Leana Sheryle Wen (Chinese: 温麟衍; born Wen Linyan; January 27, 1983) is an American physician, author, professor, speaker, consultant, newspaper columnist and television commentator. She is former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore
and former president of Planned Parenthood. She has written two books based on her experiences as a medical professional.
Wen has served as a public health communicator during the COVID-19 pandemic and 2022 mpox outbreak, appearing frequently on CNN
as an on-air medical analyst.[1][2][3]
Wen was asked to testify four times to Congress during the COVID-19 pandemic,
including twice to the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.[4]
Currently, Wen serves as a public health professor at George Washington University
and is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She is also a columnist for The Washington Post and a medical analyst for CNN.[5]
As COVID-19 cases rise yet again due to new variants, Dr. Leana Wen,
a COVID expert & former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore,
took questions from readers of the Washington Post about how you can stay safe and issued an update on the state of the virus. “According to the CDC, about 97 percent of the American public has some immunity due to prior infection, vaccination, or both,” she wrote. “New variants will continue to arise. We must track these variants and stay on top of them, and we have to do a lot more to develop better vaccines and treatments. Sadly, though, we are not going to end the coronavirus as it exists today,” said Dr. Wen. Here’s what she says you should do now to protect yourself and your family.
1 Dr. Wen Says Get Vaccinated
The new COVID-19 vaccine can protect you by reducing the severity of COVID and Long COVID-19. “These persistent symptoms are important to acknowledge and address, both for people who have Long COVID and for people who have lingering problems due to other illnesses,” said Dr. Wen. She also notes that the vaccine isn’t a bulletproof vest; if you want to remain truly safe, use protective measures like masking or avoiding crowded areas. “Know, too, that the vaccine is not very protective against infection, so even if you are
in the window of maximal protectiveness from it, you should still add other mitigation measures if you want to avoid covid (for instance, masking while on the plane),”
she said of traveling.
2 Dr. Wen Says Even Healthy Adults Should Get Vaccinated
“My husband is also a healthy adult in his 40s. He will be getting the COVID booster this year, and also he gets the flu shot every year. The reason to do so is that these shots reduce the chance of hospitalization and death from very low to extremely low. Also, they could lessen the severity of illness, which is important–most people can’t afford time away from work or caring for their families, and even if they aren’t sick enough to end up in the hospital, they’d take mild sniffles over being extremely fatigued and non stop coughing.”
3 Dr. Wen Says Here’s When to Get the New Vaccine
“The CDC says that you could get the new booster if it’s been at least 8 weeks since your last shot, so you could go and get the updated booster now. I think you could also wait until November to maximize your chance of having the protection last through the winter,” said Dr. Wen. “You could look into what high-exposure events you have coming up in the winter and time your next shot for a couple of weeks before that.”
4 Dr. Wen Says Masking Works
“One-way masking definitely works to protect the wearer, especially if you are wearing a well-fitting N95 or equivalent mask,” said Dr. Wen. “Whether you choose to wear masks depends on how much you continue to prioritize avoiding COVID-19. Those who do should wear them in crowded indoor spaces, including, during travel, at airports, on planes, in the subway, and so forth.”
5 Coinsider Your Risk for Catching COVID
Dr. Wen was asked about masking at weddings. “This depends on how important it is for you to avoid COVID and other respiratory infections,” she said. “There will be a chance you’ll contract it by attending the wedding and interacting with other guests. You could reduce that risk by standing apart from others, masking, and trying to socialize outdoors only, but I’m assuming these might be challenging to do at this wedding. In that case, you could make sure you are maximally protected by getting the flu and covid (and possibly RSV) vaccines at least two weeks before the wedding, and have a plan for taking antivirals (Paxlovid and Tamiflu, if eligible) if you become infected.”
6 Treatment and Medications
“Paxlovid works best when given early in the course of illness,” said Dr. Wen. “If you are eligible for Paxlovid, you should take it.” Do so despite a possible rebound.” Most people would prefer two mild cases of the sniffles to one instance of severe shortness of breath and fever. Also, Paxlovid works to block viral replication. By the time your symptoms have progressed to become more severe, it’s too late to take it. Better take it early to prevent severe disease. That’s what I recommend to my patients and to my own family members.”
7 Vaccines for Specific Demographics and Health Conditions
Regarding getting your flu shot, RSV shot and COVID shot at the same time, Wen says: “My opinion is that if you are only able to go once to get your shots, you should receive both at the same time. However, if you are able to go twice, there may be reasons to space them out. Some people have substantial side effects like fatigue and achiness from either or both of the vaccines, for example, and may wish to separate out the shots so as to reduce the simultaneous impact of the side effects.”
