Tag: COVID

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Frequently Asked Question In the C-19 Storm

Questions

It would be irrational if I did not say these are odd times. We are all in a turbulent storm.  A world dilemma has brought us lots of questions. Touchwood, our factory is still running, and we have been swamped. One of the busy areas is questions we are getting on our info email, customer service, and social media sites.

We started to notice a pattern, and we know that if we get a question on a topic, there are 100 who have the same issue but did not ask. So, we have created a composite FAQ section below that seems relevant to our times.

I must add that many of the answers may seem to be self-promoting. We don’t want to look tone-deaf, and at the same time, most of the question usual start off with “Which of your products can I use for-” We do try to offer some open suggestion, but we want to make sure that we are upfront in a time when there is lots of self-promotion.

Okay, some of these are very general and some very specific. Please try to keep that in mind as we answer the questions.

Mickey

Keys Customer Service

Here we go:

Question: I have been using hand sanitizers for a few weeks, and my hands are a wreck. What do I use?

Answer: Our Tortuga lotion is the most emollient lotion we make. It is chock full of avocado oil and Shea butter. The alcohol is drying, as is washing hands with detergent. Tortuga solves it right away and has not glycols to irritate further.

Question: I have been washing my hands with dishwashing soap, and they look and feel terrible. Anything I can use that will work.  

Answer: Our Galleyon antibacterial soap is designed to reduce bio-mass as antibacterial soap. It is Castile and has avocado and spearmint oil that leaves a monolithic coating of oil on the skin. So, it cleans and lubricates. Our Island Rx, Windsurfer, and MetaClean are equally as good. Galleyon contains spearmint oil, which does affect some types of bacteria and viruses.

Question: My hands are dry with cracking between the fingers. What can I use?

Answer: Guessing that you are washing with a soap that contains sulfates. These have been shown to create eczema and psoriasis type symptoms. Washing with Galleyon may help. If they are really cracked, our MetaCare ayurvedic lotion will help reverse the problems. MetaCare has Neem and Karanja oil. Google the benefits of these two oils.

Question: I have been locked up for three weeks and my diabetic skin has really flared up on my back. Do you have a lotion that will help?

Answer: We have a sprayable lotion called RediCare. It has Neem and Karanja oil and is sprayable. So, it does not have to be rubbed in. For years, diabetic skin suffers have used RediCare. My guess is that because you are3 in one place that seasonal allergies may be bothering you more. It seems like, on top of everything, allergies are more intense this season.

Question: I have heard that alkaline soaps are better for washing than neutral soaps. Are your soaps alkaline? What is their pH?

Answer: Yes, but we are not sure what you heard is true. Covid-19 is a lipid covered hydrophobic virus. The act of breaking down lipids is the main goal. Washing with detergent or our Castile-based soaps works equally as well with no real proof that higher pH helps. To answer your question specifically, our soaps range from alkalinity of 9.2pH to about 10.0pH.

Question: Your soaps talk about being micelle-based. Micelles seem to have a similar structure to some viruses. Do they help?

Answer: Wow, a really astute question! We don’t know, and yet, our scientists are asking the same thing because of the hydrophobic nature of micelles. I suggest you follow Dr. Rhonda Patrick in San Diego. She is involved with Salk Institue there.

Question: What do you recommend as far as a going ot regimen for your products? Do you do the same thing coming home.

Answer: The first obvious answer is to stay at home. I understand the question, and we have a unique reply.

Going out:  

  1. Wash your hands with detergent or Galleyon soap
  2. Wear a mask and gloves
  3. Spray sanitizer as needed on gloves and hands
  4. Avoid people

Coming Home:

  1. Strip and wash your clothes
  2. Spray hands with alcohol-based sanitizer
  3. Wash with Galleyon
  4. Use Tortuga lotion to moisturize

Question: Do I have to wash longer with Galleyon soap than if I use a conventional antibacterial soap.

