Scientific Reports (Mar 2022)

COVID-19 symptoms are reduced by targeted hydration of the nose, larynx and trachea

  • Carolin Elizabeth George,
  • Gerhard Scheuch,
  • Ulf Seifart,
  • Leeberk Raja Inbaraj,
  • Sindhulina Chandrasingh,
  • Indu K. Nair,
  • Anthony J. Hickey,
  • Michael R. Barer,
  • Eve Fletcher,
  • Rachel D. Field,
  • Jonathan Salzman,
  • Nathan Moelis,
  • Dennis Ausiello,
  • David A. Edwards

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08609-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Abstract Dehydration of the upper airways increases risks of respiratory diseases from COVID-19 to asthma and COPD. We find in human volunteer studies involving 464 human subjects in Germany, the US, and India that respiratory droplet generation increases by up to 4 orders of magnitude in dehydration-associated states of advanced age (n = 357), elevated BMI-age (n = 148), strenuous exercise (n = 20) and SARS-CoV-2 infection (n = 87), and falls with hydration of the nose, larynx and trachea by calcium-rich hypertonic salts. We also find in a protocol of exercise-induced airway dehydration that hydration of the airways by calcium-rich salts increases oxygenation relative to a non-treatment control (P < 0.05). In a random control study of COVID-19 positive subjects (n = 40), thrice-a-day delivery of the calcium-rich hypertonic salts (active) suppressed respiratory droplet generation by 51% ± 11% and increased oxygen saturation over three days of treatment by 48.08% ± 9.61% (P < 0.001), while no changes were observed in the nasal-saline control group. Self-reported symptoms significantly declined in the active group and did not decline in the control group. Hydration of the upper airways appears promising as a non-drug approach for reducing risks of respiratory diseases such as COVID-19.