As coronavirus cases continue to spread, people are feeling more stressed and anxious about what to do to save themselves from this deadly virus. Despite following all the necessary precautions like social distancing, isolation and hygiene practices, the cases are still out of control. As medical experts have warned, people with impaired immunity are more prone to get infected. It suggests people work on their immunity so that they could be saved from the viral attack.
The British government has advised people to work on their health, eat healthily and get rid of extra fat during this lockdown period to combat coronavirus infection.
One of the advisors to the government has told the media that this infection is more fatal and dangerous for people who are obese and unfit. But how are these two things connected?
Neil Ferguson of Imperial College’s School of public health explains it that beer bellies, typically affect organ performance especially the lungs function. As it is clear now that coronavirus mainly attacks lungs and partially reduces their capacity to work, leading to breathing difficulties and eventually death. If the lungs are already vulnerable any minor attack from coronavirus would directly hit them and might cause organ failure.
Read more– FDA Approved the First-ever Generic Version of Proventil HFA Inhaler for Treating Bronchospasm
He also warns about British people that considering the current statistical data, nearly 10% of the population would be diagnosed positive by the end of next month. He insists this rise be observant even if the whole country is under lockdown. This 10% of the population is nearly seven million people and dealing with this huge number of infected patients might be problematic for the health department.
Ferguson advised everyone to eat healthily and work on his fitness level. He said; “We need to assess our risks from a personal perspective, including getting fit and losing weight.”
On the other side, the latest National Health Service tells that 38% of people who were taken to the intensive care unit for being coronavirus positive had obesity and related conditions. Among all such patients, nearly 55% eventually died. This obesity-related risk is even higher for patients who are more than 60 years of age.
Fredrik Karpe teaches metabolic medicine at Oxford University. He said that having extra belly fat puts weight on your body and causes the diaphragm to move upwards. It reduces the body’s natural lung capacity and that’s what this deadly virus loves the most. Coronavirus is a severe lung infection and a reduced lung capacity makes a person an ideal host for this virus. However, a severe infection often leads to death, which suggests that obese people are more likely to die from coronavirus.
Read more- Survey Reports 52% Americans are Unable to Afford Coronavirus Treatment
Mr. Karpe advises all people to do simple to moderate exercises along with following a healthy diet. The social distancing is keeping people indoors but it shouldn’t be an excuse for not working out. By following these simple steps, it is possible to reduce the risk of coronavirus as well as diabetes, cholesterol and heart problems, all of which damage a person’s health and immunity.
Karpe recommends, start from a daily walk. Once a person gets comfortable, he can start doing some basic home-based workouts and protect his body from the coronavirus pandemic.