In this informal outdoor video, Dr. David Perlmutter provides a rapid update on the COVID‑19 pandemic, focusing on several emerging topics. He highlights a newly published small Chinese study (10 severely ill patients) in which convalescent plasma from recovered individuals appeared to produce significant clinical improvement, describing it as a potentially game‑changing, low‑cost therapy if plasma can be safely collected, filtered, and distributed. He urges communities to recruit donors and suggests building a web‑based clearinghouse for plasma centers. Perlmutter then reviews epidemiological trends, noting declining case numbers in parts of Europe and the United States, and speculates that social distancing, mask‑wearing, and hand hygiene are likely contributing. He examines why Germany’s COVID‑19 death rate is markedly lower than in the U.S. and Italy, attributing it to a younger population, universal high‑quality healthcare, aggressive home‑based monitoring, and extensive testing. He discusses the uncertainty surrounding reinfection or viral reactivation, citing Chinese data that patients can test negative and later positive again, and emphasizes that the science is not yet settled. For personal health, he stresses the primacy of restorative sleep and recommends supplements such as vitamin D (he personally takes 5,000 IU daily, with dosage guidance based on serum levels), zinc, probiotics, and pre‑biotics. He cautions against unproven or potentially harmful adjunctive treatments, expressing skepticism about inhaled hydrogen peroxide, noting limited data on ozone therapy, and taking a measured stance on hydroxychloroquine/quinine, urging waiting for solid evidence. Throughout, he balances optimism about emerging data with a warning not to relax protective measures, encouraging continued vigilance, informed media consumption, and community support for plasma donation.
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Well, hi everyone. Here's a surprise. I am deciding today that I'm going to do this update from outside because, just because. So there was an interesting report and I'm not going to post it because I'm outside, I'm not on my computer. But as many of you know, we've been talking about the idea of plasma exchange. Plasma exchange. Not plasma exchange, convalescent plasma, using the plasma of somebody who has been through coronavirus and now is feeling better, not infectious anymore, and harvesting their plasma because it has antibodies in it that may be helpful for another person. We have discussed how that has been ongoing in Israel and this morning, and I'm going to post it to drperlmutter.com. In fact, Kate, if you're watching, If we can get that done sooner than later, that'd be great. A study that was published just today about the use of this convalescent plasma in a study out of China. And it was a very small study. I think 10 patients who were ill, quite ill with coronavirus in hospital received plasma from individuals who had recovered. And apparently they had a significant improvement. So that's very, very hopeful. If the plasma is treated appropriately and filtered appropriately and things like viruses, etc., are inactivated, then, in other words, safe, then this sounds like a super cool kind of treatment to have available for hospitals. And you know what? If the communities start to recruit patients to donate their blood, my goodness, this could absolutely be a game changer. And so I'm very excited about that. We are outside today, and so it's going to be less formal. And I don't know if you can see, but I'm hopeful that you can. Let me see if I can— probably cannot do that. I'm going to see if I can turn around, and I just want to show you, that's tomato plants right there that are doing really, really well. And then along there are beans. I'd like to take you closer, but every time I do that, I tend to lose— The camera. Uh, my signal. In the background, all of those big leafy things are eggplants. So I've been planting a lot of stuff. And you can see there's Mr. Owl, who is keeping a close eye on things and making sure that we don't have any critters that are going to then eat the kale, eat the tomatoes. We sure don't want that. So anyhow, let me go back to my position here where I do know I get a good signal. And now that I can definitely go through these questions. Okay, so let me just do this today. I know that, you know, usually you guys are used to having a formal presentation, and I'm going to tell you that I just, I didn't want to do it today. I also noticed that I have a palm tree growing out of my head. That's not Not so good. Okay, so let me just tell you my thoughts in terms of what's going on. I'm very, very encouraged by some of these numbers in terms of new patients as it relates to Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and to some degree even the United States. We're seeing the numbers are improving and it's really, really very encouraging. So Why that's happening is unclear. I would suspect that our efforts around the world at doing things like social distancing, perhaps wearing masks, washing our hands for a change, may well be having a positive impact. I am— it's thrilling. And having said that, I thought about what we would talk about today, and I would say that it's not time to sit back and resume our activities. Why? Because really, we— it's premature. We see that it's happened now in Wuhan, but recognize that Wuhan, China is much further along on the continuum than are we. And so we will see now that they have relaxed their social distancing, their, you know, the idea that people need to stay home, they've relaxed that. Let's see how that plays out, and it may very well be something, you know, that they get away with, in which case that's going to be good news for us. The other thing I think is really very, very important for us to look at right now is Germany. Why do you suppose it is that while Germany has thousands and thousands of cases, their death rate is incredibly low? It's half of what it is here in America. It's about 20% of what it is in Italy? Why is Germany doing so well as it relates to the death rate? And there are a lot of, I think, important messages there that we should consider. First of all, the average age of the population is a bit younger, so they are a younger population. Number 2, they've got a wonderful healthcare system for everybody, for the entire population. Think about that. They also have a system whereby people who have been infected will be checked by some form of healthcare practitioner about every 6 days or about 6 days into their infection. Somebody will find where they're living, go to their home and check them out and determine if they need more aggressive care or not rather than hoping that that person ends up going to a hospital, which is what's happening, you know, in many other countries. So Germany seems to be way ahead of it. They have a lot of trust in their healthcare system. And the other thing really important about what Germany has done is incredibly widespread— that's an osprey, by the way— incredibly widespread testing. So they're doing some things that look like they're going to be really, really proving to be helpful, actually. Really now. Alright, let me go through some questions. Hello, Peru. Less risk factors in Germany, generally health is better, the underlying health