by Linda Schmitt, Corvallis
What with the talk about Covid, I looked into Ivermectin as a remedy. In particular, to answer the questions: “does it control symptoms (like cough medicine for a cold) or a preventative (polio vaccine against polio), or a Covid cure (antibiotics against bacteria) or is it for treating parasites, with no effect on Covid?”
What does it matter? Among people who pride themselves on solving their own problems, it’s useful to know what works and what doesn’t. If you don’t know, knowing where to get the answer is a place to start. So I started digging. So can you. I looked it up and put the references below. Fortunately, the information is public and you don’t have to be a genius to grasp it. Here’s the gist of it.
To begin, Ivermectin attacks parasites, not viruses. They are different. Parasites are live. They duplicate themselves, multiplying and invading. They don’t “attack” your cells. They feed off your body and reproduce themselves. Like squatters taking over your house. Push you right out. Or, more correctly, organs get so compromised the body can’t function. Horses are vulnerable to parasites so owners treat horses with Ivermectin to combat parasite infestations.
Viruses, on the other hand, are helpless flakes (think of dandruff) when they are outside of a body. But once inside your body, watch out. They seduce your cells into handing over the goods: vital enzymes cell building blocks, allowing the virus to imitate cells and spread through your body. Viruses outside your body are helpless, but inside, they are trouble. They usually get in through your nose or mouth, as we know so well from flu season. It’s the entry point for Covid.
Remember when it was 20 degrees and you could see your breath? Lovely puff of frost in the cold air? Well, if you happened to have Covid, that lovely puff is what carried it into your husband’s mouth when you laughed at his joke and he breathed in the droplets from your breath. The virus just rides on those droplets right into your husband’s mouth. Voila. Covid times two. When you’re indoors and everybody is laughing and talking, if some are infected, they breathe out moist droplets and Covid jumps on for a ride. It could be Covid times twenty.
So, Covid is a virus. Covid is not a parasite. Ivermectin tackles parasites. It doesn’t have the horsepower (ha ha) to go after viruses. Even the manufacturer, the company Merck, says it doesn’t have any effect on Covid. Ivermectin helps if you have parasites (like lice), but not Covid.
Ivermectin does not cure Covid. Ivermectin doesn’t manage symptoms. Ivermectin doesn’t prevent Covid. If you think it cured Covid, you either didn’t have Covid or you had a mild case. The Covid virus is trouble; its first cousin the Delta variant is equally bad but twice as contagious. Covid is your Dad’s Chevrolet. Delta is your son’s Corvette: it moves faster. If you want safety, get the vaccine and the booster. Get your friends to do the same, because you care about them.
If anybody tells you Ivermectin will protect you from Covid, know they don’t have your interests at heart. Lord knows what point they’re trying to make, but it’s not about your health.
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19/ivermectin-train-cannot-stop