8 Get the RSV Vaccine
“While the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is commonly associated with young kids, it also causes significant illness in older adults. Every year, according to the CDC, it causes 60,000-160,000 hospitalizations and 6,000-10,000 deaths among adults ages 65 years and older. I think it’s a very good thing that there is now an RSV vaccine for older adults. I’d encourage you to call around other local pharmacies to see if they carry this vaccine,” she added.
IF YOU NEVER WATCH ANOTHER COVID VACCINE VIDEO
PLEASE WATCH THIS ONE! Heart-Stopping Trend: Myocarditis Rates
Are So High That Dr. McCullough Reports Seeing Two Cases PER DAY (substack.com)
IT IS A FULL, SHORT & TO THE POINT EXPLANATION OF OUR COLLEGES AND PROFESSIONAL SPORTS RESEARCH TESTING USED BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF THE VACCINE. THE RESULTS ARE ASTOUNDING! MYOCARDITIS CAUSED BY THE VACCINE IS ALWAYS DEADLY!
Florida Recommends Most People Don’t Receive New COVID-19 Vaccines.
Why when I scroll through posts does it always automatically glitch and scroll
back up several posts? Kinda frustrating.
RELATED: Surprising Signs You’ve Already Had COVID
First Lady Jill Biden’s COVID-19 Diagnosis Sparks Controversy Over Vaccination
Effectiveness and Presidential Travel Plans Following Hurricane Community Visit
Story byThe Net Worth Of
First lady Dr. Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday evening,
as announced by the White House. Here’s how the story is unfolding.
The First Lady Has COVID-19
Biden, 72, had been experiencing mild symptoms at the time of the positive test, according to a statement from the first lady’s communications director, Elizabeth Alexander.
She had planned to remain at her home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Biden’s 72-year-old wife, whose symptoms were mild, last had COVID in August 2022.
The president, now 80, last tested positive in July 2022.
President Biden underwent a COVID-19 test after learning of the first lady’s positive result, and he tested negative, confirmed White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “The President Tested at Regular Intervals Throughout the Week and Monitored for Symptoms”
“Now Would Be a Great Time to Remind Everybody That There Is No Way Anyone Can Get COVID if They’re Vaccinated”, One X-er (a former Tweeter) commented on Biden’s own assurances that you could not get Covid if you had been vaccinated – he repeated Biden’s words “now would be a great time to remind everybody that there is no way anyone can get COVID if they’re vaccinated”. Joe Biden said so! “The various shots that people are getting now cover that. If you have them, you’re okay. You’re not going to get covid if you have these vaccinations.”
Yeah Right Joe!
Long COVID remains a collection of symptoms with no single cure.
Since Surviving Covid in December 2020.
I have been taking 5000 IUs of Vitamin and overcame my severe case of Covid by using XLEAR Sinus and rinsing with MouthWash half dozen times a day until I got my sense of taste and smell back, eating Mini Wheats for the fiber content. Then began eating 7 cans of cooked spinach (Vitamin K) for a week and got my strength back.
Also Eating Two jars of dill pickles plus drinking the juice until I got the fluid out of my legs and taking baby aspirin to prevent blood clots was a big plus. Keeping the virus out of your digestive tract in an important tip I have received from a Naturopathic Doctor near me – Search (bing.com) K.E.G.
Vitamin K can now be added alongside vitamin D as an essential nutrient in which deficiencies have been linked to worse outcomes with COVID-19 patients. To be clear, there is currently no cure for COVID-19, no vaccine yet developed. Supplements cannot claim to prevent, cure or treat any disease.
Vitamin D has benefited from 22 published human clinical studies since the coronavirus outbreak began; these studies show that elevated levels of vitamin D improve clinical outcomes or at least mitigate the worst outcomes, while deficiency levels make things worse.
With vitamin K, researchers in a new study
Stated from the observation that vitamin K deficiency might be related to worse
COVID-19 outcomes, given that patients with severe COVID-19 are more likely to have
so-called comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases
—all of which are associated with reduced vitamin K levels.
Not only is cardiovascular disease linked to low vitamin K status, but it also includes
a breakdown of tissue fibers as measured by elastin, which is involved with pulmonary disease—and severe COVID-19 patients seem to use stores of vitamin K to protect the partially degraded elastic fibers in the lungs.
