Another potentially effective treatment against Covid-19
History and Background on Methylene Blue:
Also known as Methylthioninium Chloride, it is an essential medicine on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, considered to be among the safest and most effective medicines needed in the healthcare system today.
Methylene Blue is also considered a form of hemoglobin (a substance that transports oxygen throughout the body) and therefore functions in much the same way as hemoglobin.
The compound is considered a mild antiseptic, so it can be used to kill bacteria in the body, particularly in conjunction with other treatments. These and other properties make it an effective treatment for a variety of other conditions as well. When you ingest Methylene Blue, you might as well be ingesting the next best thing to pure oxygen.
It was the first antiseptic dye to be utilized as a therapeutic, it is a heterocyclic aromatic chemical compound that possesses a unique molecular formula that establishes it well as an effective medicinal treatment. The compound appears as a solid, odorless, dark green powder when held at room temperature.
Use of Methylene Blue was common prior to the arrival of sulfonamides (a large class of antibiotics) and penicillin. Used as both a dye and a medicinal treatment, it has a wide range of effective applications.
Created by scientists in the 19th century for textile use in 1880, Robert Koch found it useful for staining microbes when viewing them under a microscope. Koch quickly began to use Methylene Blue when studying Tuberculosis causing bacteria. Not too long after, a Polish scientist began using Methylene Blue to stain Malaria causing parasites in order to study malaria. Then, in 1891, Methylene Blue was allegedly found to cure two patients with Malaria. It was during WW II that Methylene Blue was given to soldiers as an anti malarial drug at dosages of 100 mg daily and found to reliably cure malaria.
During the lowest moments of the Covid-19 pandemic the world was fortunate enough to become familiar with many brilliant doctors and health care practitioners willing to step forward (risking their reputations, licenses and livelihoods) to tell us about alternative therapeutics available to help those suffering from Covid-19.
One medical voice you may not have heard is that of Dr. Deepak Golwalkar, a pulmonologist in India who has been successfully treating pneumonia, tuberculosis and other respiratory illnesses for more than 42 years. He’s had remarkable success treating his patients with Methylene Blue both sub-lingually (under the tongue) and in nebulized form.
In his work treating respiratory illnesses, Dr. Golwalkar came to realize Covid-19 and the Swine Flu were similar both radiologically and in their poor response to intranasal oxygen administration. While he would observe an improvement in normal pneumonia with oxygen treatment, he did not see improvement for Swine Flu or Covid-19. These viruses seemed to be causing alveolar capillary blockage, which limits the body’s exchange of Carbon Dioxide with Oxygen, and thus more oxygen did not solve the issue. He found that Methylene Blue would clear this blockage usually within 24 hours and oxygen levels would begin to improve.
Covid-19 has been shown to induce a silent hypoxia, in which patients do not experience the sensation of being short of breath even though their oxygen saturation rate is low. When this hypoxia reaches a critical stage, the patient may go into a respiratory distress intensifying the already existing cytokine storm brought on by the Covid-19 Virus. In this state, patients can present with symptoms similar to methemoglobinemia; a blood disorder which results in too little oxygen being delivered to the cells. Methylene Blue is considered an approved drug for methemoglobinemia.
Multiple Applications of Methylene Blue
In addition to its effective anti-parasitic properties, Methylene Blue is a very effective antiviral, anti-fungal and antibacterial. Methylene Blue has been used to treat myriad conditions such as urinary tract infections, skin conditions including psoriasis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, cyanide and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Antibiotic resistant super-bugs are a problem these days. This problem does not seem to occur with Methylene Blue as it acts on a fundamental pathway that does not allow for a pathogen to become resistant to its ability to treat an infection.
There are numerous reasons why Methylene Blue is useful and effective and the main one is Nitric Oxide mediated reduction in inflammatory cascades along with inhibiting canonical inflammasomes. In the body, nitric oxide basically has two main jobs:
1. When carbon dioxide is not available Nitric Oxide acts as the emergency vasodilator.
2. When you get sick and have an infection, levels of Nitric Oxide rise. It is the primary means the body uses to destroy pathogens because Nitric Oxide is very toxic to living organisms.
This is where things become a bit complicated, as we are living organisms, too; and therefore, Nitric Oxide is also toxic to us. This particular conundrum has created a continuing topic in health around stress and its impact on overall health. The stress system is important in short bursts, like any hormone, to keep us alive. Nitric Oxide (a free radical) is a player in that stress response. It becomes problematic when we experience chronic stress, creating the opportunity for health problems and disease to occur. The body must balance antioxidants and free radicals (Nitric Oxide) in order to function properly. If and when free radicals become excessive, we can expect disease.
Methylene Blue is not just effective when dealing with COVID-19; it can also help protect against the plain old flu, the common cold, SARS, MERS and other harmful pathogens.
Dr. Golwalkar’s work suggests that Methylene Blue should also be considered in the treatment and prophylaxis of Covid-19. Low dosages, as described below, of Methylene Blue have shown no significant adverse effects (less than 2% of patients complained of irritation in the nose and nausea for a day which subsided on its own).
Dr. Golwalkar’s Prophylaxis Treatment Protocol for the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) is as follows:
Start with an initial course by administering Methylene Blue in nebulized and sublingual form together. For those patients who present with severe cyanosis (oxygen levels less than 85%), an IV may be necessary.
The following protocol is administered under medical supervision only. (Methylene Blue is known to be toxic in incorrect dosages.)
- 0.1% Methylene Blue to be administered as inhalation through a nebulizer (primary line of treatment) via a nasal mask.
- Sublingual administration as a supportive line of treatment.
Due to the recommendations made by Dr. Golwalkar, a hospital in Mumbai began the protocol of administering Methylene Blue on COVID-19 confirmed patients and positive results were achieved.
India has experienced a rapid rise in the use of Methylene Blue as a preventive therapeutic for COVID-19. Given its low cost, safety and easy over-the-counter access, it is a very practical option for many countries.
Consider reading these studies that specifically mention Methylene Blue in the treatment of Ebola, SARS and MERS which yielded terrific results.
As SARS and MERS are also coronaviruses, it would be foolish to ignore this potential treatment for Covid-19.
Warning and Disclaimer:
Should you consider using Methylene Blue it is imperative to always do your own research, consult and consume only under the supervision of a knowledgeable health care practitioner. I highly recommend reading the book, The Ultimate Guide to Methylene Blue by Mark Sloan. It is a great guide to the history of Methylene Blue and how to use it effectively for myriad health concerns. Sloan also recommends where to purchase pharmaceutical grade Methylene Blue to be certain the product is lab tested for purity.
References:
“Methylene Blue Cures.” earthclinic.com, https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/methylene-blue.html.
Sloan, Mark. The Ultimate Guide to Methylene Blue. Endalldisease Publishing, 2021.
“What Is Methylene Blue?” Ryan Heeney, https://www.ryanheeney.com/what-is-methylene-blue.
More relevant studies on Methylene Blue:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7708136
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-02419-3
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30300862/?i=157&from=methylene%20blue
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3005530/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27006725
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30506565/?i=3&from=methylene%20blue
https://newatlas.com/progeria-methylene-blue-reverse/40885/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7708136
