How to Preserve Your Sense of Smell
Loss of sense of smell can have serious consequences.
COVID-19
History of Coronaviruses
On December 30, 2019, an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital in the Hubei province of China messaged his fellow physicians, alerting them to the appearance of a concerning cluster of pneumonia cases. Thirty-nine days later, after becoming infected with the very virus he tried to warn his colleagues about, Dr. Li Wenliang was dead at thirty-three. By that time, the disease had already spread to dozens of countries.
Before the SARS outbreak in 2002, only two coronaviruses were known to cause disease in humans, but neither caused much more than the common cold. The SARS coronavirus, however, went on to kill about one in ten people it infected. A 10 percent mortality rate. A decade later, in 2012, MERS, another deadly coronavirus, emerged. Like SARS, MERS spread to infect thousands of people across dozens of countries, but that time, one in three died. More than a 30 percent mortality rate. Today, we’re fighting to protect ourselves from—and to defeat—the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The Origins of Coronaviruses
Where Are These Emerging Infectious Diseases emerging from?
All human viral infections are believed to originate in animals. Many of the first cases of the SARS coronavirus, caused by SARS-CoV, were found in the same kind of place most of the first cases of our current pandemic of the COVID-19 coronavirus, caused by SARS-CoV-2, have been found: live animal “wet” markets in China.
Preventing Future Pandemics
To understand COVID-19 and other deadly viral outbreaks, we have to understand their history and evolution if we’ll ever have a chance at preventing future pandemics. We also have to look back and take lessons from the past. How did we successfully beat back SARS? Why is it more difficult with COVID-19? What do we have to do to slow the pandemic today before we even have a hope at a vaccine?
The information on this page has been compiled from Dr. Greger’s research. Sources for each video listed can be found by going to the video’s page and clicking on the Sources Cited tab.
Popular Videos for COVID-19
All Videos for COVID-19
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The Best Diet for COVID and Long-COVID
Healthy plant-based diets appear to help reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 and getting infected in the first place, even independent of comorbidities.
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How a Plant-Based Diet Can Help Reduce Racial Health Disparities
Why are Black Americans sicker and die younger than their white counterparts, and what can we do about it?
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How to Prevent the Next Pandemic
We need to reform the food system before it’s too late.
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The COVID-19 Pandemic May Just Be a Dress Rehearsal
There may be an even deadlier pandemic threat waiting in the wings…of chickens.
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How COVID-19 Ends: Vaccination, Mutations, and Herd Immunity
What should we expect in the coming months and years with SARS-CoV-2?
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The Best Mask or DIY Face Covering for COVID-19
Twenty different materials put to the test.
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What to Do If You Come Down with COVID-19
Can pets like cats and dogs get infected and be infectious?
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Hand Washing and Sanitizing to Inactivate COVID-19 Coronavirus
My recipes for DIY hand sanitizer and surface disinfectant for SARS-CoV-2.
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How to Avoid COVID-19
How long can the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus survive on surfaces like paper?
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Would Zinc Lozenges Help with COVID-19?
Zinc may help slow the replication of other coronaviruses, but what about SARS-CoV-2?
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The Immune System and COVID-19 Treatment
Are there immune-boosting foods we should be eating?
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Modifiable Risk Factors and Comorbidities for Severe COVID-19 Infection
There are things you can do right now to reduce your risk of falling seriously ill and dying from this disease.
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COVID-19 Symptoms vs. the Flu, a Cold, or Allergies
What does the clinical course of COVID-19 look like for both those who survive and those who don’t?
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Social Distancing, Lockdowns, and Testing: How to Slow the COVID-19 Pandemic
What can we learn from other countries and the 1918 pandemic to slow COVID-19?
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R0 and Incubation Periods: How Other Coronavirus Outbreaks Were Stopped
Why can’t we stop COVID-19 like we stopped SARS and MERS, the other two 21st century coronavirus outbreaks?
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The Last Coronavirus Pandemic May Have Been Caused by Livestock
The next coronavirus pandemic may come from pigs not pangolins.
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Where Did the COVID-19 Coronavirus Come From?
The role wet markets, wildlife trafficking, and pangolins have played in the emergence of SARS-CoV-2.
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The SARS Coronavirus and Wet Markets
The role live animal markets and the trade in exotic animals have played in the emergence of deadly coronavirus outbreaks.
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Where Do Deadly Coronaviruses Like MERS-CoV Come From?
In the last 17 years, there have been three new deadly coronavirus epidemics, but where do emerging diseases emerge from?
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Pandemics: History and Prevention
How to treat the cause by preventing the emergence of pandemic viruses in the first place (a video I recorded more than a decade ago when I was Public Health Director at the HSUS in Washington DC).
