COVID-19 NOW

Local Businesses Offer

Helpful Virtual Services W hile we’re all still doing our best to avoid the unnecessary spread of COVID-19 by socially distancing as much as possible, many of our local businesses are making this difficult time easier by offering programs, workshops and other services virtually. Their efforts are much appreciated, and ensure that we continue to connect with our healthy living community in a safe and responsible way.

These are just a few of the current online-only options available at the moment. We encourage all to check with your favorite local businesses to see what they’re doing to stay connected with Tucson during COVID.

Bill White, MA,

Relationship and Communication Specialist at Healthy Couples, is offering his relationship and communication work by phone or video calls. White has been offering long-distance Bill White

work to people in many parts of the world for many years, so this approach is not new for him. Both in-person and long-distance sessions work very well for clients.

White’s own path of growth and healing informs his work with others, and also provides a sense of “I’ve been there, too, so I relate to what you’re dealing with.” As always, a free, no-obligation-to-continue consultation is offered. (520-319-9132, Bill@TheHealthyCouple.com, TheHealthyCouple.com)

Kadampa Meditation

Center Arizona’s June workshop, “Learning from Loss” with Buddhist monk and Resident Teacher at Kadampa Meditation Center Texas, Gen Kelsang Menla, will be held online on June 27, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Researchers have found that meditation improves memory, enhances brain response time and improves emotional regulation. Meditation transforms our mind from negative to positive, from painful to peaceful.

“For centuries, Buddhist masters have explained that the true cause of happiness is a peaceful mind. How do we transform our mind from a distracted or unhappy state into one that is peaceful, positive and focused?” says Michele Thorsen, Administrative Director at Kadampa Meditation Center Arizona. “Meditating for 10 to 15 minutes a day can strengthen our mind and transform our painful emotions.”

W H O L E B O D Y W E L L N E S S

online wellness center for women with autoimmune disease functional & culinary nutrition lifestyle & mindset guidance Schedule online at nourishedwholebody.com for free consult & resources

Inspired by the teachings of Ven. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, fullyaccomplished meditation master and internationally-renowned teacher of Buddhism, Kadampa Meditation Center Arizona offers meditation classes for everyone, regardless of level or experience. Currently, all of their classes are online. Check website for registration information. (520-441-1617, AD@MeditationInTucson. org, MeditationInTucson.org)

Heidi Often, owner of Vitality Energy Wellness, is cur rently offering a free nutritional deficiency energy scan for new clients to help them understand the kind of information we can gather in the energy field of our bodies. Often says this is ideal for those who are interested in maintaining good health. She can usually shed some light on the situation for those who have fallen through the cracks and can’t get answers to their health challenges.

“The information they will receive goes well beyond blood tests or imaging studies,” says Often. “This is bio-resonance scanning of the body’s energy field. We can see weakness and dis-resonance in the enHeidi Often

ergy field that may correlate to symptoms. The body is energy and energy scanning can pick up on these imbalances. It is a very effective way of looking at the body and helping it heal.” (520-310-7115, VitalityEnergyWellness@yahoo.com, VitalityEnergyWellness.com)

Aviva Gold, founder and facilitator at Painting From The Source (PFTS), is offering two online painting workshops, June 13 and 18. At this time of social distancing, people can enjoy the healing and transformation of painting with a group while in the safety of their own home.

“You can have a transformational experience painting in the safety of your home wherever you live by joining a Zoom Painting From The Source workshop,” says Gold. One-day workshops and ongoing Tuesday three-hour sessions are available. This the first time that Gold has offered workshops on Zoom conferencing and first time PFTS is offered for one-day or threehour sessions, as typical workshops are always in person and a full week of five days. (520-447-7570, Aviva@PaintingFromThe Source.com, PaintingFromTheSource.com) Aviva Gold

Selina Harris, Yoga Instructor and Yoga

Therapist-in-Training at Sentient Yoga, is also a dental hygienist who works individually with dental professionals to reduce strain in the body and to reduce stress overall. Private lessons are currently available online via Zoom. Studio appointments should be available soon in her newly decorated, exceptionally clean, private studio located in the heart of Tucson.

Through Inner Peace Yoga Therapy, Harris has learned to address specific issues like anxiety and depression. Whether working through physical movement or breath work, she helps guide the body and mind back to restoration.

As we all adjust to a new way of going back to work, Harris intimately understands the needs of dentists and dental hygienists. As a dental hygienist, she addresses the additional stress on physical bodies and minds. Learn techniques to increase peace, serenity and improved overall well-being. (520-406-2029, Selina@ SentientAZYoga.com, SentientAZYoga.com)

Ozone Therapy for Strengthening the Immune System O zone therapy has been extensively researched in Europe and Cuba for the last 60 years. Millions of treatments have been performed with a higher safety record than aspirin. The idea of giving oxygen as a medical treatment has also been around for years. According to Arthur C. Guyton, MD, “All chronic pain, suffering and diseases are caused from a lack of oxygen at the cell level.”

