Coronavirus Conversations: Day 1 - On Good Decision-Making in the Time of Coronavirus

Well, hello everyone. Dr. David Perlmutter here, and I'm just checking in with everybody. Want to make sure everyone is staying connected and sharing information and doing all of the things, as they say. I want to let you know that later today we will be releasing a video, and the video deals with making good decisions, making the right decisions, and specifically As decisions relate to things going on with respect to the coronavirus. So today I am just going to talk a little bit about some things that I think are very important and just things as I see them, right or wrong. I'm just going to share my perspective with everybody because I have thoughts and would certainly be welcome to your thoughts. So we are open for questions, as it were. I'm going to make my screen just a little bit bigger so I can see all of your questions. There we go. First, what we're going to talk about later today in the video, and I urge you to check Facebook later today, it's a video presentation I put together, is the importance of really rewiring your brain to make better decisions. We don't want to be fear-based right now in our decision-making process because right now is a time when we need to make Good decisions. We need to make thoughtful decisions. We need to be able to look at information, look at data, and determine what is the right course of action. I would say by and large you're hearing mostly very good information about handwashing, about personal contacts, about attending events, etc. Now is the time to be incorporating all of those changes into your lifestyle choices and Because we're hearing that this is a highly transmissible virus. So take that information, heed that information. It's good, it's good recommendation. In terms of what you can do nutritionally, I'm going to make a couple of comments. First, now is the time to double down on your good nutritional program, and specifically as it relates to inflammation. Now is the time to really work Diligently to create a diet that's going to help reduce inflammation, help balance your immune system. That's really what you want to do. You don't want to have high levels of stress or stress hormone, which can be induced by certain dietary changes, because that will compromise or could compromise the availability of your immune system to Do the things that it wants to do, and that is to keep you healthy. In terms of nutritional supplementation, generally keep up on your good nutritional supplementation program. I would— here's the disclaimer— check with your healthcare practitioner, but bumping up your vitamin D at a time like this, to me, makes sense. That is certainly what we are doing, higher levels of vitamin D. I've gone from 5,000 IU to 10,000 IU of D3 each day. We know that plays a very important role in immune function. We also know that vitamin D helps to augment the production of cathelicidin, which is an antimicrobial peptide enhancing the way your body can deal with various forms of microbes. So I think that makes very good sense. I think zinc is something to consider. We know that zinc is effective with respect to rhinoviruses in terms of their ability to adhere to your nasal passages and lungs. I don't know if that necessarily translates with respect to the coronavirus. Now, you got to keep your hands clean, and believe it or not, washing your hands with soap and water is a great thing to do. Do it all day, every day. Be very cognizant of what you are touching. You know, you get money out of the ATM, think of how many people were at that ATM before you. Pumping gas in your car, same thing. Wear gloves or use a hand sanitizer afterwards. You don't have to go ballistic on all of this, but it just really is some common sense recommendations. So my plea is that you spend some time reconnecting to the parts of your brain that can allow you then to make better decisions. The prefrontal cortex— we talked about this in Brainwash— as opposed to making your decisions from the fear-based center of the brain. The amygdala. You hear something bad on television, you go out and buy something right away, or you just act from fear, and that's not generally going to turn out to be a good decision. You want to be able to take a deep breath, make decisions, letting your prefrontal cortex look at information and decide what's best for you. Now there's gonna be a lot of information out there, and it's going to be somewhat difficult to go through it. I think that by and large, looking at what the CDC is telling us makes very good sense. And again, it's not a time for fear-based decision-making, that's for sure. We're going to explore this in much more detail in the video that we'll be posting this evening about how to rewire back to the brain area that allows you to make better decisions. Because you know what? You're going to need to make better decisions moving