Covid-19: How to Avoid Being a Susceptible Host
Before I get into the main subject of this post, I want to make clear that the current situation with covid-19 is serious, and my prayers go out to everyone affected, especially those who have lost a loved one, are ill, have lost employment, feel trapped by quarantine, etc. None of us deserve this, and I certainly don’t mean to blame those affected for their actions or lack thereof for causing their hardships.
As I mentioned above, death and suffering are unwelcome at any age. Still, these days, people are living longer than ever, and aging has become associated with the development of serious chronic diseases, like type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart, kidney diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease. This change is due to lifestyle, not an innate susceptibility to such conditions, as evidenced by the fact that life expectancy in 1900 was 47 years, and the leading cause of death was infection. (1) The significant risk factors back then were over-crowded housing, malnutrition, poor hygiene, inadequate sewage disposal, and contaminated food and water supplies, less effective medical treatments, and the lack of antibiotics. (2) In those days, the longer you lived, the greater chance you would die of an infection. Most of our modern chronic illnesses were insignificant back in those times. You can read my previous post about that here.
A loved one turned closer to 100 than 80 in early March. When I called them to wish them a happy birthday, they informed me that they had a sore throat. The next day they were hospitalized with double pneumonia. The pneumonia may very well have caused death if this was one-hundred years ago. They tested positive for the coronavirus. IT WAS THE COMMON COLD VERSION, NOT COVID-19. The common cold turned into pneumonia. Why? The reasons are many, and some are undoubtedly unknown. Still, they all add up to the fact that they were at a higher risk for developing pneumonia due to several underlying medical conditions and their treatments. In other words, they were a susceptible host. Incidentally, their spouse caught the cold as expected, and did not get pneumonia. Although the spouse did have some risk factors, their medical condition is much better. Could it have turned into pneumonia? Absolutely. Nobody can predict the future with certainty. Ultimately, they proved themselves to be a resistant individual.
Can we predict who is going to get sick? A little maybe, but not really. Can we predict the complications from a disease? Not really. We can only assume the risk factors we know of, such as any underlying conditions like COPD, heart disease, kidney disease, age, sex, medications, sleep patterns, etc. will lead to a higher probability of complications. We might expect someone with weak lungs to develop pneumonia easier than someone who does not. Does that mean they will get pneumonia with every common cold? Probably not. We can say with certainty that they are at a higher risk for pneumonia, take proper precautions, and wait. Once serious complications happen, antibiotics, hospitalization, respirators, etc. can reduce the risk of death.
Let’s talk about covid-19. The CDC is telling us that young people are generally not at risk of death or even symptoms, and those over sixty can expect more symptoms and even feel ill, but their risk of death is very low as long as they are healthy. The population that is most at risk for death are those over eighty.
Why does the risk of dying from covid-19 increase with age? Let’s take a look at just some of the reasons. About 80 percent of adults over 65 years of age have at least one chronic disease, and 50 percent have at least two chronic diseases. These chronic diseases are the most important cause of illness and mortality burden, and they have become the leading driver of healthcare costs. (3) In Australia, chronic conditions accounted for around nine in every ten deaths. Of the ninety percent, COPD lung disease, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease account for 37%. On average, those who die have three chronic conditions, and twenty percent have five! (4)
As I write this, half of those in the United States who have died were all from one nursing home. They are all reported to have had underlying chronic conditions. The reported age range is from forty to ninety, which means underlying conditions may trump age. Incidentally, as far as I know, the sixty-four workers and visitors who got the virus from the patients have not died.
What can we all do to minimize becoming a susceptible host to most diseases, including covid-19? The 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report by the US Department of Health and Human Services states that regular physical activity reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and certain types of cancer. Additionally, there is excellent evidence that regular physical activity is related to better brain health and cognition, as well as a reduction in anxiety and depression and lessening of stress. (5) Proper nutrition plays a critical part in eliminating or improving the outcomes in heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer, and many other chronic illnesses. (6) Chronic sleep loss can lead to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. (7) Conversely, the biomarkers associated with cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammatory disease risk improved with more sleep. (8) Lastly, smoking is one of the worst contributors to poor health.
With covid-19, chronic lower respiratory (lung) diseases are a significant risk factor. Chronic lower respiratory diseases are those that affect the lower respiratory tract, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, and chronic bronchitis. Smoking is a leading cause. Forty-one million people, or one in eight, in America have one of these conditions. Regardless of age, this number is enormous, and this population needs to take every precaution to avoid exposure to covid-19, and we all need to avoid exposing them.
Many of us are either not working right now or working from home. The CDC has recommended that I do not perform any elective dental procedures, so I am home as well. Let’s take this opportunity to become less susceptible hosts. Here is a list of things to try to implement with the extra time we have:
Sleep better
De-stress
Give up processed food
Walk
Start an at-home no equipment resistance training regimen
Love more: Call your friends and loved ones, or patch up a damaged relationship, or reconnect with those with whom you are quarantined
Get some sun
I stress the importance of these actions as the essential ingredients of a happy, healthy life. I prescribe them like I would a pharmaceutical. Does implementing all of the above activities guarantee you that you won’t get covid-19 or any other disease? It does not, but doing them will probably lead to improved health, and potentially prevent one or more common chronic illnesses. The science is there, and you can read more about it in my previous post here and my quick-start guide here. It goes without saying, but none of the interventions I mentioned above will do anything if you already have the virus. If you suspect you may have coronavirus, call your doctor.
Additionally, Weston A. Price wrote all about populations that practiced all of the above recommendations and were typically robust and immune to tooth decay and tuberculosis. He wrote about it in his famous book entitled Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, which you can download for free by following the link. Let’s all make the best of this and try to become more resistant individuals; what do we have to lose?