Coronavirus Conversations - Day 41: Relationship between blood type and risk, and use of IV-C

Hello everyone, Dr. David Perlmutter here. Thought I would check in. Haven't spoken to you all for a little while. Wanna see how everyone is doing. Got a few things I'd like to talk about today. One of the things that I think is really important is to understand that the virus is still there and that while we are all kind of relaxing and taking it all in now and resuming life as it used to be, Nothing has really changed in terms of the virus. It is still as virulent and still having its aggressive tendencies in terms of health issues as before, if not even worse than before. Having said that, we all have a tendency in watching our friends and seeing what's going on around town to really think that, well, you know, the storm has passed, we can pick up where we left off and and have at it. Well, I would indicate that if you're in a higher risk category by virtue of your age or underlying medical conditions, you may want to rethink that kind of mentality. Yes, it's an inconvenient experience that we're going through. For some people, certainly very inconvenient if not extremely challenging. But that— I'm just simply saying it's not the time yet to let down our guard. We don't know what immunity looks like. If you've had the disease, if it means that you're going to be immune. It looks like in newer research coming out of South Korea published yesterday that in fact having this experience, being— having the infection, developing antibodies may well provide immunity and that's certainly a good thing. How long is that going to last? We don't know. Certainly very encouraging that the Moderna vaccine Which was— the trials got started incredibly quickly. I think it was 63 days. Those individuals did develop antibodies. That's certainly very encouraging. Also, we're encouraged to see the results of the remdesivir trials that have demonstrated its effectiveness in terms of actively treating the disease situation. There has been a lot of discussion in terms of blood type. And that said, I'm going to just post a link to a study on DrPearlmutter.com that has to do with blood type in terms of in terms of risk. I think we should understand that you know depending on our blood types, we may have different risks in terms of outcome, and this study certainly makes it very clear. that having type A is associated with a worse outcome. Blood type O has a lower risk of getting the infection in the first place, and so we know that there are other things like age, gender, and now blood type that we can't really control, but I think, you know, the conclusion of this study that I just posted is People with blood type A have a significantly higher risk for acquiring COVID-19 compared with non-A blood types, whereas blood group O has a significantly lower risk for the infection compared with non-O blood type. Now, this may relate to the activity and number of the so-called ACE2 receptors on cells and how that might vary as it relates to various blood types. So I think that's something to think about. The next study that I want to just bring to our attention because so many people have asked me about it, that is vitamin C intravenously, and we've talked about a study that looks at vitamin C given intravenously over a period of 12 days. We haven't seen the results of that study, but the the study that I'm going to send you right now in terms of a link, let me just send that to you. Stand by. This is an interesting study because it finally looks at why we would want to even consider a vitamin C, and it it talks about vitamin C in terms of three issues. Number one, its immune-enhancing activity. Number 2, its anti-inflammatory activity, which certainly could have a bearing on the so-called cytokine storm. And number 3, its antioxidant activity. We know that one of the downstream effects of high levels of inflammation is the induction of higher and higher levels of what are called free radicals. These are damaging chemicals that damage our protein, damage our fat, damage our even genetic material, DNA. So, you know, not that free radicals are necessarily all bad. We know that this is one of the biochemical pathways that our white blood cells use to neutralize things like bacteria and viruses, etc. But it's this enhancement of free radicals that is so worrisome as it relates to multi-organ failure. In the clinical situation that characterizes COVID-19 when people are having a bad experience with it. So that's all I wanted to talk about today. I know— let me offer up some ideas about hydroxychloroquine. We know that's certainly been in the news as of late. I think some very interesting things are to be taken from the fact that the president is now taking hydroxychloroquine. What I think is really not talked about, but I think really important, is that this was a decision made by his physician to use a drug off-label in the treatment of that physician's patient. Happens to be that that patient was President Trump. I really value that relationship that a caregiving physician Is able, when she or he feels it is appropriate, to