Prem Rawat:
Thank you for joining me for this little interview.
Onscreen text:
PREM RAWAT
GLOBAL PEACE AMBASSADOR
Dr. John Horton:
You’re welcome; glad to be here.
Prem Rawat:
How are you?
Dr. John Horton:
I’m good! How are you?
Prem Rawat:
You don’t look like you have the virus yet.
Dr. John Horton:
No, not yet.
Prem Rawat:
Okay, good. So, just a, you know—there’s quite a bit of misinformation out there. And could you just briefly tell us what exactly this coronavirus is?
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DR. JOHN HORTON, M.D.
TRAVEL MEDICINE SPECIALIST
Dr. John Horton:
Well, it’s a little “RNA virus”—it’s a very common class of viruses; a lot of these viruses do cause what we call a “common cold,” about five to ten percent—and there are other viruses that cause common colds.
This one is unique in that it came from an animal species, probably a bat—and morphed or mutated so that it could infect human beings—and because of that, none of us has any immunity to it. Most of the colds we come in contact with year by year, we have some immunity.
And this one also has two phases. One is that it infects the so-called “upper respiratory tract,” which is the nose and throat, like the common cold. But then it can go down into the lungs. And if it goes down into the lungs, then it causes a very serious disease.
Prem Rawat:
That’s very good to know. Just for the audience’s sake—and you’re Dr. John Horton. You’ve been a physician for quite a, quite a few years; you were in preventive medicine. You’ve written quite a few books, done a lot of trainings. And so, you’ve been around this.
Onscreen text:
Dr. John Horton answers pressing questions about COVID-19.
Dr. John Horton:
I have, fifty years at it.
Prem Rawat:
Wow, that’s pretty good.
Dr. John Horton:
Yeah.
Prem Rawat:
So, if we know what this is, how can we prevent this from, you know, attacking us or infecting us?
Dr. John Horton:
Well, just like the common cold, it comes through the air. So, we know it comes through droplets, with coughing and sneezing. So, whenever someone would come into our office and they had a cold, we’d tell them, “Okay, put a mask on; we’re not going to be exposed to that.”
And then, when I would feel like, “Umm, I’ve been exposed to a cold,” I would stop—full stop—and rest and take care of myself. And then my immune system takes care of it.
So, that’s the same here. Now, because it’s so broad, we’ve got, you know, the social distancing. But still, the same simplicity—you know, if you’re sick, you know, definitely you don’t go out and spread it. And you don’t want to come close to people that might be sick.
So, that’s the first prevention; the second is keeping our immune system really strong.
Prem Rawat:
Right. And so, what could we do to boost that immunity?
Dr. John Horton:
Well, you know, I’ve been listening to your, your talks. And the ability to enjoy life—because when we’re stressed, it takes away the energy from the immune system; it’s that simple.
So, if we’re enjoying life and finding the inner qualities of life that you’re so keen in talking about, that’s the main thing. And then, of course, eating reasonably well—rest, sleeping, resting, very important—and moderate exercise is good too, not strenuous exercise.
Prem Rawat:
Hmm. Yeah, I mean, sleeping—I’ve been reading a lot about that and how it really, at nighttime, boosts up your immune system. When you get that really good eight-hour sleep, it really takes it and makes it really good.
And, you know, talk to us a little bit about just how, that there is a doctor built inside of you that is watching out for all this. It’s just, of course, it’s not used to this particular virus, but it’s looking out; it’s watching out for you.
Dr. John Horton:
The immune system is something totally incredible. I mean, there are so many components to it. It will identify an invader, whether it’s a virus or a bacteria—and then it will develop a whole series of cells to attach to and attack and break down that.
I mean, it’s amazing; in medical school, I saw a picture of a bacteria—and it was a really ugly-looking thing—and then a white blood cell comes swimming over, (like an amoeba). And it takes that bacteria into its self. And then the bacteria disappears; it just dissolves it! It was the most amazing thing.
