Obesity, Asthama or Cormobidity of any type-High risk of Covid-19

By now if you are reading this post, then I can assume that you are aware of Covid-19 pandemic and its most common symptoms such as respiratory problems, dry cough, fever, loss of taste etc. The moment we talk about respiratory problems or dysfunction, we need not explain that obese people have higher resistance in airways, weak respiratory muscles and generally low lung volume, which weaken the first line of defense against Covid-19 or coronavirus.

Obesity and Coronavirus

In addition to dry cough and fever, people infected with Coronavirus usually develop pneumonia as well. Obese people often suffer from hypertension, high cholesterol level, diabetes, kidney and heart diseases. Obesity impedes diaphragm excursion and restricts ventilation, resulting in adverse effect on cardiovascular functions. All of these factors make one susceptible to all types of infections, coronavirus is an infection.

Fat Loss-Enhance Resistance to Infection

By losing weight, you can prepare to prevent yourself from the much-speculated second wave of Covid-19 sometime during the end of 2020. Though not a sure-shot formula for prevention of Covid-19, it will strengthen your ability to fight against the virus. Well, it has been noticed that overweight people understand the risks of being fat, but they cannot overcome food craving or change their eating habits. If you want to try something that make changing your diet less challenging or I’d say quite easy, then try Noom App.

Noom- The Last Weight Loss Program You’ll Ever Need

Diabetes and Covid-19

Though we do not have enough data to confirm it, initial studies indicate that high level of glucose in blood can be a kind of predictor of Covid-19. More research and reviews need to be done before it can be confirmed. However, I must say that diabetes in general weakens immune system and makes your body more susceptible to all types of infections. Therefore you might be in the high risk group if you are diabetic. It is often a general perception that reversing diabetes in not possible, but you can mange it well by making some simple change in your dieting habits and lifestyle in general.

How antibodies work?

Without getting into the details of the official definition of antibody, I’d like to explain it in layman’s terms. Antibody, as the name suggest, is something that works against any foreign body ( harmful viruses or bacteria). The structure of an antibody is such that it does not allow any foreign virus bacteria to bind together with the cells of human immune system. Simply speaking, they don’t allow the virus to multiply or spread in the body and get killed because they cannot survive without multiplying. As a result, the person does not get infected with that virus, because it is killed or neutralised a the entry-point itself.

Covid-19 Antibodies

Currently many research institutes are working on developing antibodies for coronavirus. Researchers at Utrecht University have identified fully human monoclonal antibody that prevents the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus from infecting cultured cells. Read full report here. Currently, plasma of treated or recovered Covid-19 patients is being considered for treatment of other patients. Sometimes it works, other times it fails. More research is required on this.

Asthma and Coronavirus

As some symptoms of coronavirus are similar to those any asthamatic patient often experiences, many people wonder if being asthmatic increases their risk of getting infected with coronavirus. There is no enough evidence to support this. As Covid-19 started from China, where asthma is relatively less common than in the west, we do not have enough published data about how asthma can make one more susceptible to Covid-19. However, experts suggest not to stop asthma medication unless advised by your medical practitioner.

What is Comorbidity?

It will not be out of context to talk about comorbidity when we are discussing obesity and coronavirus. When a person is suffering from more than one health issues, either interlinked or independent of the other, then the patient is called comorbid, and this situation is called comorbidity. For example, majority of obese people suffer from hypertension or cardiovascular diseases. In healthy people, body develops antibodies that fight against viral attack. People with comorbidity have compromised immune system, which means their antibodies are not strong enough to fight the virus. This complicates the whole situation and treatment becomes difficult and even impossible in many cases, such as Covid-19 cases in current scenario.

Anxiety and Stress

It goes without saying any type of health issue is a matter of concern, but when it a pandemic like Coronvirus, the anxiety level goes up causing stress and tension. The lockdown imposed in almost all corona-infected cities and countries, give rise to loneliness as we adopt the new normal lifestyle. This lifestyle will include social distancing as a norm to be continued until a vaccine or cure is found.

The New Normal after Covid-19 lockdown

Social distancing or wearing a mask is something humans are not made for. In fact, many renowned people including president Trump do not like wearing a mask. However, this is going to be the new normal lifestyle after Covid-19 lockdown is lifted. As experts believe that we’ll have to learn to live with Covoravirus until its cure or vaccine is found.

As a social animal, humans need to interact with each other at a much affectionate level than many other animals. Social distancing is against that norm, therefore can cause stress. It will not be out of context to mention that stress, tension and lack of sleep weaken your immune system, which can obviously make you more susceptible to coronavirus. The solution is simple, keep stress away as social distancing must be maintained in the current scenario. Do something that relieves your stress and helps you see the brighter side of life.