use a drug off-label. You can say whatever you want about hydroxychloroquine, whether it's effective or not effective, should it be used prophylactically without any data, you can have the discussion. But the part I want to focus on, and I'm not playing politics here, is simply that the ability of a doctor to use a medication, whatever it may be, off-label because he or she reviewed the literature and felt that perhaps in a particular patient it might be something of value, and I want to honor that. As many of you know, I've been using various medications off-label for a long, long time, and certainly effectively. We years ago started using what are called tricyclic antidepressants for people who had chronic migraine headaches. wasn't an indication, but yet it worked, and now of course it has become an indication. So that said, I thought I'd just give you an interesting— hopefully you find it interesting— sidelight into my views on that part of hydroxychloroquine that you might not have considered. Let me take a couple of questions, then I have to go. And a lot of people just saying thank you for the updates. Yeah, I haven't been doing them as frequently, just sort of letting time go by, doing a lot of other projects right now. But it looks like based on how many people are watching that— Oh my gosh, gee, we are going way back to Coral Gables High School, aren't we? Gee whiz. Anyway, let me say hello just to everybody, see if there's a couple of questions that I can answer. This is my biggest concern, disease enhancement or vaccine injuries from a fast-tracked vaccine. I would say that is certainly something to be very concerned about. That's the biggest argument against fast-tracking a vaccine. It's why we're hearing that it may still be until January, February, or even longer till there will be a vaccine. That is provided That there aren't any shortcuts taken. We can't take shortcuts in terms of administering to millions, if not billions of people, a medication, a vaccine that could potentially have a downside. That's not what needs to happen here. And by all means, above all, do no harm needs to continue to be our watchword. We can't be harming people with a vaccine because we have this interest getting something out and getting something done. So there you go. Gosh, we're hearing a lot from Coral Gables Senior High, and I don't know if we're gonna have our 50-year reunion or not. I do know there is a Facebook site for that. Okay, everybody, hello in England. I just did an interview before coming online with England. I'll post the link to that Very soon. Okay, any other questions? Okay, one moment. Yes, there's a lot of talk, a lot of questions have been asked, and I'm trying to respond to these questions about vitamin C. I'm a proponent of vitamin C in general for other things, as many of you know, for a long time. I'm just waiting for some good data in terms of specifically its utilization in COVID-19 before I can let you all know that it would be something to think about if you find an open-minded physician who could help you pursue that. It's widely available in terms of them being able to buy it. I actually have some right here in my office that I would consider using, but with that said, I've not necessarily seen data showing in this experience it's worthwhile. Having said that, there's certainly a lot of reason to think it should be worthwhile. Similarly, there is reason to think that other approaches may be valuable, and that's why they're being looked at. It's why people are looking at ivermectin. We've talked about that. That's a drug used in humans to treat parasitic infections and even to treat head lice. We know it's what you give your dog if you go to the store and buy a heartworm Pill for your dog. It's ivermectin. Haven't seen the study yet in humans that shows it's effective, and yet the in vitro study, the laboratory study that we've talked about before on this podcast from Australia, demonstrated a dramatic drop of 500-fold in 48 hours in the laboratory in human cells that were in a petri dish. That's a pretty dramatic drop in the COVID virus, but again, that's not in humans. So we're going to keep our eyes open to look at all this stuff. Do you think the blood type correlation is related to the number of people with those types being related? As a matter of fact, I do not, and I'll tell you why, because the study that I sent to all of you, looked at the number of— they looked at the number of people with the blood types and then looked at the number of people who then had bad outcomes. So they— when they first looked at the number of people with the blood types, they found that it was 32% had type A, 25% had type B, and 33% had type O, then they looked at the numbers of people who had the bad outcomes and the good outcomes and they were, they were much different. So 34% of people were type O, but only 26% of the people with bad outcome were type O. So that was a good question, but it shows that they did their due diligence in terms of a good study, in terms of looking at the statistics. Hi from Germany. Hope things are working out for you. I know you are