Answer: Not really. Although most people do not wash long enough, most professionals recommend 20 seconds wash time. We recommend surgeons wash time regimen, which is fingertips to elbows for 5 minutes. Yes, 5 minutes. Some surgeons wash for 10 minutes before gowning up. Please wash at least one minute to make ‘me’ feel better.

Question: I love the scent of Island Rx Micelle Facial Cleanser. Can I use it to wash my hands?

Answer: It is not recommended because Island Rx Cleanser is diluted for the face. Use Island Rx liquid soap instead. It has the same scent, but stronger.

Question: What is the difference between your moisturizers/lotions? Not sure which one to buy.

Answer:

  • Luminos is a light facial moisturizer that adds luminescence to the skin and is great under makeup moisturizer.
  • Tortuga is our most emollient lotion and is for very dry skin. It can be used on spot areas on the face and all over the body. Perfect hand lotion because it absorbs fast and is not sticky
  • MetaCare is Tortuga with Neen and Karanja oil added. It is an ayurvedic therapy lotion for skin disorders. Google the benefits of Neem and Karanja for the skin.
  • AvoJel is an avocado oil-based jelly that seals the skin like petroleum jelly but without the petroleum side effect. It is for the most extremely dry skin or where chafing may occur.
  • Urban Shield is like AvoJel, but with ingredients designed to solve skin disorders on dehydrated skin and as a protectant trapping environmental issues. It is truly a shield against allergens and some pathogens.

Question: My doctor recommended that I cover my skin in a thin light lotion because I have severe itching, and I live in the desert southwest. What can I do?

Answer: Often, we find that the itching is a direct result of glycols in lotions and soaps. This is especially true of body washes that are designed as a moisturizer. So, there are a couple of tricks.  

  1. Mix a base oil like avocado or olive oil in with a Castile soap like our Island Rx or Dr. Bronner’s. These soaps will take about 1% to 3% without separating. When you wash, the oils cling to the skin, and only the soap washed away. You will notice the silky feel quickly and get hooked on the feel.
  2. Our MetaClean soap has about 6% oil level made up of avocado, Neem, and Karanja oils. It has the same effect as the DIY above, but with a medicinal bent.

Question: My doctor gave me a prescription for my dry cracked hands. It seems to have made them worse. What can I use?

Answer: This is a huge problem because most prescriptions contain huge amounts of glycols and parabens. Both are known to cause extreme skin conditions. I honestly do not understand it. I cannot legally tell you to stop, but I will not also tell you that we have anything that will overcome the effects of a paraben bacteriacide or glycols. It is up to you. If it was me, I would wash with our Island Rx or Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Castile and use lotion like Tortuga. You should feel and see the difference in a few minutes.

Also, please search for the cause. There may be something you are using on your hands that have glycols and parabens in them, which have been shown to cause the symptoms you describe.

Okay, these are just a few of the many questions we are receiving. We will amend them as we hear more unique problems.

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“Blue Babies” Therapy May Help!

Some Good News – Nitric Oxide Therapy May Help The Suffering

FDA opens up Bellerophon’s (Nitric Oxide) gas therapy for COVID-19

nitric oxide
Bob Root, Keys Chief Scientist & Founder

Bob Root, Keys Scientist:   I have a core belief for my life when it comes to health.  The only person I hold responsible for my health is me.  Yes, me.  When I am confronted with a malady or this giant COVID dragon in front of us all, I turn to science to learn what I can.  Sometimes I don’t understand and sometimes one article leads to another.  When the path turns cold, I back up and take another path until I find what I am looking for.  It is just who I am.  Sometimes I find something so interesting I share it with my friends.  Not to proclaim something, but to entice them to study themselves.  Like my books, I try to inform and not convince. In these times, there is so much misinformation.  I never want to subtract but add something that may fuel a new way, a new path or some new thinking.  So is this bit of news:

There is some interesting and I feel, good news on the horizon that I am reading about in the scientific community about prevention, relief, and vaccines.  Please remember that scientists’ comments and findings are revised carefully by peers.  Yes, it slows the process but is a positive factor in weeding out BS.

