Coronavirus Conversations - Day 38: Selenium and COVID-19 and other Research Updates

Good morning, everybody, and I'm sure hopeful that we've got audio and video. This has been a challenge past couple of days for whatever reason. Lots of interesting developments. We heard yesterday, of course, that the— that we're not out of the woods, that even though, you know, number of cases seems to be declining, that there's going to be a significant uptick in the number of cases in terms of how many are affected and how many mortal— what the mortality rate is projected to be. I went out last night a little bit, looked around, and noticed that there was a lot of people in restaurants in my town. You know, some places they were back to back, and this is the reason, when you extrapolate that kind of observation, that the new statistics have indicated that we should expect a significant uptick in the number of cases and the number of deaths. It's all about behaviour. And as I've said before, you know, there is certainly a way to accomplish both goals of keeping people safe and returning to work and restarting the economy. We just have to make sure we commit to these things. In other words, that people who return to work, can we test them? Can we insist on social distancing at work? Use plexiglass isolation if that's available? gloves, et cetera. So there are ways of making it happen. I think we're getting ready to see a big experiment unveil itself in terms of what happens when we relax, you know, in terms of large numbers of populations. We will see what happens. Ultimately, I think that what we're going to see is what's been going on in Sweden, higher numbers of people infected. But, you know, the truth of the matter is that that does pave the way for herd immunity. Once we reach a certain threshold where a certain number of people have been infected, have developed antibodies, and therefore they can't serve to pass on the virus anymore, that's one of the, you know, the upsides of allowing people to interact more closely. I'm not coming down on either side of this, so I don't want to make a statement here and have my feet held to the fire. I want to definitely take questions and comments, and I would like to first start, however, with some interesting commentary on the trace element, which is selenium. Now, I received this study from the author, Lawrence Hiffler, who I plan to interview. I received it this morning, oddly enough, in my inbox, and I thought it was so important I wanted to share it with you. This has not even been published yet. The article is called Selenium and RNA Viruses Interactions: Potential Implications for SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19. This is a researcher in France who kindly forwarded this to me, and selenium is one of our trace elements, trace minerals like zinc and copper and iron, etc. That plays a very important role in multiple aspects of our physiology that are relevant as it relates to this infection. And that said, we should talk, and I'm going to talk, about what you might consider doing to boost your immune function and to counteract what might be a low selenium issue that might relate to bad outcome. We know that selenium deficiency, this is important, promotes both the mutation as well as the replication and even the virulence of RNA viruses. And this COVID-19 is an RNA virus. So it— when there's deficiency of selenium in the cells that are involved, that are infected, this helps the virus mutate and actually helps the virus become more virulent or have ability to spread We know that there have been observations about low selenium correlated to a variety of other viruses, including Coxsackievirus, Hantavirus, which causes a kidney hemorrhagic syndrome. And we know that an observational study as it relates to the Hantavirus showed that giving selenium reduced mortality by an astounding 80%. Influenza virus, everybody's familiar with that. We know that the individuals who have lower levels of selenium are much more likely to have a bad outcome with respect to the pneumonia that you can get from having influenza or the H1N1 influenza specifically. Even HIV, we know that there's been demonstration of giving selenium helping outcome as it relates to HIV. Now let's get to SARS-CoV-2 and talk about today our topic, which is the role of selenium proposed as it relates to this current issue. Well, let's first look at population studies that have demonstrated in China areas that have low levels of selenium have a lower recovery rate with respect to COVID-19. Higher selenium in the general population areas of China is associated with higher recovery rate. That's important information. Now let me take a step back. Where do we get selenium? We generally get it from the foods that we eat, especially when those foods are grown in selenium-rich soil. We know that organic vegetables, for example, have higher levels of trace elements including selenium, but you can take selenium as a nutritional supplement. A little bit more detail: in the city of Enshi, which has one of the highest selenium intakes in in the world, the recovery rate from COVID-19 is triple the average for the rest of the cities, even including Wuhan. So here is a specific city in China that has naturally much more selenium in the soil, in the vegetables. in people as well, and their recovery rate is triple the average. That's important information to think about. Well, what are the mechanisms then that we should be talking about? How does sodium selenite, which is the form that, you know, we have in our bodies, how does it act as it relates to COVID-19 positively for us? First, sodium selenite helps to prevent the entry of this virus into the cell. That's obviously very important. In addition, here's a little science for you, that sodium