forward. Let me Go ahead and answer some questions. Should I take— keep my daughter at home and not send her to school when we have an elderly person living at home? It's an excellent question. I think that's part of risk management. I don't know from what community you are writing from, so I don't know what is your daughter's risk in going to school. Certainly, if that Child is in a so-called hotspot, an area that's having a significant outbreak, likely the school is going to be closed anyway. But again, daughter comes home, best thing she can do is wash her hands. That's fundamental. Keep a close eye on her too to see if she develops a fever or other symptoms. Unfortunately, we do know that children and others can carry coronavirus and be asymptomatic. Whether they are highly transmissible when they're asymptomatic has been debated, but that certainly could happen. We know that we are being told that by and large this is a respiratory droplet transmission, but there's been some discussion from well-respected physicians and clinicians that there may be an airborne possibility as well, meaning just the virus being exhaled. That could be another mode of transmission. People— next question from Coco. People on immunosuppressants? It's a big concern, no question. Their ability to deal with this is going to be compromised. We know that the people who are having real problems and dying from this infection are people who have generally poor health or other— or health conditions like diabetes, coronary heart disease, And certainly immunosuppressive agents can contribute to that. What we do understand as of some of the latest information is that the final event seems to be something that we call DIC, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, which may well identify those individuals who are at risk for succumbing to this situation. Okay. Thank you. Good. Thank you. Good. I heard the transmission factor is similar to common flu strains. While that may or may not be true, the issue is, of course, the lethality of the coronavirus, which may be 20x more lethal in comparison to the standard flu. So that is the concern. Oil of oregano, additional D, zinc, and garlic capsules on vitamin C. Use colloidal silver nasal spray. I know a lot of people are doing that. With all due respect, I haven't seen great data on colloidal silver, so I am not going to necessarily use that myself. Not time for fear-based decision-making. That's correct. And take a deep breath, make good decisions, and rewire your brain for better decision-making. That's what it's all about. Being glued to the TV is not going to be helpful for you. Checking in on various good websites every day or a couple times a day to see what's going on, especially as it relates to your community, looking at your local news as well, is a good idea. I think it's very important to be informed, but to not ruminate on this and become obsessed with it, that will lock you into the bad decision maker in your brain. I agree 100%. Not sure what part you're agreeing with, Pam, but thank you for that. Do you think the economic repercussions will outweigh the viral repercussions? Difficult question to answer because the economic repercussions and social repercussions cause us to experience fear. Is the market crashing? Will there be food available in my grocery store? Those are fear-inducing events That are going, you know, could be ongoing, and fear is damaging to the immune system. That would relate back to the virulence factor then, wouldn't it? So that's why we've got to keep the fear factor in perspective, because it won't serve us in terms of our immunity. And in fact, the more fearful we are, the more that could potentially damage our immune system. And again, this evening we're posting a video on things things that you could do, and you can watch that. Let's see. Fighting off the flu deplete or strengthen your immune system? Just recovered from flu and am wondering if I am at risk. Difficult to say. I don't have an answer for that. I'm not sure people have looked at that. There has been quite a bit of discussion as of late about the value of a flu immunization because Not that it will prevent coronavirus in any way, shape, or form. From what I understand, it will not. And how effective is the flu immunization? Probably, who knows? I mean, you don't know that till after the year passes and then they're able to retrospectively determine how effective it was. But even if it's 25% effective, that would be 25 less people who get the flu having to go to the emergency room, less burden on the hospitals, and less exposure for that person to an environment, the hospital, which may very well be a bad idea in terms of exposing you to the coronavirus risk. Thank you, David, for sharing all the latest breakthroughs. Brain health, look great. God bless you. Well, thank you. God bless you too, for that matter. Will activation of the NRF2 pathway increase your