conditions are better. That is correct, Frank. So let me see if I'm able to scroll. Oh my gosh, I can scroll on the phone. Let's, let me see if I have any other questions and then we'll take it from there. What is my take on using hydrogen peroxide with nebulizer? Treat before infection can take hold. I I think it's interesting. I don't have any data on that. I'm not sure I would want to be breathing in hydrogen peroxide into my nose or into my lungs. So you know there are a lot of things people are talking about, and some of these things may not be necessarily good for you. You know above all do no harm. Do I believe everything the Chinese are saying now? Can't say that I do. I know that they, you know, we— it's clear that early on they did their very best to suppress what was going on. So I think that's a valid consideration that what we're hearing in terms of their numbers may not be valid. I really hope the push for our health is to build up our own immune system, not relying on drugs. Good. So Eileen Pantos, that's a great entrée to a discussion about what do we do To enhance immune function. And what are the best supplements? And the best thing that, in my opinion, that you can take right now, here I'm going to say it, the number one thing is a good night's sleep. You know, there are a lot of things that are out there that are good for you, whether it's zinc, vitamin D, probiotics, prebiotics, etc. I think the biggest thing that you could pay attention to right now To have the biggest impact on your immune function is to make sure you're getting enough sleep, enough restorative sleep. Turn the TV off in the afternoon and evening. Don't have coffee in the afternoon. Try to relinquish from all of this, you know, real fear-enhancing media that is so prevalent. I'm not saying you shouldn't check in. Check in. Why not? Learn what's going on in your community. Learn what's going on globally. Stay informed. But realize there's a lot of hype out there that can make you, make you nervous, make you anxious, and what does that do? 2 things, it directly compromises your immune system because of stress, number one, and number two, indirectly it's gonna mess up your sleep, and as such you have taken a step backwards as it relates to your immune function. Okay, let me scroll through some of these questions. Yeah, okay. Hello from northwest of Toronto. Great, we know the area well. This is a great question. I'm recovering from COVID-19. Great. But concerned about reinfection. Could you talk about that? This is a terrific question because there's a lot of new data coming out right now telling us And it, again, most of this data is Chinese data, but it's telling us that there can be reactivation. We've talked perhaps 10 days ago on this podcast about the fact that you can test negative twice in 24 hours, which is sort of the standard for saying you're no longer experiencing the virus via the nasopharyngeal swab, and yet still be excreting virus in the stool. And now we know there is data showing that you can then revert back Back to testing positive again through the nasopharyngeal swab. What's that all about? Who knows? But it looks like you may be either experiencing a reinfection that you caught from somebody else or a reinfection of the virus that you originally had. I don't think there has been enough science yet to delineate between those 2 possibilities. Could be both, could be one or the other. So that's troubling for sure. We'd like to believe that once you get this, that you are then in good shape, go back to work, no further risk this time around. Could you have risk come the fall and winter of this year? Perhaps if there's a change in this virus, perhaps you're at risk again. These are unknowns. We're hoping that this behaves like influenza. You get it this year and you're done, end of story. And we know with influenza that it can mutate and next year you could need— you may have another infection. So these are important unknowns and they are very important as it relates to our activity. So we need to right now keep the pressure on. Again, I am liking the data that's coming out of Europe in terms of new infections. I am actually seeing a glimmer of hope in New York in terms of new infections, but don't let down your guard yet. We all have a tendency to want to do that. I'm right there with you thinking, well, maybe I don't need to do all these things if I go to the store, but don't let up just yet. Good news is coming, that's for sure. I'll take a couple more questions and then Okay, so if somebody had symptoms, call your nearest plasma center. They may be able to use your plasma for life-saving therapy. Yeah, I think simply a phone call asking if they're doing that is great. I would say this, and that is that I'm hoping somebody will build out a website, and maybe it's already there, I don't know, but somebody will build a website that can serve as a clearinghouse For centers that are accepting plasma, which would be a great thing for those of you who've gotten through this to do. You'll feel really good about that. You'll be helping people that you may not know, but you probably feel really good in your heart knowing you know that you're you're helping another person. So that said, I'm looking for a website. Maybe one of you could do that, or there's probably not. Maybe there is. Maybe there's already a clearinghouse website out there and— hello to Philadelphia. Ozone treatment, actually I did see a bit of data on ozone therapy that was using a device takes your blood out, circulates it through ozone purification, then puts it back into your system. I can't say that that was hard data. What's the difference between ozone therapy and ozone inhalation? This has been a technique that's been used for decades as well. We'll keep an eye on that. If anybody has any reference on that, then I'd be delighted to take a look at that. I'm in Florida, Southwest Florida, Naples. Is quinine a good supplement? I think, John, you're asking that based on the hydroxychloroquine data or lack thereof, so I can't really say. I don't know if hydroxychloroquine chloroquine, which is along those lines but a lot more aggressive, is necessarily effective. We now see reports that India is providing this anti-malaria drug to its healthcare providers with the idea that something is better than nothing. Not if that something is causing harm. So we have to let that play out a little bit and see if in fact hydroxychloroquine is if the juice is worth the squeeze. In other words, if it's helpful or not. I'll take a couple more questions and then we'll call it a day. Should we take vitamin D? You should do what you think is best for yourself. I take 5,000 units a day. Understand that if you know your vitamin D level or what it was before this whole thing began and you want to get your vitamin D level up to around 50 or 60, that usually 1,000 IU of D3 will raise your vitamin D level by about 10 nanograms per milliliter. So if you're at a 30, you want to go to a 40, that's perhaps what 1,000 units will do for you if you are an adult. Of course, check with your healthcare provider. Okay, everybody. Thanks for listening. Thanks for being okay with me coming out of the studio today to do this because it was a great day and I just felt like doing that. So thanks for listening. I'm hoping to check back with everybody tomorrow. Bye for now.