selenite improves or restores what's called thioreductin reductase. What does that mean? That's, it's an antioxidant, if you will, that's produced requiring selenium. Many antioxidants in your body require selenium as a cofactor in order to act as and antioxidants to help reduce what is called oxidative stress, which is a byproduct of inflammation. So we want to have our endogenous, those that are created within us, antioxidant systems working at peak efficiency. And many of them, like glutathione peroxidase, for example, require selenium. I'll tell you something else that requires selenium. This is actually very important. And that is the conversion of thyroid hormone called T4 into active thyroid hormone called T3. That enzyme that pulls off one of the iodine atoms that then would activate thyroid hormone requires selenium. So we've certainly seen individuals who have low selenium levels have difficulty in activating their T4 making active thyroid hormone. And it's interesting that one of the common treatments for underactive thyroid is giving people Synthroid, which is pure T4. But if you can't convert that into thyroid hormone, then what happens? They end up taking higher and higher levels of Synthroid because they're not converting it to the active form. So just as an aside. Next mechanism whereby selenium is important is that it is associated with increased inflammation, and that is certainly something we should be considering because we know that one of the real detrimental events that occurs is an inflammatory upregulation or turning up fire in the body. We call it the cytokine storm, and to a significant degree, we know that selenium is playing an important role in that. So we know that there are at least 25 what are called selenoproteins in the human body. These are proteins that many of which are involved as antioxidants and require selenium to work, and this has certainly implications as it relates to this current situation with COVID-19. And it's important to note that lots of research has shown that this nasty virus diverts selenium away from us and to use it for its own needs. So it actually steals our selenium for its own purposes, taking it away from us so we can't use it to create and activate antioxidants, even as it relates to thyroid. You know, one of the biggest issues that we see with people is they just get, this overwhelming fatigue. Wonder if that's because they're not converting thyroid hormone into its active form because the virus may induce a lowering of selenium level. Now one other thing I'd like to talk about is the, the possible play of lowered selenium levels and how that might relate to this coagulation issue that we are seeing in some patients who have really bad outcomes with respect to this infection. We know that selenium very profoundly acts on the platelets. It also acts on something called thromboxane A2. So we know that it can lead to possibly hemorrhage Because it has an anti-aggregation effect. What does it mean? It tends to keep the blood platelets from aggregating that we would need to form a blood clot. So selenium, you may not have been thinking much about it, plays a complex role, a multifaceted role in our human physiology normally. And looking at selenium today through the lens of coronavirus, I think is very, very important. It's a critically important trace mineral that we have to have in our bodies. What should we be doing? Well, in an ideal world, we would recognize that knowing our selenium levels wouldn't— but we can generalize. We know that selenium deficiency is really common in elderly individuals. We know that elderly individuals are at great risk for bad outcome. Fatality in elderly is seen to be about 4 to 5% in people who are age 60 or above, and even as high as 8% in individuals who are age 80 or above, and that's without considering other chronic conditions that they may have. There is also low selenium in elderly individuals, so maybe there is a relationship. So what should you do? Well, we typically recommend between 200 and 400 micrograms of selenium each day. In an ideal world, we would know a person's selenium levels prior to supplementation. We do know that some protocols call for even higher levels, as much as even 1,200 micrograms of selenium for a short period of time, like a couple of weeks. Now, these are considerations and discussions that you should have with your healthcare provider, but I will say that if you look at the label of many good multivitamins, they will have, you know, around 200 micrograms of this important mineral, which is selenium, even in a multi— multivitamin. So look at that. I would say if you have access to it, organically grown vegetables generally tend to have higher levels of other trace minerals like selenium, but also things like copper. And, you know, these are important trace minerals that are found in the soil and therefore ultimately make their way into the plant. So think about selenium. I know it might not be— you know, we've been talking a lot about zinc. And, you know, zinc is sort of the gatekeeper for the immune system. Also extremely important, zinc and copper and selenium as trace minerals that we might not think about. But I think, you know, there are subtle things that are differentiating why some people have a bad experience in comparison to others. And I think mineral status might be a player. Now, genetics may well play a role as well. And I'll be doing an interview later today with a Harvard-trained researcher in the role of our genome and our uniqueness as it relates to our genetic uniqueness and the genetic susceptibility that we have that may relate to our outcome should we become infected. And I think we're going to post that interview probably in a couple of days. Well, let's see. Good. We're going to jump into