Fight with increasing glutathione levels? I don't know the answer to that. It's a very good question. I think by and large there is a positive net benefit of enhancing your NRF2 pathway in terms of calming inflammation, perhaps enhancing immunity, certainly with respect to damaging effects of infections, that's for sure. We enhance the NRF2 pathway in any number of ways. Exercise, oddly enough, does it. Certainly the cruciferous vegetables are key. Turmeric, DHA, all these things play into this kind of master gateway for hundreds of downstream gene pathways. So an interesting question. Thankful for your work, Dr. Perlmutter. I've seen your women coming to my home each week to watch our Science of Prevention series. Your work, Dr. Hyman, Dr. Amen, Instrumental. Okay, thank you for that, Brenda. Very nice comments. In Peru, there are 13 infected so far, and as of now, all schools are closed. Children do infect quickly and do pass it to adults very fast. It's a good point. For sure, children are less likely to engage in the behaviors that we are told to use these days: the handwashing, the lack of physical contact, etc. So they do serve as vectors for transmitting coronavirus. That is certain. How do I feel about closing— I think that might be implied— how do I feel about closing all the schools with 13 infected? I don't know how to answer that because that's 13 proven cases. How many have not been proven? How many cases, how many individuals who may be sick have not been tested? That's certainly been a real issue here in the United States, and that's why we're seeing this sudden dramatic uptick in the number of cases that are being reported, because now we are in fact testing a lot more individuals. Let's see. Sangre de grado as an effective antiviral. I can't say for sure. Elderberry syrup isn't a good defense due to cytokine storm thoughts. Interesting mention of that, Jaime Norris. The cytokine storm, I haven't been seeing a lot of that being talked about this time around with this particular infection, but what Jaime is referring to is the idea in other infectious issues in the past, other epidemics we have seen, it certainly was happening with Ebola, that there was this incredible production of these inflammatory chemicals called cytokines That really turned out to be a part of the cascade that led to death in these individuals. So there was some concern or some ideas that if we could limit that, if we could limit this huge inflammatory response, that might give us a leg up in Ebola. And I'm not sure how the interventional trials went with respect to trying to limit that cytokine storm. Boy, we're hearing about all kinds of interesting things. Hope you are well. I am very well. Thank you. Very well, thank you. If I'm not well, I'm going to let everybody know. I'm staying up with life. You know, I think it's really important to get outside. Very important to stay connected to nature. Very important to exercise every single day. Now you really want to double down on the importance of parts of your diet, and sleep is fundamental. You don't want to be watching this. Very fear-inducing news at night and then trying to go to sleep. Let it go. Why do you want to do that? Why do you want to unwind a little bit? Many reasons. First of all, you want to reconnect to your good decision maker moving forward. If you fan the flames of fear, you're locking yourself out from the prefrontal cortex and not going to be in a position to make good decisions. You'll be making fear-based decisions. And that's not going to serve you very well. Okay, let me take another couple of questions. Your favorite website to follow on the coronavirus? You know, I don't know the name of it. It's the one with the map that demonstrates the total number of cases in the upper left along with the countries, and there's a few that I'm following that show rates of transmission, who is being most affected, There are a lot of them out there. I probably shouldn't subscribe or indicate which ones to watch. Hoping all are eating for their immune system. Yes, and good gut health virtually. Good question, Sue. Good comment. Virtually, as we've talked about so many times over the past couple years, that's one and the same, aren't they? Is this virus worse for asthma patients with albuterol, using albuterol? I don't know if albuterol per se is going to make the situation worse. I would say that steroids, which are used for asthma, by and large might be a risk factor. We know that being a diabetic is a risk factor for worse outcome. Steroids enhance your risk for becoming a diabetic, and plus, what is a steroid? It's an immunosuppressant. Having lung disease, i.e., asthma, is certainly a risk factor for worse outcome. