How to protect ourselves from the deadly aspects of COVID-19 and are you in the danger group
The original information that we received about COVID-19 was that the people most susceptible were the elderly, people with pre-existing medical conditions, diabetes, heart disease and respiratory issues.
As time progressed a mystery emerged; why does this virus cause only mild disease for some people, but turns fatal for others. The answers are now being revealed.
In New York health officials posted a list of COVID comorbidities, Asthma didn’t make the top 10. Doctors from local hospitals all agreed that they are not seeing a lot of asthma patients with COVID. They all agree that obesity, diabetes, chronic heart disease and hypertension are the most common factors.
In Lancet a weekly peer reviewed medical journal they say, “One might anticipate that patients with chronic respiratory diseases, particularly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, would be at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and more severe presentations of COVID-19.”
“However, it is striking that both diseases appear to be under-represented in the comorbidities reported for patients with COVID-19” compared to the disease rates for the general population.
How does COVID-19 attack the body and who is in danger
Research from China showed that more than 50% of COVID-19 patients began by experiencing digestive symptoms such as diarrhea and loss of appetite. In my experience, having spoken to front line Doctors in New York and Washington state, they have confirmed the same observation. (See my other article that speaks about the connection between the immune system and digestive system). Those who have weakened digestive systems, diarrhea, constipation, are shown to have a weakened immune response.
As the virus enters into your respiratory system your immune system fights back. For 80% of the people the issue will stop right there. They will have either no symptoms or mild systems: dry cough, sore throat, low energy and fever that can last from a day to a few weeks. The immune system will do its job and that will be it. However for some people the virus will go deeper. As this happens it will enter the lungs allowing airways to swell and become inflamed.
Within the Lungs are alveoli that deal with the gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
The alveoli have two types of cells. Type 1 deal with gas exchange Type 2 deal with surface tension and secretion of surfactant
In a healthy Lung, oxygen within the alveoli (air sacs) travels through to small blood vessels (capillaries) these small blood vessels (capillaries), in turn, deliver oxygen to your red blood cells. As the Corona moves deeper into the body, it attacks the cells in the alveoli. The walls of the alveoli are usually very thin; this allows a free exchange of oxygen. As virus starts to replicate, the immune system recognizes that damage that is happening to the cell and it attacks the site where this is happening The coronavirus damages both the wall and lining cells of the alveoli as well as the capillaries. In the alveoli, debris accumulates and the walls of the alveoli begin to thicken.
In the capillaries, the heat of the virus and the immune response has an effect of a thinning of the lining of the vessels. This allows fluids in the form of plasma protein to leak out and further add to the thickness of the alveoli in addition to the interstitial space between capillary and alveoli.
As this happened, the alveoli cannot regulate surface tension, the alveoli walls become thicker, and it becomes harder to transfer oxygen.
CT scans show that as the alveoli walls become thicker, we see brown glass opacity. Thus oxygen exchange has become compromised. There is now less oxygen coming from the lungs into the blood stream
With more CO2 in the vessels, acidity increases as well as the blood temperature: the blood becomes hot. This inhibits blood circulation. There is now an increase in pro-coagulants and decrease in anti-coagulants. If this process progresses we have alveoli collapse, increased shortness of breath and there is impact on the Heart, Liver and Kidneys. Ultimately, this can lead to death.
So who is in the most precarious position? As noted earlier, there are surprisingly very few asthma patients in ICU.
COVID-19 begins like the flu, it attacks the immune system and starts to impact the respiratory system. For most it plays out that way, but for some if is not eradicated at this stage a second more dangerous stage begins. The virus attacks the capillaries and alveoli, seriously effecting oxygen exchange, blood circulation and respiration.
This is the level where the virus becomes deadly and the people who are having the most difficult time are those who have inflammation in the body. Specifically those people who have pre-existing cardio vascular issues, issues that affect circulation and blood: overweight / obesity, diabetes, pre-existing heart disease and hypertension are common issues that we know produce inflammation. However there are many people who don’t see, to have these issues yet are becoming sick. The answer is that they have pre-existing inflammation.