dramatically lightening up on restrictions, doing a lot of testing there early on as well. And, you know, Germany is a model to look at in terms of, you know, dealing with this situation effectively. And I think that's what we really need to do. We need to— there are ongoing things happening around the world that are giving could potentially give us great information if we were to pay attention to them. Looking at, for example, the effectiveness of the program instituted in South Korea, perhaps in contrast with what we've seen happening in Sweden. And I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong. We know that as of yesterday, when following a time in China when restrictions began to be relaxed, That now 100 million people have been again restricted in terms of activity because of a resurgence, a small resurgence in the number of individuals, a very small number infected. So, you know, it is a dynamic sort of response, but I think we can absolutely learn from the observation of what's going on in other countries. Why are we so worried about a vaccine? They are toxic and poison. Nothing, no medication is 100% safe. We always look at medications in terms of their risk-benefit ratio. What is the risk? What is the benefit? And there have been, I'm certainly going to admit that we all know there have been major problems in the past with certain vaccines. And as yet, and yet there have been some advan— obviously wonderful advancements based upon vaccines over the years. My goodness. That said, we have to wait to look at the risk-benefit ratio as that information becomes available, as vaccines are created and proven, tested for safety, et cetera, moving forward. So again, no intervention is going to be 100% successful and 100% safe. How effective is a flu vaccine, you may ask? And we know that that varies year to year between 20 and 40, as much as 60 at times, percent effective, meaning that at times the common flu vaccine that you might even get at your local pharmacy may have an 80% chance of being ineffective. might be more effective year to year. That comes from our CDC data. They, you know, there are perhaps people who would like us to think that we should all have a flu shot every year, but when you look at the effectiveness numbers, they're not all that compelling. If you have underlying pulmonary disease, should you have a flu vaccine? Certainly a discussion that you should have with your healthcare provider. I'm not going to talk about that. Again, I'm not going to do politics here. What does blood type have to do with it? Well, again, the information here would indicate that blood type may have a role to play in terms of risk for infection as well as risk for bad versus good outcomes. So I would say go to drperlmutter.com. I just posted those studies in the coronavirus section. And, you know, it's, it's luck of the draw in terms of your blood type. That said, you don't have any choice as far as that goes. On the other hand, you do have a choice in terms of balancing your immune system, reducing inflammation by doing such things as getting a good night of restorative sleep, eating a diet that's low in sugar, getting out into nature. Exercising, reducing stress, engaging in some meditation, for example, to help reduce stress. All of those factors play a huge role in balancing your immune system, which is something you should think about doing. You can't change your blood type, but you can sure as heck be empowered to engage those other things. Hello in Spain. Okay, let me take one more question and then Let me know if there's more that you guys want to do in terms of moving forward. Maybe we'll take another visit with Mr. Owl, to those of you who know who he is. Say something about D3, gut microbiome, fatty acids, omega-6, omega-3 ratio. Gosh, this will be my last question. So vitamin D3, I'm taking. I think it's reasonable. We know that it is very influential in terms of both the innate And the adaptive immune systems, the innate immune system that comes online quickly, kind of a general response, and the adaptive immune system that lets us not only respond over time to a particular infection, but in a sense remember it for a future encounter. Vitamin D activates a whole host of gene pathways. There are receptors for vitamin D throughout the body. It activates activates what we call antimicrobial peptides. One is called cathelicidin that help our bodies deal with microbes. So I think it's very important. I know my vitamin D level. I take about 5,000 international units of D3 a day and keep my level around 60 to 70-ish. I know that my genetics would indicate that I have some changes in my vitamin D Therefore, I might need a little bit more. So I think vitamin D is very important. Next, gut microbiome, I think, is extremely valuable. I think it's playing right now a very big role and a very understated role. I did a YouTube video called— well, look, here's how you can find it. YouTube, put in Perlmutter microbiome coronavirus. I do a keynote presentation about that that explains Explains my thoughts about the microbiome. Having said that, it's our first line of defense, and