questions and comments and what have you. And here we go. Somebody says they eat Brazil nuts for selenium. Brazil nuts are a good source of selenium. That's smart. Can you take drops of selenium? Yes. Of course, check your healthcare provider. How much selenium? We covered that again. At the minimum, Most multivitamins contain around 200 micrograms, not milligrams. So that's something you might want to look for. Selenium is helping with my sleep cycle. Okay, good. For those allergic to Brazil nuts, there's yellowfin tuna, beef, turkey, eggs, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, oatmeal, spinach. All great ideas. Thank you, Lisa, for those comments. A spinach that is organically raised is a better choice, and So look for that if you have availability for that. So the question is, where is the data coming from that COVID is stealing the selenium? I'm going to post all these research studies on drperlmutter.com later today, which is— there are several. That are listed. One of them is interesting, is cellular selenium messenger RNA tethering via antisense interaction with Ebola and HIV. These are studies published in Current Topics in Medicine and Chemistry back in 2016. These are studies that relate to how these viruses are actually able to basically Take selenium away from being able to use it. Great, people are growing a lot of things in their garden. Wonderful. Keep getting a question every day. I hope somebody can post some information about gelled oxygen. Can't say I'm familiar with that. You finally went to the well too many times and you've stumped me. What can I say? Okay, I'll take a couple more questions. Good. Lots of people look like they're taking. taking selenium. Great question from Cindy Winick. Was the northern Italian diet low in selenium? I don't think so. I think that the issues in northern Italy had to do with population density, lack of behavioral changes on the front end, but perhaps mostly because of the, the percentage of elderly individuals living in northern Italy where they're making great progress in terms of reducing their number of new cases, numbers of fatalities, and now beginning very, very carefully to open up their population as it relates to their activities. Great question. Lower thyroid is interesting. I take T3 only and selenium daily. Interesting. Most people who are treating their low thyroid do not take T3. They take the common treatment for hypothyroidism, which is T4. And that is in the product like Synthroid. Now integrative doctors often use a combination of T3, the active form, bypassing the need to convert T4 into T3, which requires selenium. That'll be on the quiz. And things like Armour Thyroid or Euthroid contain both T3 and T4. My opinion is That makes sense. 200 micrograms of selenium, is it fat soluble? No, selenium and the trace minerals are water soluble. And what does that mean? Great question, thank you, Karen Sohan. Fat soluble vitamins, 2 things that are important: vitamin A, D, E, and K. Fat soluble vitamins mean 2 things. Number one, that they are best absorbed with food, especially if there's fat in your diet in that meal. And indeed there should be things like olive oil. All of these things, fatty fish, etc., will help with the absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K. Now, water-soluble vitamins like B complex and vitamin C, minerals, etc., they are absorbed. But here's the really important thing that you should consider. Water-soluble vitamins generally have a very short lifetime in our bodies. We generally pee them out pretty darn quickly. There are a lot of water-soluble vitamins that end up in the urine, like vitamin C. Why do you think if you take a good B complex, your urine turns very yellow? Because you pee it out really quickly. That's all well and good. It helps us from developing toxicity if we happen to take too much. But at the same time, it means that we need to take our water-soluble vitamins with regularity, as opposed to fat-soluble vitamins, because they are soluble in fat, and therefore they will accumulate in our fat, in our bodies, and hang around for a long time. It's why, for example, we are able to get away with giving a large dose of vitamin D once a week. Just, you know, do the math, a larger dosage, and therefore it accumulates in the body, and the body then relinquishes it into our physiology over time. So that's a very— I'm glad that question was asked because it's a really good question in understanding not only the frequency of our taking our vitamins, but how we rid our bodies of vitamins should we develop too high level. Okay, 200. Okay, other food sources of selenium besides organic vegetables? Well, we know nuts and seeds, Brazil nuts especially. Again, questions about this gelled oxygen as treatment. I'll get back to you on that one. There you go. We'll take a couple more questions. Do we need to supplement with copper as well? In an ideal world, you'd know your copper level. I think taking a good multivitamin should Provide you copper as well, and so if you don't have a good multivitamin, then perhaps you might need a copper in and of itself as a supplement. Okay, let's see any other great questions here. All right, and okay, yes, this article on the selenium has probably not made its way yet to DrPearlmutter.com. And therefore, I do need to make an announcement. And therefore, you might not find it for another hour or two. Okay, I want to tell you about what's going on today. I think it's at two or two thirty. I think it's two thirty. I'll be doing a live Instagram looking at a new and exciting book with Dr. Anna Kabeka. called Keto Green, looking at the notion of why ketosis is important, how we can get into ketosis and eat greens. And she explores the alkaline types of diet and getting a diet that is more alkaline