JoNova Oct 2020
Another day in the strange world of Covid
A new finding suggests Covid-19 doesn’t just bind to the ACE2 receptor, it also binds to a key pain receptor called neuropilin-1 receptor (NRP-1). This could explain why some people with a high viral load are asymptomatic and infectious but unaware they are unwell. It’s like the virus is arriving with it’s own morphine. In theory this might be a successful adaption from the virus’s point of view as it may increase the spread of the disease if infected people wander around able to shed virus for longer.
Despite being fed up with the WuFlu, the efficient perfidy is something to behold (at least to a microbiologist). It’s like a pocketknife.
On the down side, the virus may still be damaging tissues in this painless state, which might explain some of those findings of lung and heart damage even in mild or asymptomatic cases.
There is at least one potentially very nice payoff. The finding from the University of Arizona, may lead to the design of whole new painkillers based on the coronavirus spike that is “better than opioidsâ€. The lead author says he has been contacted by people who had chronic pain, but noticed it disappeared while they were infected. The pain returned later as they recovered.
Perhaps we can dose people up on little parts of Covid spikes and stop a whole lot of pain and suffering in other diseases. We will get the better of this box of malware.
COVID-19 causing virus blocks the pain receptorsMore:
http://joannenova.com.au/2020/10/covid-tricks-spikes-block-pain-pathway-hiding-the-infection/#more-73471
