If you think you’re too young to get coronavirus — COVID 19 — think again. Age isn’t the only factor in who’s coming down with it; in fact, it may not even mean a thing when it comes to who actually gets infected if you have other confounding conditions, The Seattle Times reports.
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The additional disease risk factors for COVID-19 include a spectrum of conditions:
- Being male
- Having an underlying health condition such as diabetes, chronic lung diseases or heart disease
- Having a weak immune system caused by a preexisting health condition such as cancer
- Having asthma
- Being over age 60
While scientists have yet to definitively determine why these factors seem to prime you for being more susceptible to the infection, they suspect that hormones and smoking status may be what’s putting men more at risk, as more men than women smoke. Immune system factors are risks for any disease; age may play into it simply because older people tend to have more comorbidities, i.e., chronic conditions that already challenge their health.
But that said, younger people, including children, are still coming down with COVID-19.
So if anybody can get it what can you do to protect yourself? Obviously, the best possible scenario for avoiding coronavirus would have been to be in the best health possible before this deadly disease hit the world. But now that it’s here, here are some ideas that can help:
First, heed the warnings to shelter in place as much as possible. Next, take proactive steps to protect yourself by making sure you don’t resort to binge eating junk foods just because you can’t get to the store as often as before. If you order takeout choose restaurants that offer salads and fresh cooked meats. If shop for yourself, steer toward the produce aisle and load up on fresh veggies and fruits and avoid the processed, packaged foods.
Next, pay attention to the hand-washing rules: Wash, wash, wash! And do it with regular soap and water. Lather up and scrub at least 20 seconds, making sure to get up to your elbows and down and around your fingertips.
Now might be a good time to consider taking some vitamin C, D and quercetin just while the disease is still active in the world. The only real defense against COVID-19 is your own immune system, which works best when fed right. But changing your diet and adding some key vitamins to it are commonsense ideas for right now.
Vitamin C strengthens your immune system and kills pathogens, including viruses, when taken in high doses; vitamin D, magnesium and zinc can help too.
There are no clinical trials investigating vitamin D for coronavirus specifically, but there are plenty of data showing it's an important component in the prevention and treatment of influenza and upper respiratory tract infections, so it’s reasonable to think it might help with coronavirus, too.
On the flip side, scientists are finding out quickly that one thing you want to avoid is taking aspirin or any nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) such as Motrin if you feel achy or feverish. Some scientists believe that ibuprofen and other ACE inhibitors may exacerbate COVID-19 infection by increasing expression of ACE2, as COVID-19 infects host cells by binding to ACE2 receptors — a recipe for making you sicker instead of better.
The bottom line is part of your preventive measures is to educate yourself about simple measures you can take from the comfort of your own home.
Source:
The Seattle Times March 29, 2020