A useful function of any complementary medicine is to supplement some of the benefits from other treatment modalities. In rats, extracts from Indian celery seed and the NZ green-lipped mussel are powerful nutraceuticals that (i) amplify the potency of salicylates and prednisone for treating pre-established chronic inflammation (arthritis, fibrosis) and (ii) reduce the steroid's gastrotoxic and lymphopenic side effects. Such combinations might also be useful for treating inflammatory components of (a) osteoarthritis caused by microcrystalline hydroxyapatite (BCP) and (b) pseudo-gout, associated with calcium pyrophosphate crystals; that are usually refractory to monotherapy.

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The nutritional status of a patient can be critical for the efficacy of other pharmaceuticals, especially organic antibiotics, to treat viral pandemics. There may be political and scientific difficulties in achieving a constructive synergy of nutritional and prescribed allopathic remedies. For adequate treatment, timelines may need to extend well beyond eliminating viral proliferation, e.g., with vaccines, to include the goals of (a) reducing post-viral fatigue, (b) promoting earliest recovery, and (c) future resistance in often poorly nourished patients, e.g., obese (!). Many trace minerals (TM) and vitamins may need to be replenished. This review focusses only upon zinc to illustrate some problems in rectifying these TM deficiencies affecting the balance between continued ill-health (‘illth’) or regaining optimal physical and mental wellbeing. Ultimately, this is a matter of behaviour, lifestyle, and informed choice(s). See Hetzel and McMichael 1959 .