The Art and Soul of Healing

The traditional Mediterranean Diet is characterized by a high intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, and mainly unrefined, minimally processed grains like rice and oats; an abundant fat intake from virgin olive oil, through salads, traditionally cooked vegetables, and legumes; a moderate consumption of fish and shellfish, a low consumption of meat and meat products; with the consumption of wine during meals. Fermented dairy products (cheese and yogurt) are allowed in moderate amounts. The Mediterranean Diet is NOT the Standard American Diet. We will see why that is and why you should make the switch today.

There are people all around the world recommending and trying different interventions to fight the SARS-CoV-2 viral infection that has resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic. People are recommending and using everything from pharmaceuticals, to supplements, to animal byproducts. The news from China includes the use of intravenous vitamin C (abbreviated as IV C) for the sickest patients in the ICU and we are also hearing about the use of IV C in New York.

IV C does seem to be helping patients with COVID-19. The March 2020 report from Dr Richard Cheng and Dr Enqiag Mao in Shanghai discussed IV C treatment in approximately 50 patients with moderate to severe cases of COVID-19. [1] The Chinese team used IV C dosing of 10 grams for 7 – 10 days for the moderate cases and used IV C dosing of 20 grams for 7 – 10 days for severe cases. They reported that all cases that used IV C as part of the treatment survived. They also reported that the length of hospitalization was shortened by 3 – 5 days. An additional patient who was deteriorating rapidly was given 50 grams of IV C infused over 4 hours and was reported to improve without side effect from the IV C dose.

In New York City a March 24, 2020 news report quotes Dr Andrew G Weber, pulmonologist and critical-care specialist, as stating his hospital is giving 1.5 grams of IV C to hospitalized COVID-19 patients. [2] He was reported to say, “The patients who received vitamin C did significantly better than those who did not get the vitamin C.” However, Dr Weber did not give any supporting data to indicate how significant this improvement might be. He did correctly point out that the very sickest patients are known to have unmeasurable levels of vitamin C in their blood stream and it seemed logical to him to treat with vitamin C.

With these positive, albeit small isolated case reports, it seems time to clear up some misunderstandings that are circulating about the use of IV C.

Please fill out this brief survey to help our research. https://vitamincsurvey.wufoo.com/forms/q56lcp61msys3e/

Your host, Jeanne Drisko, MD, will take you on a journey to understand how intravenous vitamin C came into use. Dr Drisko is a translational researcher exploring the efficacy and mechanisms of actions of IV C used in patients with disorders like cancer and infection. The history will explore the discover by Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, early research by Claus W Jungeblut, use in the 1940s by Frederick Klenner for infections like poliomyelitis, and moving up to modern times with orthomolecular theories by Linus Pauling. The history has not been straight forward and not without controversy. This will kick off a multi-program tour of IV vitamin C.

Dr. Gaby received his undergraduate degree from Yale University, his M.S. in biochemistry from Emory University, and his M.D. from the University of Maryland. He is past-president of the American Holistic Medical Association and gave expert testimony to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine on the cost-effectiveness of nutritional supplements. He is the author of numerous books and scientific papers in the field of nutritional medicine. He was professor of nutrition and a member of the clinical faculty at Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA, from 1995 to 2002. He is the author of the textbook, Nutritional Medicine, which is being used in 37 countries and by more than 25 graduate and undergraduate nutrition programs.

Brian left the engineering field choosing to get his massage therapy license from the Atlanta School of Massage. By the time he completed the program, he knew that he was bound for the world of sports injuries and that his engineering background gave him an edge that no other person had. Brian acquired his Masters Degree in Sports Medicine (Athletic Training) from Georgia State University. Simultaneously Brian co-founded Body Mechanics Sports Massage Therapy in 1994, to this day a highly regarded injury clinic that was able to provide massage therapy staff for the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Braves and Atlanta United.

Brian has over 44 seasons as an on-staff therapist with multiple professional sports teams. He’s been working with professional athletes since 1994 and now a majority of his patients are professional athletes in the NFL, MLB, NBA, MLS and NHL. During football and basketball seasons, he travels weekly to work privately with NFL and NBA elite players. Career Highlights include providing treatments at the following: Super Bowls - 1999, 2005, 2006 and 2011; World Series 1999 and 2009; Atlanta Falcons massage therapy staff for 19 seasons; Atlanta Hawks training room staff therapist for 19 seasons; Atlanta Braves staff therapist in the training room for 3 seasons which included the 1999 World Series and Playoffs for 2000 and 2001; Atlanta United MLS team staff therapist from 2017 - current (includes MLS Championship in 2018). Brian was also selected as 1 of 3 massage therapy supervisors in the Sports Medicine Clinic within Olympic Village for the 1996 Olympics, 1996 Paralympics and 1996 US Track and Field Trials - (historically this was the first time massage therapy was to be included under the medical umbrella for a modern Olympic Games).

After his Olympic work experience in 1996, a massage symposium in Barcelona, Spain contacted Brian to be the only guest presenter from the United States at SITEM in 1996.Then in 1998 he was invited as a guest presenter at the National Sports Medicine Conference in Auckland, New Zealand. From 1997/98 Brian was hired by the Director of Sports Medicine at the University of Georgia to teach his 100-hour sports massage training program to the entire Sports Medicine Staff, a group of high-profile athletic trainers and physical therapists.