Yes, we breathe air that has oxygen in it, but when that air is analyzed, it is found that the greater contents of air is particles of pollutants and nitrogen. Since the industrial revolution, the content of oxygen in our air has gone down to as low as 10 percent in highly industrialized areas. Our bodies need oxygen to metabolize our diet, as well as to run every cell in our body.

But how do we increase our oxygen intake? There are some products on the market to take orally, however doing Ozone as an IV has a much greater impact on the whole body. Cellular health is stimulated, energy increases, stamina returns and healing begins or con tinues throughout the body as the effect lasts for weeks.

Ozone works by stimulating the body toward balance or homeostasis when it is given intravenously. It also increases the body’s natural antioxidant production, enhances oxygen metabolism and modulates the immune system. Thus, our metabolism works better, and viruses, bacteria and fungus die off, inflammation goes down, pains and discomforts decrease and one feels better. Patients also report improved mental clarity as their brain fog decreases.

Using ultraviolet light (UVB) therapies together with Ozone as an IV treatment offers patients a greater impact toward overall health. UVB has been available and professionally researched for the last 100-plus years, yet, once antibiotics were introduced, less doctors used this proven therapy. It also is a bit more time consuming and is not considered a lucrative business in the modern mainstream medical office. However, UVB has proven to increase healthy red and white cells, normalize fibrinolysis (clotting factors) and can increase the bactericidal capacity of blood. So, alone or together with Ozone, a person can get multiple benefits by using this therapy on a regular basis. At Transformational Medicine, Dr. DeeAnn Grimes Saber, NMD with Vonnie Schultz Albrecht, RN have a combined history of helping folks heal with Ozone and UVB therapies for 35 years. Connect at 520-209- 1755, DeeAnn@TFMND.com or tfmnd.com. See ad, page 3.

Call or text to 847.323.9188 danielle @ replevyn.com www.replevyn.com

Danielle Dvořák Certified Aromatherapist

Accessing Our Own Ability to Heal W e all have the ability to heal, to channel healing energy to ourselves and others. There are a large number of energetic practices, modalities and energy aids that can assist us in doing so. Certainly study and certification can increase our capacity for healing, but the Universe is one of allowing, where intent will help us to begin to develop our abilities.

Man’s ability to heal goes far back to when there was no field of medicine. Many religions contain references to the gift of healing, to God and other Supreme Beings empowering man to heal others. Medical science is now opening to alternative or complementary practices and scientists and physicians are now acknowledging that energy and frequency can both cause and heal disease and emotional imbalance. They understand the importance of visioning in the healing process, learning that images can change molecular structure.

There are many methods of healing, and essential to all is belief and intent. We all know the wonderfulness of a gentle, loving touch. We can envision white light coming through our crown chakra into our heart, traveling to and through the arms and coming through the palms of our hands—and direct it to ourselves or another. If it is our intent to give healing energy, we will. Modalities such as Reiki, though, do enable one to heal others dramatically. Judy Ferrig, M.S. is a Reiki Master Teacher at Open Pathways Energy Healing and Animal Communication. Connect at 520-245-4214, JudyFerrig@comcast.net or OpenPathways-EnergyandCommunication. com. See ad, page 19.

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At the printing of my April article, in the U.S. there were 761 cases of COVID-19 and 27 deaths. This represents a positivity rate of 3.5 percent. As of this writing on May 8, 2020, there are now over 1.3 million cases and almost 80,000 deaths. This represents a positivity rate of 6.1 percent.

While monitoring the progress of this virus, an interesting phenomenon has been observed, relative to statistical reporting from various self-proclaimed authorities. There seems to be both a pattern of overand under-estimating. The various reporting sources are using actual and factual numbers to support these estimates. How do we as citizens know how to differentiate what the truth really is?

The key is to understand the difference between the positivity rate and the prevalence rate. To determine the positivity rate, we calculate the percentage of deaths relative to the number of positive confirmed tests at a specific time. Those numbers are accurate and are given in the first paragraph of this article. Comparing these numbers to those from my April article, in which China and the World Health Organization had projected 3.4 and 5 percent, respectively, it looks as if we are on approximately the same trajectory. At 6.1 percent of the U.S. population of 330 million, that would mean a death rate of about 20 million.

Although these numbers are calculated correctly, they are wrong and vastly overesti mated. The reason has to do with the difference between positivity and prevalence rate. The prevalence rate is the actual number of deaths as a percentage of the total population of the U.S. For clarity, this number can only be correctly calculated when an epidemic is completely over. So, what has been happening is that different reporting sources are extrapo lating different potential prevalence numbers, based on different positivity calculations, then not sharing the details of their number sources or the real significance of the data.

In the U.S. currently, we have still only tested about 2.5 percent of the population, or 8.5 million. The more tests we actually do, the closer to and more realistic a prevalence per cent we reach. Not only are we way behind the eight-ball relative to testing, but there is a sig nificant complicating factor. The reliability and accuracy of our current tests is suspect. Some sources have suggested that the false positive rate may be as high as 80 percent. If true, then all of our calculations are seriously flawed.