So, yeah, we do have this system and it has the incredible complexity and incredible wisdom—and such that, you know, once we see this virus, we’re going to start to develop immune responses. Most of us may not get sick at all—and then that immunity will last! From generation to generation of cells, it lasts. Amazing.
Prem Rawat:
That’s amazing. That’s truly, truly.... So, I mean, once you—once, either you get vaccinated against it, or somehow, you—or you actually get sick from it and then recover, you will then have immunity.
Dr. John Horton:
That’s the hope. Sometimes the virus will mutate and change—like the flu virus does that. So we have different immunizations every year. We don’t know what’s going to happen with this guy.
But so hard is, lots of people that have had this, they didn’t even know they had it—because it’s very mild. And hopefully, they will have immunity which will continue, so they’ll be immune to it in a future time.
Prem Rawat:
Umm. So, this isn’t something that’s going to be permanent out there; I mean, it is going to go away and we will come out of this, right?
Dr. John Horton:
Well, look at what’s happened in China; they’ve already opened it up. And also in the small countries near China—Taiwan, there are very few cases; they did really good. Korea—and South Korea is amazing.
Singapore, they’ve already let down, you know, opened the society. And now they’re just looking at clusters; so, you see, “Okay, these people over here are getting sick; identify who they are.” You identify their contacts—and then you contain that. So, we’ll be there at some point.
Prem Rawat:
That’s very hopeful to know and that’s very good to know. So, really we don’t need to be afraid of this thing; we just need to take caution, take precautions against it.
Dr. John Horton:
Exactly.
Prem Rawat:
And the precautions are not that difficult; actually, it’s just to isolate yourself—and, you know, don’t give it and don’t get it. I mean, just whatever you can do.
Dr. John Horton:
It’s, exactly, it’s that simple. And keep—and keep your.... The sleep thing—also, some of us don’t sleep all so well at night. But then, you can take a really good nap.
Prem Rawat:
That’s wonderful. Yeah, especially if you are in the lockdown situation, I mean, you’ve got the time; you can take a nap; you can try to do this little exercise and eat well and feel good about it.
Dr. John Horton:
And the enjoyment that you talk about, being able to enjoy your inner life in the midst of all this, that’s always a grand possibility.
Prem Rawat:
Yeah, yeah. Well, that’s wonderful. I think that’s going to give a lot of hope to people when they hear about this, that it’s not that complex of a thing, that it’s not....
You know, and because there’s so much bad information out there. And, you know, it’s like, “Oh, yeah, we’re all going to die,” and you know, just the “doom and gloom” thing and people love that. Some people just love that—and they love to spread it.
Dr. John Horton:
But let me add one thing. I just ran across an article last night—I was, you know, studying a little bit to have this conversation with you and I ran across an article by a guy named “Siddhartha Mukherjee,” who’s written a very impressive book about cancer—and was a virologist before he became a cancer specialist.
And he brought up that it’s dosage-related. People feel, “Oh my God, look at all these doctors that are sick.” They’ve got a huge amount of the virus coming at them—so it’s dosage-related. If you’re talking to a friend and maybe that friend spreads a little virus to you, it’s so small, it’s not going to make such a difference.
So, again, it’s the most sick people—and once we get ahead of the curve with taking care of the sick people really well, that’s going to cut down the transmission greatly.
Prem Rawat:
What advice would you give to the family members, you know, who possibly have this, who are in the hospital and so on and so forth?
Dr. John Horton:
Well, this is where, you know, the public health comes in. If we could test more people—so that if my family member’s in hospital, then I can get tested and I know if I have it or not. But, still, the same thing—the rest, the relaxation, the taking care of yourself, that’s the first, first line.
Prem Rawat:
Well, that’s wonderful; I think that’s going to be very informative to the viewers—and I thank you. Thank you very much, John. Take care of yourself.
Dr. John Horton:
Likewise. Thank you, Prem. Bye-bye.
Prem Rawat:
And bye. Thank you.
