A Missouri-based chiropractor shared a 25-minute video on social media somewhere around the beginning of April. He claimed, among other things, that ingesting zinc and drinking quinine (or tonic water, which contains quinine) is the way to go when it comes to COVID-19 prevention.
This video was uploaded shortly after a doctor from LA claimed that every one of his patients were “basically symptom-free” within only 12 hours into this quinine treatment, thereby reporting a 100 percent success rate.
After an astounding 21 million views and almost 200,000 shares, the video was flagged as “false information” and subsequently removed. The American Chiropractic Association then appealed to its members not to spread misinformation, explaining that there isn’t currently a single known medicine that can prevent or treat COVID-19.
So, what is quinine?
Quinine is a substance naturally found in the bark of the South American cinchona tree. The tree is also known as quina-quina, which is how quinine got its name. The first written record of quinine use dates back to the early 17th century, but research suggests that cinchona bark extract was used even earlier by the native population.
There are two legends about the discovery of quinine. The first tells a tale about a tribesman lost in a jungle while suffering from a high fever. He is said to have drank water from a pool of stagnant water, and since the water was bitter, he thought that he poisoned himself. However, he was soon feeling better, and returned to his village with this discovery.
The second story involved the Spanish countess of Chinchon, who brought back and introduced the bark to Spain after it helped her cure the fever she contracted while traveling to Peru. In fact, the tree was named cinchona in her honor.
Before 1820, when quinine was first isolated, the tree bark was dried, powdered and mixed into a liquid before being drunk. Along with other substances isolated from the same tree (quinidine, cinchonine, and cinchonidine), quinine was successfully used as a treatment for malaria for the next hundred years, when synthetic medications, such as chloroquine, became the widespread therapy against malaria.
Unfortunately, because chloroquine was heavily used after its initial discovery (since it proved more potent and better tolerated), some bacteria showed signs of developing increased resistance, and for that reason, quinine is still widely used in managing uncomplicated malaria cases.
How does quinine affect your body?
The health benefits of quinine are well-established. In addition to being used against malaria (the exact mechanism of action is still unknown in this case), quinine also has analgesic properties, meaning that it’s able to alleviate pain.
However, the problem is that the side effects of quinine are also considerable, even if used in therapeutic doses. These side effects are collectively known as cinchonism, which usually manifests with the following symptoms:
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
- Hearing impairment
- Headache
- Nausea, vertigo and vomiting
- Diarrhea
Can quinine prevent COVID-19?
Although chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are both derived from quinine, differences between them certainly exist. However, the idea that quinine may prevent COVID-19 probably originated as a consequence of the lightning-fast spread of (mis)information, but with little to no fact-checking to follow this type of discovery.
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, scientists and clinical doctors worldwide fought to reduce the symptoms of fever and inflammation in their patients, so they tried using chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the hope that it may inhibit the novel coronavirus.
Since these drugs have long been used to treat malaria and autoimmune diseases like lupus and arthritis, there was a hope that quinine-based drugs could help fight COVID-19, especially after encouraging initial results.
However, further studies have shown that there is not enough medical evidence that quinine-based medications can help fight COVID-19, which even caused the World Health Organization to stop their own studies related to this issue, at least for now. The thing is that the initial results only applied to laboratory experiments, and not patients, which didn’t seem to bother the media as they published bombastic, but nevertheless incomplete results in their headlines
On the other hand, there are studies suggesting that hydroxychloroquine could be used to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients, thereby increasing their chances of survival. This works by preventing an extreme immune response in which the body starts to attack its own cells. This complication, called cytokine storm, has caused death in some COVID-19 patients.
Furthermore, there are still no relevant studies that show the benefit of these two medications when talking about preventive measures regarding COVID-19. Side effects, such as abnormal heart rhythm, low blood glucose, and muscle weakness, were also shown to be more common at high doses and with long-term use.
What’s the story behind tonic water?
After the antimalarial benefits of quinine were discovered, the British colonial soldiers in India started using it to prevent malaria. However, because of its bitterness, quinine was mixed with carbonated water and sugar so it would be easier to consume. Soon the first commercial tonic started production.
From then on, tonic water was marketed as some kind of a miracle drink that can cure many ailments, such as nighttime leg cramps, but unfortunately, there isn’t much science-based evidence to support these claims.
Is drinking tonic water good for your health?
Commercially available tonic water is a carbonated soft drink with minimal nutritional value, and certainly not a medication of any kind. To make this clear, let’s analyze what the label on the bottle says. One liter of tonic water contains approximately 83 milligrams of quinine. For comparison, the dose needed when using it in malaria management is at least five to ten times higher.
So, what is stopping you from drinking five to ten liters of tonic water on a daily basis? Well, apart from the bloating (like any other carbonated beverage), one liter of your average tonic water contains a whopping 90 grams of sugar! It’s more likely that you’ll develop diabetes than resolve malaria-related issues. Of course, there are so-called "diet" alternatives with little to no sugar, but keep in mind that these variants contain almost twice the amount of sodium than the regular ones.
Unfortunately, there have always been people who will chase their 15 minutes of fame by putting themselves under the limelight, not thinking about the ramifications of their actions. During times of crisis, quacks and “snake-oil salesmen”, come out of the woodwork, willing to sell their products to gullible and out-of-luck folks who see their false miracles as their last hope to be in control of their health. This particularly involves individuals entitled to social care, marginalized social groups, and, due to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, the rising number of unemployed people.