Now, let’s look at the basis for the underestimates. If we take the current 80,000 death rate and calculate this as a percentage of the total U.S. population of 330 million, that number is .024 percent. Currently, this is still a positivity percentage and not the actual by Lance J. Morris

prevalence percentage. Both sides reporting data about the meaning of the current death rate in the U.S. are choosing to use the oppo site numerical extremes for their calculations and not clarifying to the American people the bias these numbers represent. They are both only statistical possibilities—and not reality.

There does seem to be a consensus in the medical and scientific community that the number of infected individuals with COVID-19 is probably much higher than our current tests reflect. There has also been a consensus from the onset that most infected individuals, 80 percent or more, will be completely asymptomatic or only exhibit mild symptoms. Some physicians have speculated that the current evidence is leading to the conclusion of “millions and millions of positives, but very few deaths”. The more tests we do, the more this seems to be holding up. The good news is that these lower speculations are probably more accurate than those on the higher end.

Additional great news is that more and more naturopathic, holistic, integrative and functional physicians have had the opportunity to treat COVID-19-positive patients, and they’re learning some therapies can be effective against the illness.

First, let’s talk about some scientific information evolving about COVID-19. This virus seems to attack hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the blood’s carrier of oxygen. The virus displaces iron, causing an increase in inflammatory oxidative damage in the lungs, leading to methemoglobinemia. The oxygen is still present, but the body loses the ability to distribute it where it is needed.

Evidence for this plausible theory of methemoglobinemia has been seen in hospitals with pulse oximetry testing. This is a simple finger device used for all hospital patients to monitor blood oxygen levels. Healthy individuals normally have pulse ox levels between 94 and 100 percent. COVID-19 patients commonly have pulse ox levels around 75 percent, or even as low as 50 percent. At these levels, most patients are highly symptomatic or even unconscious. At 75 percent oxygen profusion, many COVID-19 patients seem and act completely normal. COVID patients, in this situation, are very fragile and quickly develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

ARDS is often quickly followed by what is referred to as a cytokine storm. This is induced by a series of powerful pro-inflammatory modulators that then cause organ system fail ures—from lung, to heart, to kidneys, leading to death. One of many inflammatory mediators is called NLRP3, which is directly linked to a decrease in melatonin. A powerful hormone, melatonin naturally occurs in much higher concentrations in children, below 9 years of age and has been speculated as one of the primary reasons that children are not as susceptible to the ravages of COVID. As such, one additional preventive measure is to add 3-5 mg of melato nin daily at bedtime for adults.

One of the primary treatments for methemoglobinemia is using pharmaceutical grade methylene-blue. This can be used intravenously (IV) or in a nebulizer. Alternative medical practitioners have discovered that by using bioluminescence (light) in the 550-700 nm range, it seems to activate and potentiate the efficacy of the methylene-blue.

The methylene-blue seems to have five modes of action: it displaces methemoglobin, restoring normal oxygen levels; the bio-lumi nescence activation kills viruses; it increases pH, inducing an alkaline environment (COVID-19 is acid dependent); it is an oxi dant to viruses; and it reduces inflammatory modulators like IL6, TNF-alpha and NLRP3 to block cytokine storms. Early clinical stud ies are seeing oxygen levels and respiratory function reverting to normal, even in the first treatment. As of the printing of this article, the Canadian government is about to engage in a clinical trial using nebulized methyleneblue with COVID-19 patients.

Stay tuned. The tide is about to turn.

This article is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition. The recommendations are for educational purposes only. Application of products like methylene-blue or IV vitamin C must be administered by licensed medical professionals. Pa tients with G6PD deficiency cannot safely use these therapies and must be tested by a physician first.

Dr. Lance J. Morris’s Tucson clinic is currently open and he is seeing patients at the office, as well as offering telemedicine for patients anywhere. His office is located at 2310 N. Wyatt Dr., Tucson. Connect at 520-322-8122. See ad, page 10.

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Mindfulness Training May Reduce Paranoia In news that may be useful for people dealing with the stress of the global pandemic, researchers from the University of London have found that just one week of practicing mindfulness—moment-to-moment awareness—reduces feelings of paranoia. The research, published in the journal Mindfulness, was based on questionnaires of 494 people, enabling researchers to find a correlation between paranoia and judgemental thinking. They found that higher levels of nonjudgement predicted lower levels of paranoia, even in individuals that had a predisposition for it. Then, 68 people were selected and divided into two groups: one that was asked to go through a prerecorded, guided mindfulness session once per day, and one that acted as a control. The session consisted of a quick body scan, mindful breathing and awareness exercises. The results showed a drop in judgmental thinking and paranoia in the mindfulness group.

Cheryl Foster Board Certified Reflexologist

2230 E. Speedway Blvd., #100 • Tucson, AZ 85719

520 990 1857 www.SantaRitaSprings.com