Your Health

Four natural ways to protect our elderly community; creating the first line of defense

W. Gifford-Jones MD & Diana Gifford-Jones

January 17, 2021

BY W. GIFFORD- JONES MD & DIANA GIFFORD-JONES

It was 1949, and I was making rounds at the Massachusetts General Hospital with Professor Edward D. Churchill, an original thinker who taught medical school students and residents the importance of science in surgical practice. The X-ray showed a small mass in one lung in a very frail elderly lady. If it was a benign lesion, an operation might kill her. If it was malignancy and we did not operate, it might end her life. After much discussion, Professor Churchill asked a question I’ve never forgotten, “How would you treat your own mother?”

I told this story to Diana while discussing the number of people dying in seniors’ homes due to COVID. What treatment would we want for our family members?

It’s reasonable to expect more infections in seniors’ homes this winter. Vaccines are on the way and hopefully they will help end this nightmare. But in the meantime, loved ones will die.

So, prevention must be practiced, including refraining from gatherings, wearing facemasks and complying with social distancing rules. There’s no guarantee to evade the virus, but these steps will decrease risk.

Yet, for loved ones in these group residences, this is not enough. In addition to these structural defences, we should help them ensure that their natural biological defences are as robust as possible. Unfortunately, this first line of defence has not received due attention.

There’s an avalanche of information about fighting the virus from pharmaceutical companies, institutes of health, university-based labs, and expert researchers around the world. We are counting on these groups to make breakthroughs in medicine that will cure diseases and protect us from future pandemics. But where are the common-sense messages about good old-fashioned prevention and protection that come naturally from our immune systems?

In fact, you can find the ingredients for a strong immune system if you go looking. But there are no mega-million-dollar budgets to push this information to you on the nightly news or in commercial advertising.

COVID-19 is caused by a viral infection. So, look at the research on the prevention of viral infections for guidance on how to care for your loved ones.

Doctors of orthomolecular medicine specialize in nutritional supplementation to maintain health. They deserve attention for two reasons. One, natural remedies don’t kill people and if these approaches show results, then they should be a priority in treatment. Two, research by these scientists, including published clinical trials, continues to prove the efficacy of natural supplements for both the prevention and treatment of disease.

So, how do we protect our loved ones? Dr. Damien Downing, a British allergist, has written on vitamin D deficiency in relation to viral infections. He recommends 4,000 international units (IU) daily for three months and then 3,000 IU daily in order to reduce risks of contracting viral infections and to prevent disease from becoming severe leading to death. This is because vitamin D enhances immunity, decreases inflammatory responses and acts as an antioxidant.

Other research shows that the addition of zinc 30 milligrams (mg) daily also beefs up immunity and eases inflammation. Magnesium at 400 mg daily eases the constriction of arteries caused by viral infections.

Finally, don’t forget vitamin C, 1,000 mg three times a day. Split the dose because vitamin C is water-soluble and some is lost in the urine. It has been shown for decades to be a potent antiviral agent.

So, for our loved ones, we would insist that these four safe, inexpensive vitamins and minerals be given. Afterall, you can’t replace your mother.

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Written By W. Gifford-Jones MD & Diana Gifford-Jones

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones, MD is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Harvard Medical School. He trained in general surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University and in Gynecology at Harvard. His storied medical career began as a general practitioner, ship’s surgeon, and hotel doctor. For more than 40 years, he specialized in gynecology, devoting his practice to the formative issues of women’s health. In 1975, he launched his weekly medical column that has been published by national and local Canadian and U.S. newspapers. Today, the readership remains over seven million. His advice contains a solid dose of common sense and he never sits on the fence with controversial issues. He is the author of nine books including, “The Healthy Barmaid”, his autobiography “You’re Going To Do What?”, “What I Learned as a Medical Journalist”, and “90+ How I Got There!” Many years ago, he was successful in a fight to legalize heroin to help ease the pain of terminal cancer patients. His foundation at that time donated $500,000 to establish the Gifford-Jones Professorship in Pain Control and Palliative Care at the University of Toronto Medical School. At 93 years of age he rappelled from the top of Toronto’s City Hall (30 stories) to raise funds for children with a life-threatening disease through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Diana Gifford-Jones, the daughter of W. Gifford-Jones, MD, Diana has extensive global experience in health and healthcare policy. Diana is Special Advisor with The Aga Khan University, which operates 2 quaternary care hospitals and numerous secondary hospitals, medical centres, pharmacies, and laboratories in South Asia and Africa. She worked for ten years in the Human Development sectors at the World Bank, including health policy and economics, nutrition, and population health. For over a decade at The Conference Board of Canada, she managed four health-related executive networks, including the Roundtable on Socio-Economic Determinants of Health, the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, the Canadian Centre for Environmental Health, and the Centre for Health System Design and Management. Her master’s degree in public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government included coursework at Harvard Medical School. She is also a graduate of Wellesley College. She has extensive experience with Canadian universities, including at Carleton University, where she was the Executive Director of the Global Academy. She lived and worked in Japan for four years and speaks Japanese fluently. Diana has the designation as a certified Chartered Director from The Directors College, a joint venture of The Conference Board of Canada and McMaster University. She has recently published a book on the natural health philosophy of W. Gifford-Jones, called No Nonsense Health – Naturally!

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