Jim McAfee's Blog Spot

Monday, April 15, 2024

Lysine and Virus Infection

 The clinical use of L-lysine, an amino acid, in treatment of the herpes virus first appeared in The Lancet in 1974. The mechanism of action was clarified in 1978 and confirmation was published in 1985. L-lysine supplementation with arginine restriction has become a recognized treatment worldwide for controlling all forms of herpes virus. Arginine is an essential nutrient for viruses and L-lysine interferes with the ability of viruses to incorporate this nutrient into the virus. L-Lysine also has strong anti-inflammatory properties.

In 2016 a report concluded that L-lysine was helpful against MERS-CoV. Christopher Kagan and associates tried L-lysine with a low arginine diet on patients with Covid-19. They summarized their findings as follows: "Approximately 80% of acute stage Covid-19 sufferers given lysine displayed a minimum of 70% reduction in symptoms in the first 48 hours (not including long term symptomatic subjects)." Patients in the hospital were normally discharged after 3 days. Kagan emphasizes that this is a treatment and not a cure and patients who respond should remain on the diet and supplement for 2-3 weeks after symptoms have abated. Doses of lysine ranged from 100 mg to 2500 mg. Kagan warns against higher doses and notes that lysine should not be taken with zinc or calcium.

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