Dexamethasone and Covid-19

I meant to write this post earlier but…stuff happens, such as our blocked kitchen sink pipe (We spent all day Sunday trying to “unblock” it using a bunch of different methods, including a high-pressure cleaner!, but to no avail. So today I’m waiting for the plumber to come fix it…), and I didn’t get to it until now. So you have probably already read about the Dex-Covid-19 connection. I’ll write this bit of news anyway, for those of you who might have missed it.

Last week Stefano asked me if I knew what dexamethasone was. Do I know what dexamethasone is? Hah! You can imagine my reply… 😉 

Anyway, he’d just read the news that Dex, as it’s more familiarly known to us myeloma people, has recently been found to reduce Covid-19 mortality by, drum roll!, a whopping 35% in hospitalized patients who are on ventilators. It’s all here, in this BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53061281

Well, it’s good to know that there’s an option out there for very ill, hospitalized Covid-19 patients, even though Dex does come with its side effects (the “Dex days” that many myeloma patients have to endure…).

Still, yes, very good news!!!

Personal note: I’ve slowly been venturing outside the house to run a few errands. I wear TWO masks–a surgical mask AND a good cloth mask made by friends to raise money for the cat shelter (these cloth masks are very pretty, colorful, and full of, what else?, cats!).

So, everything is peachy in my little world…oh, except for the bloody drain pipe in the kitchen! 😉

Stay safe, everyone, and wear a mask!!!

Yesterday I helped save a dog

Yesterday morning I received a whatsapp text from one of my neighbors who had spotted a small, terrified dog on the other side of the tiny river at the bottom of our hill. She took a photo of it and asked if it belonged to anyone we knew. Wait, before going on, I should note that, years ago, my neighbors and I created a whatsapp group that enables us to get in touch quickly should anything happen or if anyone needs anything or whatnot. This group is super useful at times, as it was yesterday, as it turns out…

Some of my neighbors immediately mobilized to help this little dog. They didn’t wait for the municipal police to arrive but got a ladder, lowered it down into the tiny river, really no more than a stream, and carried the dog over to the other side, to safety.

I was still at home when all this happened. But as soon as I got my neighbor’s message and photo, I remembered something I’d seen earlier that morning on Facebook, a desperate appeal posted by a woman whose dog had run off the day before, with her leash on. I took another look at the photo on Facebook and, yes, I was sure it was the same dog.

So I texted my neighbor to tell the policewomen, who had just arrived, to call the FB woman’s cellphone. I then went down the hill to see if I could help. The poor little dog was still terrified, so terrified that she had refused to eat anything, even though she must have been starving. So we (a bunch of concerned neighbors and two lovely municipal policewomen) just stood around, keeping our social distance and wearing our surgical masks, of course, until the dog’s happy owner arrived. All of a sudden, the terrified, motionless little dog became the happiest dog in the world…dancing around and licking her owner, as you can see in this happy photo I took (cutting off the woman’s head, sorry!, for privacy reasons)…

And to think that if I hadn’t seen and remembered the appeal on Facebook, the policewomen would have had no choice but to take that scared little dog over to the municipal kennel, and it might have taken days for them to track down her owner…

I’m soooo glad that didn’t happen.

Anyway, all’s well that ends well. I helped save a dog yesterday, and it made me feel like a goddess for the rest of the day. 😉

Quercetin has anti-myeloma activity

A study from 2016 came to my attention today, thanks to a member of one of the MM Facebook groups to which I belong.

This study shows that quercetin works well both alone AND in combination with dexamethasone. Let’s not forget that it’s a proteasome inhibitor (like curcumin and, in the conventional world, Velcade).

Here’s the direct link to the study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5216736/?fbclid=IwAR2Nk3FwZ3b8MfAqKUNOz1YXfQ6PU2lcQzAN-eGSMWvVBO7dTD9waNpxXn4 

I have to admit that I haven’t taken any quercetin in years, but it looks as though I’ll be putting it back on my “menu” now. For many reasons, not just because of its anti-myeloma activity…

Quercetin is good for a bunch of other things. For instance, it may reduce inflammation, blood pressure, and blood sugar, as well as protect against degenerative brain diseases. And the best thing is that it can be found in many of the foods we eat every day, including (red) apples, onions, cherries, broccoli, and so on. But of course it’s easier to get it in a capsule format…easier, that is, than eating a truckload of red apples every day. 😉 

A bunch of years ago, when I did some research on quercetin, I wrote that one shouldn’t take more than 1.5 grams a day, so please be careful with dosage. Do a search of my blog for more information…

Anyway…good stuff!

Stay safe, everyone!