COVID 19 GLOBAL RESPONSE: THE FAULT LINE

At least three generations of the contemporary human race have been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has caused massive public health, social and economic crises.

After three significant waves of the viral surge, we now know that the disease ranges from asymptomatic to most serious emergency.

Those patients whom it impacted severely died in a very short period and no medical help could provide any hope - the best of the p ulmon olog i s t s watched helplessly while breath became air and life went out of the body which was in good health a few days back.

Despite being the most advanced country in the world, the USA suffered a maximum number of deaths - 25% of total deaths with 5% of the total population on earth.

The minute virus decimated the mightiest with ease. Why did this happen? It has come to notice that four factors contributed directly to the final negative outcome - obesity, hypertension, diabetes and pre-existing heart failure.

Vitamin D deficiency, too, might have been a significant factor as the resultant inadequate immune response failed to contain the growth of the deadly virus. People who are vegetarian and vegan should also have taken care of their vitamin B12 levels.

People who didn’t have these co-morbidities could have been treated at home if the panic, political interference and fear amongst medical professionals would have been lesser than it was.

Media overhype caused total hopelessness. While it should have just focused on only basic information regarding improving immunity and lifestyle, it highlighted death figures.

The panic resulted in influential people with minimum symptoms cornering significant resources and sick people dying of poor care.

My personal experience shows that a sudden boost of vitamin D levels in the bloodstream helped a significant number of patients and a direct physical checkup by a doctor reversed the negative outcome

 Remember, in any pandemic, extreme fear may kill a significant number of patients. Experience tells us that people should play a much more active role in improving their survival, their excessive dependence on doctors will, ultimately, prove counterproductive.

People have to make significant changes in their lifestyle to attain major improvement in their c a r d i o m e t a b o l i c health.

Isn’t it sad that even after almost two years of the pandemic, with millions dead, the world has not come to any logical conclusion on how to prevent such severe occurrences?

We are closing down businesses, again and again, preventing social interactions but not advising emphatically for weight reduction, active lifestyle, better levels of blood glucose and blood pressure along with better use of the sun to synthesise vitamin D in our body.

So, instead of shouting about the use of mask, sanitiser, beating drums and utensils, flashing lights, drinking this urine or that, we should announce from a position of power and knowledge to maintain optimum levels of blood sugar, vitamin D, weight and blood pressure. I would not like to comment on vaccination as pieces of information about its efficacy and safety are not available to full scientific scrutiny because it always takes time.

But one thing is very simple - even the vaccine would be maximally effective in a powerful and responsive immune system.

This takes us to a logical conclusion that a sedentary lifestyle is s major negative factor and one which plays an important role in the final negative outcome.

Remember, COVID-19 is not only a respiratory virus. It causes widespread inflammation in the blood vessels of almost every organ of the body and this was responsible for the seriousness of the first two waves. But if we forget one other truth then we might pay such a high price again and again.

COVID-19 was a fast pandemic on slow pandemics of obesity, diabetes and hypertension. Isn’t it high time to look into various aspects of our lifestyle?

Should we give exceptional importance to gleaming cars, palatial houses and branded gadgets and gizmos over our nutrition and sleep? Poor nutrition- under or overfeeding- is the biggest risk factor in pandemics and epidemics.

How many governments of the world have made weight reduction of their people an important agenda?

The government and electronic media keep on causing massive panic by highlighting the number of dead but they don’t stress to avoid eating chips, soda, samosa, kachori, processed foods etc. Imagine a life where you are slim and trim, no diabetes, no hypertension, a fit heart and fine knees to run.

This will certainly give you the confidence to fight the next epidemic or maybe even a pandemic as these episodes are the price the human race has to pay for its exploitation of nature.

Running constantly for material objects means running for your decimation by an ultra minuscule virus or bacteria