When we see a seemingly healthy 30 year old person die from COVID-19 there is possibly either an unknown genetic component or they had levels of inflammation, hypertension or underlying cardiovascular issues that were undetected. In New York they reported that 73 children fell seriously ill with toxic shock reactions that displays similar symptoms to Kawasaki disease. These children did not display any respiratory symptoms. Kawasaki disease is a disease that causes inflammation in the blood vessels, and usually effects children under 5.
One way to assess the amount of inflammation in your body is to test for CRP, C-reactive protein. When you get a standard blood test you can ask them to check your CRP. CRP is produced in the liver and used to evaluate your risk of coronary artery disease and will assess if there is inflammation in the body. For many doctors this number is more important than cholesterol.
Those people with high CRP are in the most deadly group. As stated before, high CRP doesn’t need to be someone with diabetes. An A type person who is in great shape but has hypertension, a rich diet, drinks coffee and alcohol, occasionally smokes, probably has high CRP. They are in the danger group.
How to lower your CRP and decrease inflammation in the body
- The standard drug to lower CRP is a statin, however if your numbers are not too high its best to make lifestyle changes.
- The single most important thing to do would be exercise
- Exercise regularly – lose weight
- Eliminate smoking
- Get enough sleep
- Lower your stress
- Eat an anti-inflammatory diet
- Take supplements or herbs
What is an anti-inflammatory diet
- Fish high in Omega 3 (trout, salmon, sardines, anchovies, mackeral)
- Olive oil
- Use anti-inflammatory spices – turmeric, ginger, cayenne, cinnamon, clove, sage,
- rosemary
- Eat berries
- Avoid foods that you are allergic to
- Avoid sugar
- Avoid processed foods
- Avoid deep fried foods
- Avoid coffee and alcohol
- Many people recommend The Mediterranean Diet
Supplements
- Alpha lipoic acid
- Fish Oils
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin C
- Curcumin
Herbology
In addition to exercise, diet and supplements a powerful way to decrease inflammation in the body and lower C-reactive protein is with herbology. Herbs are more powerful than supplements, they are nature’s pharmaceuticals. As many of you know, Chinese medicine doesn’t treat diseases, its treats individuals. Herbal formulas are tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual. Some people might have high CRP because of obesity, another because of cancer or cardio-vascular disease. Because of the different accompanying issues, each of those formulas would need to be different. Please contact me or an herbalist you know to schedule an appointment and create a formula specifically for you.
Conclusion
We know the standard way that the virus can enter our system. It’s important to have a strong immune system and strong lungs to either prevent this from happening or to limit the damage. However we see that the true danger occurs when there is high CRP and underlying cardio vascular issues: heart disease, overweight / obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.
So when we hear stories about the type “A” person who is seemingly in great shape, but drinks a lot of coffee, alcohol, eats rich foods, overworks and has hypertension, they might be in a much more precarious position than the skinny asthmatic person who is fairly sedentary.
In popular terms: Type A, Gordon Gecko from “Wall Street”, might have a much more difficult time with COVID-19 than asthmatic Leonard from “Big Bang Theory”.
The CDC says that COVID-19 is an issue that we will be dealing with for years. There will be peaks and valleys and we will have time to really strengthen ourselves, if we chose.
So what do we need to do?
In simplistic terms, strengthen your immune system and lower your inflammation (CRP). In my previous article I spoke about the immune system and what we can do.
In Chinese Medicine, strengthening the immune system revolve around the Kidney, Stomach and Lung channels. Lowering our CRP and having a healthy cardiovascular system revolve around Liver, Heart and Pericardium.
Good luck and if anyone has any questions you can contact me at
JJWellness@gmail.com
Asthma and COVID https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/86323
Alpha lipoic acid and C-reactive protein https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29753588
Vitamin D and inflammation https://www.clevelandheartlab.com/blog/horizons-the-vitamin-that-fights-inflammation/
Sunlight, the immune system and Covid-19 https://elemental.medium.com/how-sunlight-the-immune-system-and-covid-19-interact-cd3220e9abf5
Vitamin C and C-reactive protein https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2631578/