everything we can do to keep our gut bacteria healthy, I think very important. High fiber diet. Don't challenge ourselves with unnecessary medications. Certainly do your best to avoid sugars of all kinds and highly processed food. What else did that? Oh yes, omega six, omega three ratio. I think it's been overplayed a bit. But there are multiple reasons I think that avoiding processed plant vegetable oils rather is a good idea because of their effects on immune expression and inflammation. So I would say that the typical grocery store on the shelf for six months without going rancid oils because they're so processed should be avoided. On the other hand, other oils—avocado oil, olive oil, oil from nuts and seeds—that is organic and not overly processed, I think, are good for us. And so it's really important to be very selective over the types of oil that we consume. It's been stated people are looking at this omega-6 to omega-3 ratio as kind of a surrogate for being on a pro-inflammatory diet, having high omega-6 processed oils would ostensibly increase inflammation. It's been calculated that the average American consumes omega-6 to omega-3 at a ratio of 20 to 1. People talk about an ideal ratio being more like about 2 to 1 or even 1 to 1. In other words, much higher omega-3s now in comparison to the omega-6s that we consume. I think I answered that question. It's gone quickly. Okay, well, everybody, okay, last question I think is interesting. It brings up an interesting topic from Scott Vander Wieland. And it says, did not know this. Not sure what you didn't know, but can you verify lung injury that may or may not reverse from COVID-19 infection? And it's a great question because we don't know the answer in terms of the resolution of the lung injury over time because we haven't been— we don't have the luxury of retrospective evaluations 1, 2, 3 years down the line to see What may be residual in people? These honeycomb lung changes that are seen originally, the looking like ground glass appearance on the CT and chest x-ray, will they resolve? We know that some individuals have fatigue moving forward. Is that because they're not oxygenated, because their lungs have been damaged? But beyond that, we do know in one study from the New England Journal of Medicine that it At least at the time of discharge from the intensive care unit and then through the hospital and then home, that 1/3 of the patients had neurological issues at the time of discharge, cognitive issues. Will they resolve over time? Don't know the answer to that. Will people who go on dialysis because of kidney damage resolve over time? We don't know that. This is an unknown because we've only just become infected a few months ago with this virus, so we have to see how this plays out. For those who are thinking that they're going to maybe go out and get this virus just to get it over with because now there's been some indication that you will have immunity, that is a very good question from— that Scott asks us is we don't know if that's necessarily a good idea based upon the idea, the possibility of having long-term consequences from having this infection. So that's an important point. Glad that he brought that up. So information, I think that's really very good. Is there a link on your website about the blood type study? Actually, I put 2 of them there. Yeah, so they were both right on the front page of drperlmutter.com. Click where it says coronavirus and They're amongst the top four literature citations that we just posted, I think yesterday. So they are there, along with the vitamin C study. And there's also a study we just published on intravenous glutathione. We've had a lot of questions about glutathione. This is an interesting report about intravenous glutathione that you I think you'll be all interested to find. Karen Wolf again. The blood type study is found on drperlmutter.com. Let me just see if I can post it one more time. Let's see. I don't know if it's going to work. I'll try though. Stand by. Okay, I just posted it again. Scroll to the very bottom of the comments and there you will find that the role of this ABO blood type in terms of predisposing to COVID-19 severity. Very, very compelling information. Last comment. I'm pro-vaccine generally, but heard that COVID is an RNA virus. It is. And vaccines don't work for those. That's a very good point. There has been a lot of discussion in terms of the lack of ability to generate a vaccine effective against an RNA-type virus. You know, there are plenty of vaccines out there for DNA viruses, though not all, that's for sure. There are certainly plenty of work being done right now to develop a vaccine as it relates to herpes virus, for example. But there are other DNA viruses for which vaccines have been very effective. But you make a very good point. And so there you go. Okay, well everybody, thank you for joining me. I know this was impromptu, but of course it will live on my Facebook site so you can spread it around, let people look at it later on. I'll come back and talk to you guys soon, and that's it for now. Bye for now, everybody. Stay healthy. Bye-bye. Bye.