https://pjmedia.com/trending/five-problems-with-the-study-that-claims-more-deaths-from-treating-coronavirus-with-hydroxychloroquine/
Five Problems With the Study That Claims 'More Deaths' From Treating Coronavirus With Hydroxychloroquine
BY MATT MARGOLIS APRIL 22, 2020
Gotcha-Trump Fail!
Every time i read about this study, i see something missing.
Whether that is missing because the media are (all?) too lazy to type "and Zinc" or "and Zinc Sulfate" in the pharmacology or whether the Zinc supplements WERE NOT GIVEN, I don't know.
Often one of the most aggravating things about journalism is what simply isn't said.
I would wager that commonly is a result of the writers having little or no understanding of the subject.
SO, just for fun, the pharmacology and the why:
Basically, the SARS-CoV-2 virus attacks the cell by invading it, looting it of cell material to build more viruses, which escape to do more damage, killing the cell. The virus attaches to a specific protein and that is how it gets into the cell, past the membrane that surrounds the cell. In this case, the cell is one in the lungs that allows Oxygen into and Carbon Dioxide out of the bloodstream, essential for life. There are a lot of these cells, but if too many are killed, we can't breathe and we die.
What will stop the virus from replicating is zinc, but it has to be in the cell to do so.
If the Zinc is outside the cell, it can't stop the virus from trashing the inside of the cell and making more viruses.
The Zinc needs a way in.
Hydroxychloroquine opens corridors through the normally highly selective membranes that surround the cell and lets the zinc in. Then the Zinc can interfere with the virus trying to make more viruses, keep it from trashing the cell, the cell lives, the virus doesn't--but the zinc has to be there first.
Azithromycin helps defeat the virus' replication. Though the process isn't quite understood, it has been seen before. It also has two other effects. First, as an antibiotic, it helps ward off any infection that might come from bacteria (something antibiotics are generally good at, even though by themselves they usually are not effective against viruses.)
The other effect is that Azithromycin (known as a Z-pack) tends to have a mild effect of reducing the body's immune response. (also noted before SARS-CoV-2 came along).
Why is that important? In cases where the disease (COVID-19, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2) is well advanced, there are a lot of dead cells laying around in the lungs. The human body likes tidy tissues, and responds to dead cells laying around and to microbes invading by getting the immune system cells going, fighting what it can, producing mucous to wash away the mess, which isn't a bad thing unless the damage already done is just too great. Then that response all at once can do more damage, even enough to be fatal. Actually slowing that response down a little can be beneficial to the patient.
So, that's why ALL THREE, the hydroxychloroquine (to let the zinc into the cell to stop the virus), the Zinc Sulfate (to provide the zinc to stop the virus from killing the cell), and the Azithromycin (to slow the virus, the immune response, and to keep the bacteria out of the fight), are important.
Not once in mention of this study have I seen any mention that any zinc supplements were used.
That would be like fighting D-Day with empty landing craft.
