On Oct. 14–16, the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) held an educational conference in Orlando, Fla., with the theme, “Understanding and Treating Spike Protein-Induced Diseases.” Clinicians from as far away as Brazil and as near as Pensacola presented information about the many ways in which SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination can lead to spike protein-related damage, as well as ways to treat patients manifesting these conditions.

Roughly 300 attendees – mostly physicians, with a few patients and members of the media in the mix – listened to more than a dozen medical experts, who discussed mitochondrial dysfunction, endocrinological issues, “brain fog” and other syndromes familiar to people with “long COVID” (otherwise known as Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19, or PASC) and vaccine side effects.

Estimates of PASC incidence vary. The National Institutes of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) estimates that in 2020 and 2021, 4.6 million people developed symptoms that fit the syndrome. The federal government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) contains more than 980,000 reports of side effects from the original COVID-19 shots and the new bivalent shots (through Oct. 7), including more than 170,000 doctor’s office visits and more than 100,000 ER visits.

When considering VAERS, it is important to note that causation has not been determined for reports made to the system, as well as the fact that it is a passive system that is generally considered to yield a substantial undercount of the actual incidence of adverse events.

Dr. Paul Marik, a critical care specialist with more than three decades of experience, outlined the general approach to treatment: help the body purge itself of lingering spike protein, and limit spike protein-induced pathology, which can include inflammation, blood clotting, endothelial injury and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Other specialists, like Dr. Mobeen Syed – creator of the popular “Dr. Been” online medical education videos – described the therapies that have worked for their patients, like using intermittent fasting protocols to encourage autophagy (consumption of the body’s own tissue as a metabolic process occurring in starvation and certain diseases). Dr. Keith Berkowitz of the Center for Balanced Health in Manhattan related his own experience of recovering from COVID-19, only to end up sick again with PASC two months later. He took his knowledge of the groundbreaking work on the therapeutic use of low-dose naltrexone (LDN) done by Penn State researchers Dr. Ian Zagon and Dr. Patricia McLaughlin, and found it to be an effective treatment – when appropriately compounded and titrated – for patients suffering from certain types of spike protein-induced health issues.

Videos and presentations from the conference are being prepared and will be available for purchase by interested clinicians from the conference website (https://covid19criticalcare.com/conference/).