First of all, my compliments to the FDA for opening up the emergency expanded access program for SARS-COVID.  “NO” is the chemical acronym for Nitric Oxide.  It is made in cells in our body but can be supplemented through nitric oxide mass inhalation.  More important is that is is a common therapy in “Blue Baby” syndrome and has been used for years to treat the newborn malady.  A doctor at UCLA Medical Center says he can watch blue babies with respiratory distress turn pink in front of his eyes.  So now, it seems that “NO” may be a tool, not the solution, but a tool, with SARS COVID-19.  Below is published verbatim and not my words.

Bob

Nitric Oxide

FDA opens up Bellerophon’s gas therapy for COVID-19

Using a regulatory pathway that allows patients with life-threatening conditions to use unapproved therapies, the FDA has granted “emergency expanded access” to Bellerophon Therapeutics’ inhaled nitric oxide delivery system for treating the novel coronavirus.

Also known as compassionate use, the agency’s policy is typically administered on a per-patient basis—at times when clinical trials are infeasible, the benefits are seen to outweigh the risks, and there are no available alternatives.

According to Bellerophon, the FDA’s decision now opens up its INOpulse system for use at high-doses in ventilated COVID-19 patients, immediately.

Inhaled nitric oxide acts as a vasodilator, relaxing the lungs’ muscles and blood vessels, and is used in hospitals worldwide. Bellerophon has been researching its use to combat potentially harmful high blood pressure in the lungs among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, interstitial lung disease and sarcoidosis.

The compound has also been tested as a potential treatment for the novel coronavirus’ closely related predecessor—the strain behind the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s. Previous studies showed that nitric oxide slowed down the replication of that virus and reduced the need for long-term ventilator support.

According to Bellerophon, the genetic similarities between the two coronaviruses “support the potential for [inhaled nitric oxide] to provide meaningful benefit for patients infected with COVID-19” and inhibit the progression of upper respiratory tract symptoms.

“Based on currently available data and its significant role in the immune response, we believe INOpulse has the potential to be a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19,” said CEO Fabian Tenenbaum. “INOpulse technology utilizes targeted pulsatile delivery of inhaled nitric oxide, providing important antiviral potential, as well as improved arterial oxygenation.”

“Importantly, INOpulse is designed to treat patients in the outpatient setting, which may be critical in helping combat the further spread of the virus and significantly alleviate the mounting impact on hospitals and intensive care units,” Tenenbaum added.

Prior to the outbreak, Bellerophon had been building up inventory of its INOpulse device for a planned, large phase 3 trial in pulmonary fibrosis—which the company is currently looking to divert to hospitals in need, Tenenbaum told FierceMedTech in an interview.

Additionally, about a month ago, Bellerophon completed a safety trial in healthy volunteers showing its high-dose paradigm could be tolerated, at levels similar to those used against the earlier SARS outbreak, he said. The FDA is also currently reviewing a research protocol for a new clinical trial against COVID-19 to explore the device’s next steps in development.

The FDA’s access decision comes less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump pointed to compassionate use as one of the ways the administration is responding to the spread of the virus.

“Disseminating information about promising off-label uses of drugs we already have, investigating their effectiveness, and pursuing other therapeutics will help give American healthcare providers the tools they need to save lives,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in an FDA statement on the agency’s work to facilitate development of investigational treatments such as the malaria drug chloroquine and Gilead’s remdesivir antiviral, which is also available under compassionate use.

“While there are no FDA-approved therapeutics or drugs to treat, cure or prevent COVID-19, there are several FDA-approved treatments that may help ease the symptoms from a supportive care perspective,” the agency said March 19.

The new emergency expanded access pathway allows doctors to request use of the INOpulse for multiple patients at once, without including their names or other personally identifying details, Tenenbaum said.

Inhaled nitric oxide has also been pursued as a COVID-19 therapy by several others, and is currently undergoing clinical trials in China—both as a potential treatment for patients and as a preventive measure for healthcare providers—with studies sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Mallinckrodt, for one, has been exploring its use against the disease in coordination with the FDA, NIH and BARDA, and previously markets the gas as a treatment for neonates suffering from respiratory failure.