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. It is certainly a calming force in this current climate. Eleanor Rasmussen, thank you for that. Having heard you say that, Eleanor, I've just decided, as in the last 10 seconds having read your comment, to do my best now to reconnect with everybody at least on a daily basis. I can't promise I'm going to do that, but I'm going to do my best. Okay. Since most stores have run out of hand sanitizer, will a rubbing alcohol and aloe vera blend serve the same purpose? And if so, what is the ratio to make a batch of it? Truthfully, I did that. I think it's got to be mostly alcohol. What we are being told is anything 70% or above Alcohol is what you are looking for. Is— does that mean that using 151 rum, which is 75% alcohol, does that qualify? I don't know the answer to that, but I bought some. And I think that when you want to mix it with the aloe vera, remember that the aloe vera gel is then going to somewhat dilute the alcohol. So really, pretty much you want to not think about the gel and mostly the alcohol. And what you might do is just simply get the alcohol. What we've done is rubbing alcohol in a small bottle with a little bit of lavender just to be fun, and that's what we're using for our hand spray. Is Hashimoto's considered a higher risk? Don't know. Really depends on how, uh, what sort of treatments are being engaged for the Hashimoto's thyroiditis. That individual does have an autoimmune condition. Is an autoimmune condition listed, to my knowledge, as a risk factor for poorer outcome? I, I don't— I have not seen that. It certainly could be the case. I don't know. Is it true vitamin C kills coronavirus in a petri dish? I don't know the answer to that. I mean, I wouldn't doubt it, uh, um, but I wouldn't say 100%. I mean, that question is leading us then into If it works in a petri dish, might that work in us? It's going to take an awful lot of vitamin C to raise your blood level of vitamin C to the level that it might simulate what you're seeing in a petri dish. It does, however, allow us to discuss the notion of intravenous vitamin C. There's been some discussion that I've seen over the past few days of the value of IV vitamin C in upwards of 30, 40, even 60 grams in a given dosage in terms of its effectiveness. I am told that that is a treatment being given in China. I don't know if that is true. I don't know if it's true if it's effective. My 89-year-old father has pulmonary fibrosis, goes to a pulmonary physical therapy program based on the 3rd floor of a local hospital here in Naples. I'm concerned the benefits of therapy won't outweigh the risk of exposure walking through the hospital using elevators, hallways to get therapy. Am I overly concerned? It's a very tough question, Judy, to answer. The question might be how beneficial is the therapy that he is getting. If he has pulmonary fibrosis and gets coronavirus, that's obviously going to not necessarily bode well for him having underlying pulmonary disease that is described as being one of the risk factors for a Worse outcome. I'm just telling you what we are being told. I mean, what the CDC is telling us. So that said, is risk increased in going to a local hospital? We don't yet have any confirmed cases here in our town, Naples, Florida. Does that mean there are no cases in Naples, Florida? It does not. So I think the real question is what we call risk-benefit ratio. The benefit you have to assess, is he seemingly getting benefit from his pulmonary therapy? And the risk is what we've just discussed. Having said that, there might be a way of engaging his pulmonary therapy somehow at home. Maybe there are devices that you could get from, you know, either from the therapy department or they could order it through a durable medical equipment company and have him get some kind of equipment to use at home, whether that's a simple inspirometer or whatever it may be— incentive spirometer, rather— that might be something that you would consider moving forward. What about combination with 5G in China and now Iran? Combination with 5G, I'm not going to be in a place to comment on that. I don't know of any relationship between exposure to 5G radiation And risk. My understanding in trying to explain what in the heck is happening in Italy is that Italy has one of the oldest populations on the planet and has significant longevity as well. And having said that, that may be the explanation as to why there is the extremely high death rate comparatively in Italy compared to other countries. Let me take— wow, we have quite a few people who've joined. I guess that's a good thing. I'm going to do the best I can to— Sylvia, to share wisdom and laughter, I think, is important. Citrus foods and vegetables, not a bad recommendation. What should we have? Jacqueline asks, what should we have for OTC, over-the-counter, in our homes? I've bought ibuprofen. Extra vitamin D, some Vicks NyQuil, that's a brand recommendation, works for me, helps me sleep when I get a cold. I think beyond that, I'm not sure. I mean, the recommendations are that you have medications also over the counter for upset stomach because