Researchers also noticed the connection between patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms and a bleeding disorder called coagulopathy, in which the blood’s ability
to form clots is impaired. These patients also suffer from thromboembolism, wherein dislodged blood clots block blood vessels. Vitamin K is most renowned for its ability to coagulate the blood—the process of promoting and dissolving blood clots.
Related: K2 ascends the mountain of letter vitamins
They hypothesized that vitamin K status is reduced in patients with severe COVID-19.
They looked at 123 COVID-19 patients and 184 controls. And found a clear connection.
“The study represents an amazing finding,” explained Leon Schurgers, professor of biochemistry of vascular calcification and vice chair of biochemistry at the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University, and co-author of the study. “This study illustrates that a poor vitamin K status–deduced from low dp-ucMGP levels–is linked to poor prognosis.
The study concluded that vitamin K status was reduced in patients with COVID-19 and related to poor prognosis. Importantly, vitamin K levels were significantly lower in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy controls, as has been shown in patients with comorbidities. Also, low vitamin K status seemed to be associated with accelerated elastin degradation. In conclusion, vitamin K status was reduced in COVID-19 patients compared to controls and was associated with disease severity.
While inspired by the results, the study authors remained cautious.
“It might be tempting,” wrote the study authors, “to speculate that vitamin K administration has an improving effect on vitamin K status in severe COVID-19 patients. However, this has never been studied in this patient group. Additionally, whether improving vitamin K status would correlate with better prognosis in SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals has to be tested.
Preliminary evidence was provided suggesting a potential mechanistic
link between reduced vitamin K status and accelerated tissue degradation.
An intervention trial is now needed to assess whether vitamin K administration improves outcome in patients with COVID-19.” The researchers are currently measuring blood levels of vitamin D in the COVID-19 patients to see if there is any connection there as well.
The vitamin K2 connection
Because of the clear vitamin K connection, the researchers also hypothesized that vitamin K2 (not to be confused with vitamin K) could be linked to better health outcomes in these cases.
Vitamin K, along with vitamin D, has been found to improve COVID-19 outcomes
(note: NOT cure). And the popular vitamin K2 may play an important role as well.
Vitamin K2 has an integral role in activating and binding calcium to bones, and it also keeps calcium from accumulating in the walls of blood vessels—atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is the top cardio killer. Simply put, vitamin K2 takes calcium from where you don’t want it (arteries) and puts it where you do want it (bones).
The vitamin K2 connection is also correlated because it is found naturally in real cheese (not “American cheese”) as well as in natto—a funky fermented soy dish that’s a staple of Japanese breakfasts. One study researcher said it “may be very relevant” that Japanese regions in which natto consumption is high reportedly have less COVID-19 incidence and disease severity.
Interestingly, one key factor in the study is the measurement of vitamin K status determined by the amount of the “inactive” vitamin K-dependent protein, Matrix Gla Protein, or MGP. What makes that interesting is that vitamin K2 has been found to activate vitamin K-dependent proteins including MGP. The most widely studied brand of vitamin K2 is the MenaQ-7 brand owned by NattoPharma. The company has sponsored 19 published studies into MenaQ-7 brand vitamin K2.
According to the study, vitamin K-dependent MGP is generally accepted as an inhibitor of vascular calcification, and there are scientific studies suggesting that MGP also plays a role in the creation of lung fibrosis. MGP is crucial for the protection of elastic fibers against mineralization and fibrosis may be present in lungs of patients with severe COVID-19.
Also, low dp-ucMGP levels were significantly correlated with desmosome levels, a measure of the breakdown of elastin, which is an important factor for pulmonary health.
“Supplementation of vitamin K increases the vitamin K status in the body as measured
by the level of active vitamin K-dependent proteins, and vitamin K2 is clearly the best form of vitamin K due to its superior bioactivity,” said Hogne Vik, chief medical officer at NattoPharma. “MGP is the most potent known inhibitor of vascular calcification to date.
MGP is a K-dependent protein already present in the body, but it needs adequate vitamin K2 to be activated to perform its function.” The lead researcher, Rob Janssen, applied for a patent for vitamin K status as a prognostic and therapeutic biomarker in COVID-19.
Todd Runestad Content Director, NaturalProductsInsider.com,
Sr. Supplements Editor, Natural Products Insider, I’ve been writing on nutrition
science news since 1997. I’m The content director for NaturalProductsInsider.com
and digital magazines.
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