and why that's important. So looking forward to that. And please feel, you know, feel free to join us on Instagram. Okay, Gilbert Davis talking about Purity Coffee. I drink Purity Coffee. I I think it's one of the cleanest products that you can find, and I'm not being paid to say that. Somebody keeps commenting, why do I do that? Why do I mention that? Okay, let me take one or two more questions, and then I've gotta go to work. Okay, really appreciate the information. Thank you, love my D3 and K2, both very important. Okay, I'll take the last question, and— Okay, again, the article that I'm talking about with all the references will be on drperlmutter.com really soon. I know that our team is working on that, but again, I only received this article this morning. I'm going to actually contact— already did, in fact— the author of the article and hope that we can do a Zoom live to Facebook type of conference. And just a lot of people saying thank you, and I sure appreciate hearing that. Need minerals from whole foods, meaning whole foods, not the store, not multivitamin, which is synthetic. And I think you're right. In an ideal world, if our food was that rich in terms of vitamins and minerals, that would be ideal. Supplements are just what the name implies. They are— they should be considered supplemental to a really good diet. But the reality is most of the foods that we get are not organic and have not been grown in soil That is particularly rich in the trace minerals. So, in an ideal world, Becky, you are correct. Okay, lots of things people are talking about from around the world. Getting a lot of comments from New Zealand. Really appreciate that. No, I appreciate taking consideration the time change. Okay, la di da. I'm not going to recommend specific vitamin brands. And last question. Let's just see. Let me get a really good question, then I have to run. Okay. Is the European strain of COVID more aggressive? I'm going to say that possibly more aggressive in terms of its infectivity, but possibly less aggressive in terms of symptoms. And that might ultimately make it more aggressive because there may be more people who are asymptomatic, therefore able to pass this along because they think that they're not infected. And I would refer back to the broadcast I did talking about the study recently out of Chile that indicates that there may be 9 different varieties of COVID now that are— that explain why in different parts of the world we see different symptomatic manifestation. Some places have higher rates of gastrointestinal issues, neurological issues, skin issues, children having higher issues, and as opposed to other areas. And let me, in closing, comment on the notion of children not being able to pass on this virus to adults, and therefore let's get the schools open. Let me tell you that I— My research indicates that's not necessarily true, and it becomes a significant issue when we consider that children, though they may have a higher rate of being asymptomatic, are able to become infected and transmit this infection aggressively according to studies that are coming out of Germany and also coming out of China that have been out for some of them for weeks if not past couple of months. The point is, as it relates to reopening schools, you know, we know that children need their education. I think we talked about this yesterday. Having said that, let's look at how we can achieve their education, even if it means going back to school, but still ensuring the safety of our children. We're now seeing the— a new sort of manifestation that could be from COVID-19 in children where they develop what looks like another illness called Kawasaki syndrome, where they develop kidney issues and skin issues, and it can be really quite a devastating illness. So children, though they may have less symptoms, nonetheless may be carriers and may develop other types of symptoms that we may not have recognised are related to COVID-19. The problem, as I see it, with children immediately going back to school come what may and not doing what we know is important in terms of distancing them from others, handwashing, masks, yes, is that they could bring this virus if they become infected by being in close proximity to others. They could bring it home for mom and dad and grandma and grandpa and also infect their teachers. and other individuals who work in schools. So I think these are considerations that we must make as we— while we recognize that school is extremely important. There is something now being described as the COVID lag where kids are going to get behind in their education. Recognize that, but like we talked about yesterday, Maybe there's an upside, if there is any upside, that kids are going to learn at least some social skills and other things that they might participate in at home. We learned yesterday from one of our viewers that her kids are learning how to garden. What an amazing connection that they are learning, connection to nature. So anyway, thank you all for joining me today. Thank you. I appreciate your time. I appreciate that you spend it with me, that you share this information if you think it's valuable, and I hope to be back tomorrow and have more interesting information for you. The time will come when we talk about other things. We will. This will definitely happen. Tune in to the Empowering Neurologist channel, The Empowering Neurologist on YouTube, where these are all posted with other interviews that I do. And again, if you can join me today at 2:30 on Instagram, I think it's David Perlmutter. Hopefully I got that right. I'll be interviewing Dr. Anna Cabeca. She has a very exciting new book that's coming out, I think today, and I had the opportunity to write the foreword to that book. So until next time, talk to you all soon. Bye-bye.