific literature says on how the supplements work and their potential benefits:

Glutathione might be called the antiviral warrior in the COVID battle, playing a role, one article reported, in “antioxidant defense, nutrient metabolism, and regulation of cellular events.” Of key importance, it’s essential to healthy lungs and respiration. One research article suggests its deficiency may increase COVID severity and drive up deaths.

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been found to neutralize harmful bodily stressors and promote production of glutathione in cells. It also “may help to reduce oxidative and inflammatory damage in pneumonia patients,” according to published research.

Alpha lipoic acid is an antioxidant that controls respiratory inflammation and, along with glutathione and NAC, quells cytokine storms; with glutathione, it detoxifies the body of heavy metals.

Zinc is “known to play a central role in the immune system,” making people low on it susceptible “to a variety of pathogens,” according to Horowitz’s paper.

Curcumin and sulforaphane glucosinolate (broccoli seed extract) decrease inflammatory cytokines and lower inflammation.

Beta glucan, from yeast, stimulates production of Natural killer (NK) and T cells, which defend against viruses.

Horowitz’s regimen for active infection

Supplements listed above remain the same, except dosage changes.

Glutathione, 2000 mg, 2 to 3 times per day

NAC, 1200 mg twice a day

Vitamin C, 2000 mg 3 times a day

Physician-prescribed ivermectin 0.2 mg/kg once a day for 10-14 days (Must be physician prescribed)

Dr. Horowitz’s comment on how the supplements work to treat and potentially prevent COVID

“Although anecdotal, I have heard from patients who were on NAC and glutathione when they were exposed to COVID-19, that they did not get sick or test positive for the virus, when others around them did. This can potentially be explained by the antiviral effects of NAC and glutathione, which have been published in the peer-reviewed medical literature, years before COVID was on the scene.

Supplements like NAC, alpha lipoic acid and glutathione also have anti-inflammatory effects. The way the viral machinery turns on is with oxidative stress, driving inflammation, and these supplements lower inflammation, by blocking a switch inside the nucleus called NF Kappa B. I have used this approach for over two decades, lowering cytokines and inflammation in Lyme disease patients.

Some of the same cytokines seen in COVID-19 are exactly the same cytokines seen in Lyme patients, especially during Herxheimer reactions, which is how I knew to use this approach, which has been effective. I also used to treat Babesia patients with shortness of breath with IV glutathione and would see similar results, i.e., improvement of shortness of breath.

So, all of my years of treating tick-borne diseases have given me a perspective that other doctors or researchers may not have regarding the efficacy of this approach. I would suggest however, until a randomized, controlled trial is done, that patients bring my articles to their doctor and speak to them about taking NAC, alpha lipoic acid and glutathione. I believe it will help protect them against the inflammatory effects of the virus.”

Dr. Horowitz’s comment on the use of hydroxychloroquine

“The hydroxychoroquine debate is a typical one in medicine. First a treatment is said to work, then it’s examined in greater detail in multiple studies, where there are conflicting results. Some older studies showed benefit. Others did not. One study resulted in a clinical benefit, if the patient was also taking zinc. Other studies showed no benefit and potential side effects (nausea, arrhythmias).

Didier Raoult in France, who is the French researcher who initiated the trial of HCQ/macrolide trials, still believes that the regimen is effective. I’m waiting to see how it all plays out, especially because the Lancet had to retract negative comments about the combo. In the meantime, in part to avoid the debate, and because there were some good studies showing the efficacy of ivermectin for COVID-19 (a drug I had a lot of experience using), I decided to use it for the treatment of COVID-19 along with nutritional support like NAC, ALA glutathione, and zinc.

We have seen success using ivermectin, where patients have reported improvements within hours of use. An in vitro study also showed efficacy of ivermectin in killing the virus in culture, with two clinical trials (one involved patients on respirators) showing some benefit. We still need better trials, but the basic science is there supporting its use, and as I said, I have seen patients respond positively within hours of taking it.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7172740/ Efficacy of glutathione therapy in relieving dyspnea associated with COVID-19 pneumonia: A report of 2 cases

Dr. Horowitz also mentions in his paper some of the inflammatory/oxidative stress markers that could be done:

• oxidative stress markers (lipid peroxides) as well as inflammatory markers (CRP, ferritin, D-dimer) and LDH

https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/134/3/489/4688681?login=false

Glutathione (γ-glutamyl-cysteinyl-glycine; GSH) - GSH displays remarkable metabolic and regulatory versatility. GSH/GSSG is the most important redox couple and plays crucial roles in antioxidant defense, nutrient metabolism, and the regulation of pathways essential for whole body homeostasis. Glutathione deficiency contributes to oxidative stress, and, therefore, may play a key role in aging and the pathogenesis of many diseases.

This presents an emerging challenge to nutritional research. Protein (or amino acid) deficiency remains a significant nutritional problem in the world, owing to inadequate nutritional supply, nausea and vomiting, premature birth, HIV, AIDS, cancer, cancer chemotherapy, alcoholism, burns, and chronic digestive diseases. Thus, new knowledge regarding the efficient utilization of dietary protein or the precursors for GSH synthesis and its nutritional status is critical for the development of effective therapeutic strategies to prevent and treat a wide array of human diseases, including cardiovascular complications, cancer, and severe acute respiratory syndrome.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6250560/

Conclusion

In summary, we demonstrated that CAP exhibited significant increase of oxidative stress. Addition of NAC therapy to the CAP patients reduced MDA and TNF-α and increase TAOC more than standard therapy alone. Thus, our study suggests that NAC inhibited oxidative stress and reduced the inflammatory factors in pneumonia. Treatment with antioxidants NAC might reduce oxidative and inflammatory damage in pneumonia patients.