apparently that is some of the symptoms that people get. I don't, you know, I think having some Kleenex, in abundance is a good thing. Rubber gloves might well be a good thing, and garbage bags, plastic garbage bags, such that people can get rid of potentially contaminated things like their tissues, etc. I've made a master tonic with onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and pepper. Sounds delicious. I don't know how effective that will be, but if it makes you feel good, Sheila, that's a good thing. Remember all, keep stress down because when it is Stresses up immune system. Immune function is down. Immune system is down, leaving room for infection. That's a Sue Keenan. I can't see the last name. Sue Keenan. Good. That's very, very good advice. You want to keep the fear factor down because the more fearful you get, the more compromised your immune system will be. We talk about that in brainwash. The idea that The more you— even in our day-to-day lives, the more that you feed into what's being reported in the news, etc., the more it degrades your immune system, the more it leads to disrupted sleep, the more it compromises your ability to balance immunity and balance inflammation as well. It has long-term implications as well. Okay. I'm going to just take a couple more questions. doing this in China. Doctors are now spreading the news that IV vitamin C has worked. I'm gonna follow that, Nadine, and see if that turns out to be validated because it is certainly something we've embraced for many, many years for other things. If it's helpful with respect to this virus, that'll be good to know. Let me take— Chinese are using 24,000 IV, or that's probably 24,000 milligrams. Let's see, 3% hydrogen peroxide in vitro— I guess you mean in vitro— has been shown to kill the virus in a 1977 PubMed study. That said, this virus wasn't around in 1977. There was coronavirus, which we've known about for decades. I mean, you know, cows get coronavirus and can be immunized against it, but there is some subtle differences, you know, between each one. So good to know though, nevertheless. They are using vitamin C effectively. I'm hearing that again now from Nadine. Great, great. Thank you, Laura, for that comment. Should they be concerned? Yes, everyone should be concerned. Is risk of complication higher if you have underlying lung disease? Yes, I would say that's what we are seeing in terms of the information being given. Now, many times asthmatics, as I mentioned earlier, are taking steroids. Steroids compromise immune function, so if you are asthmatic, you're going to want to be even more careful. I mentioned my thoughts on colloidal silver earlier, and hello to New Zealand and hello from Portugal. Wonderful. Zinc lozenges. Very interesting that Laura brings that up. So again, zinc we know is effective in rhinovirus infections in that it helps to reduce the binding of the rhinovirus to the lining of the nose possibly in the lung as well. Is it going to be an effective approach here? Don't know the answer to that. I'd like to know, but I don't know. My elderly mother-in-law is completely overwrought by the news coverage. A lot of people are. Just look at how people are responding in, you know, around the world. Look at what's happening to the markets, etc. And your mother-in-law needs to take a deep breath and recognize that the more she engages with this, the more that will compromise her immune system, her most important line of defense here moving forward. So it's important to stay informed. Find whatever website you think is worthwhile and get good information, but then put it away. Make your decisions. Do the right thing in terms of stocking your home so that you can mainly— so that you don't have to go out if you don't need to. That's the main reason that you want to stock up on non-perishables and frozen foods so you could just limit your time outside where you could potentially run into people who may not think they have an issue but may transmit the disease. It is known that it's pretty darn transmissible. And it doesn't mean that we all have to lock our doors, but it does mean that if people come over, for example, you should ask them to wash their hands right away. And certainly if somebody's sick, you should say, you know what, let's just see how that plays out. Maybe we'll get together another time. I think that's all I have for now. I'll be watching some things develop during the course of the day and get back to everybody. I'm going to try to do that tomorrow. It'll have to be later in the day Eastern time because I have some things I have to take care of earlier in the morning. But I am grateful that this has been helpful for as many people as have been paying attention to this. I would encourage you to watch the video on Facebook that I just finished recording. You'll see I'm wearing the same shirt that we're going to post tonight. And I wish everybody well. So bye for now.