COVID-19 is the condition (or the disease) that is caused by the coronavirus named SARS coronavirus 2
So far, the media seems to be reporting on three solutions: a vaccine, Hydroxycloroquine, and Remdesivir. The last one, Remdesivir is an antiviral and probably offers the most promise for us in the near future. There are many scientific papers being submitted as ‘pre-prints’, meaning waiting to be validated, with good treatment possibilities, and some hospitals have started trials for these proposed treatments, but we just have to wait.
Our best (and most precious) resource, at this point, is the doctors and nurses reporting what they are seeing in their severe covid19 patients and what is working to treat them. The data analysis being published now is also useful, and the media seem to be picking up this information and reporting on it to give us a clearer picture.
Is there anything that I can do to increase my chances of survival of COVID-19?
YES….
Here is a list of things that make a difference to your infection outcome (The explanation for each is below the list.):
1. Decrease viral load
2. Get sun or take Vitamin D3 supplements!
3. Eat to obtain all the nutrients and avoid deficiency or malnutrition.
4. Improve metabolic health.*
5. Exercise daily to increase heart rate and breathe deeply.
*This is arguably the most important factor as the vast majority of people dying are those with some metabolic syndrome
1. Viral load is how much virus is in your body at a time. If you are exposed once and then you isolate, the only virus in your body replicating is from that one exposure. This is ‘minimal viral load’ and your body has the opportunity to ‘ramp up’ an immune response before the virus grows strong.
If you are exposed multiple times like a person going to the shop every day, a shop worker, or like healthcare professionals, then multiple exposures add multiple viruses which are copying themselves and getting stronger before your immune response can respond at full force.
This is why a high percent of young healthcare workers are dying as compared to the general population.
Maintain physical distancing; try to minimise excursions; avoid touching your face; wash hands; clean surfaces; etc…wear a mask to protect the vulnerable.
2. Patients with low vitamin D levels are 10 times more likely to die from COVID-19. There have been 4 studies that are out in preprint that confirm this fact. The most recent study is available free of charge (the P<.05 after adjusting for other factors). On 11 May, 2020, Medscape released a video with a prominent doctor recommending that people get outdoors and/or take a supplement of vitamin D3.
3. Patients with malnutrition are more likely to end up hospitalised with COVID-19.
Our immune systems require vitamins and minerals to have a complete response… if we are depleted in any of them, it can lead to the virus getting stronger before we can kill it.
The above model is from The National Academies Press as part of an excellent article on nutrients and immune function and it inspired my model:
In order to achieve this we need to eat food daily that has a high content of easily absorbed nutrients.
4. Having any chronic disease can make you vulnerable to other illnesses, but with the corona virus, three conditions are standing out as ‘responsible’ for many if not most of the deaths!
These dangerous comorbidities are: High Blood Pressure, Obesity, and Diabetes. It turns out that all three conditions make up a part of metabolic syndrome – a state where the body is struggling to maintain normal functions like getting enough blood to the eyes and toes and/or a poor immune response.
A concerning fact is that metabolic syndrome can be present for more than 10 years before it is diagnosed and during the undiagnosed time, damage to the body’s system is already occurring – leaving unsuspecting people vulnerable to other infections including the coronavirus.
Every measure to keep the blood sugars and blood pressure under control should be taken, at once. People who are taking their blood pressure medications have better outcomes with covid19 than those who stop taking the medication.
5. Difficulty breathing is one of the typical symptoms of COVID-19 which means the lungs work hard to get oxygen and the heart has to work hard to get the oxygen around the body. If symptoms become severe, a breathing machine will be used and being on a ventilator puts a lot of strain on both your heart and lungs, so the stronger they are, the better your outcome.
Exercising enough to become breathless can increase your lung capacity and strengthens all the muscles associated with your breathing including your heart muscle.
Further Reading: