COVID-19 Update and Survey results

Thank you all for completing the survey!

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my friend at IS Global BCN for sending me the most up -to-date peer-reviewed credible reports, studies and articles for me to review and share. As well as others sending me over articles and studies to read and review for validation prior to dissemination. This really helps minimize the spread of mis- information.

 

The new COVID-19 info:

Immunity:

• There is continued dialogue about how our innate immune system is linked to how resistant we are to COVID-19 (which might be why children are not as severely affected) (Chen et al., 2010; Sominsky et al., 2020). (Read my previous blog article).

COVID-19 causes oxidative stress:

• Antioxidants and Zinc could help reduce oxidative stress, inflammation and the viral spread (McCarthy & DiNicolantonin, 2020).
• Numerous studies are showing that oxidative stress (from ‘cytokine storm’ and other hyper inflammatory responses associated with COVID-19 progressive symptoms) is associated with COVID19, and that similar viruses evoke superoxide production (To et al., 2017).
• They suggest that nutraceuticals – spirulina, Zinc, N-acetylcysteine, selenium, and high-dose glucosamine (are mentioned) might be expected to help prevent and control RNA virus infections (McCarthy & DiNicolantonin, 2020).

• “Anti-inflammatory impact of such antioxidant nutraceuticals might also be expected to quell the excessive inflammatory reaction within lung parenchyma evoked by viral infections whose lethality is mediated by an acute respiratory distress syndrome (Prasad, 2007 as cited in McCarthy & DiNicolantonin, 2020)”.

• Blood tests can help determine prognosis: clotting factors tests (prolonged Prothrombin time [PT] and raised D dimer) are predictors of a poor prognosis and may be important therapeutic target (Tang, et al., 2020).

 

The transmission started before we thought:

• Re-analysis of throat swabs from patients in Wuhan with ‘influenza like illness’ found that some of the patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2, suggesting community transmission of the virus in Wuhan in early January 2020 (King et al., 2020).
• We spread it prior to feeling sick: One article suggests that infectiousness peaks on or before symptom onset (He et al., 2020).

 

The virus is mutating:

• A new dermatological rash has been reported as a new clinical symptom of COVID-19 (Hunt et al., 2020) and has been mistaken as dengue fever (Jimenez-Cauche et al., 2020).
• A non-peer reviewed article also observed virus isolates could mutate, which could be an explanation for patients’ wide array of symptoms, and unfortunately that even if a vaccine could be made it may very well not be effective or an ultimate solution.

Children:

• Although, Kids are still linked to spreading the virus, they are consistently are not as affected by it. This might be due to a connection to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which plays role in cardiovascular disease. As it has been identified as a functional receptor of COVID-19, and in children this is not an issue (as most have low levels of ACE2) (Sominsky et al., 2020).

 

Masks, making a comeback:

• A letter in New England Journal or Medicine shows that speaking generates small droplets, raising the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 transmission by normal speech (Anfinrud et al., 2020).

Treatments:

• Antiviral drug Remedeisivir is showing positive results in the symptoms of COVID-19 (Hillaker et al., 2020).
• Randomised, double-blind, controlled studies in humans are needed to evaluate chloroquine’s efficacy (Principi & Esposito, 2020).

 

Deconfinement:

• A team from the Pasteur Institute team estimates that by 11 May, when interventions are scheduled to be eased, 3.7 million people (5.7% of the population), will have been infected. Population immunity appears insufficient to avoid a second wave – although this may not be an accurate representation of those actually infected (because this is not known until everyone has been tested) (Salje et al., 2020).

 

The mortality rates for cases globally remain between 1% to 2% (Cascella et al., 2020).

 

 

 

Ok, that’s great, let us talk about you!

My Survey

 

Firstly, I will break it down showing some of the prominent answers and then I will discuss and summarize the results with some suggestions.

Results:

From a sample size of 67 people, mostly women from an expat community Catalonia Spain. This lock down has effected almost everyone in some way (98%), the majority present with 1- 2 children (76%), 31% have a dog (or mechanism to exit the house), 79% are locked down with family members, 70% would feel better if they were aware of the length of the lock down and 25% feel the same regardless of length. 43% find that isolation makes them anxious- but 40% don’t care either way and 16% don’t have any anxiety about it. 78% believe this isolation can have negative side effects. Over half have faith that the governments are doing what they can in this situation (70%). Close to 95% are uncertain about what will happen after this. Close to half (47%) do not (or have not been) exercise the same amount during the confinement. 72% believe this will or already has had financial implications on their life. There were mixed feelings of helplessness of the situation, which really demonstrates the resilience of people in crisis. Over 60% of the sample feel this will have an effect on their children (this was not specified as negative or positive). Close to half (46%) are more easily irritated due to the confinement and over half are not relaxed and not able to do what they like.

What does this mean:

This survey, while not rigorous or without bias shows some major trends.

 

• People are worried about the outcomes and find themselves out of their normal way of life.

• This has forced a new lifestyle for most of us.

• Having a dog (or being able to go outside) doesn’t necessarily reduce anxiety, uncertainty, irritability or the potential for negative side effects.

• Confinement has the potential for negative effects linked to anxiety, lack of exercise, financial concerns and uncertainty.

• Lack of exercise (among others) can lead to serious health problems like osteoporosis, obesity and heart disease.

• Anxiety and uncertainty can be pre-cursors for depression and other mental illness.

• It shows we have faith that the leaders are doing what they can – which may not always be right, but they are trying the best they can.

 

So, what do we do?

Focus on the things you can control:

This has the potential to prevent dependencies and manage uncertainty. Do the things that make you happy right now, focus on the present moments and embrace this pattern- as it won’t last forever. Take advantage of the many online (and in our own community) meditation and self-centering tools. Things won’t be the same after, examine your feelings about this and express it with someone you love and trust.

Improve activity and fresh air (even from the balcony):

If you haven’t already, be sure to create a good routine that includes healthy eating, exercise (at least once a day for 30-60mins) – all age populations should do weight resistance exercises

, especially women and those over 50 as bone density naturally drops. There are numerous videos and activities online (from some of our amazing community), find the ones that speak to you and work with your schedule and embrace it.

Anxiety:

Use personalized anxiety remedies, whether that is yoga, deep breathing, time alone (if possible), long bath, or personal hobbies. Another strategy that might be useful is to reflect on your situation, validate that this is difficult and do not push your feelings away- more recognize and validate your feelings and attempt to prevent ‘physical reactions’ from ‘feelings’. This removes the physical reaction from effecting your body and creating physiological responses to the feelings. Every feeling we allow to penetrate into a physical reaction, causes a release of chemicals in the brain. The stressful or anxiety-based feelings can initiate the fight or flight response which has detrimental effects on your health.

Too much screens?:

It is vital to get the kids outside and to see the sun for obvious reasons, but if you are finding they are having a lot of screen time, you might want to consider (high) blue light blocking glasses. Here is some evidence:

• Burkhart and Phelps (2009) found that high blue-blocking lenses were associated with a statistically significant improvement in self-reported sleep quality, based on a 10-point Likert scale, for the high blue-blocking group compared to the low blue-blocking lens group.
• Blue-blocking glasses are a potential insomnia treatment for more compliant subjects with ADHD insomnia, especially those with prominent sleep delay (Fargason et al., 2013).
• Data suggest that wearing amber lenses may be an effective and safe intervention for the patients with Delayed sleep phase disorder (Esaki et al., 2016).
• They may reduce eye strain from computer use (Lin et al., 2017).

LASTLY>>>

Improve immunity by supporting our gut health:

• Antioxidants and Zinc help reduce oxidative stress, inflammation and the viral spread by reducing the inflammatory signaling (by the endothelial cells/microbia that promotes influx of inflammatory cells) that causes some of the severe symptoms of COVID-19 (McCarthy & DiNicolantonin, 2020).

Eat healthy fresh whole foods. Organic when possible. Take a multivitamin with Zinc if you think you are not eating balanced diet. Follow more of my tips and review my previous articles! If you didn’t have a chance to attend my Gut health talk in person, you can preview a brief overview on Global Soul Connexions Daily Dose. This reviews how it is connected to your immune system, and how vital it is to keep you microbia balanced and healthy. Check it out HERE!  

 

For recipes and facts follow me: @vitality_healthsolutions

Thanks for reading and stay healthy!

Warmest Wishes,

Kaley
RN BN MN CNC 200YTT
If you would like to know the specifics of this diet or if you have questions about your health, please subscribe to the monthly health advice at www.vitalityhealthsolutions.org and find the solutions to your health concerns.

 

REMINDER: It is shown in metanalysis (the most credible type of research) shows that communal accountability, social support and dietary support has the ability to increase adherence to a diet or wellness program.

Lemstra, M., Bird, Y., Nwankwo, C., Rogers, M., & Moraros, J. (2016). Weight loss intervention adherence and factors promoting adherence: a meta-analysis. Patient preference and adherence, 10, 1547.

 

Copyright ©2020 VitalityHealthSolutions, All rights reserved.

 

References:

 

Anfinrud, P., Stadnytskyi, V., Bax, C. E., & Bax, A. (2020). Visualizing Speech-Generated Oral Fluid Droplets with Laser Light Scattering. New England Journal of Medicine.

 

Burkhart K & Phelps JR. (2009). Amber lenses to block blue light and improve sleep: a randomized trial. Chronobiology Int, 26: 1602–1612

 

Cascella, M., Rajnik, M., Cuomo, A., Dulebohn, S. C., & Di Napoli, R. (2020). Features, evaluation and treatment coronavirus (COVID-19). In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.

 

Chen, J., Lau, Y. F., Lamirande, E. W., Paddock, C. D., Bartlett, J. H., Zaki, S. R., & Subbarao, K. (2010). Cellular immune responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection in senescent BALB/c mice: CD4+ T cells are important in control of SARS-CoV infection. Journal of virology, 84(3), 1289-1301.

 

Esaki, Y., Kitajima, T., Ito, Y., Koike, S., Nakao, Y., Tsuchiya, A., … & Iwata, N. (2016). Wearing blue light-blocking glasses in the evening advances circadian rhythms in the patients with delayed sleep phase disorder: An open-label trial. Chronobiology international, 33(8), 1037-1044.

 

Fargason, R. E., Preston, T., Hammond, E., May, R., & Gamble, K. L. (2013). Treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder insomnia with blue wavelength light-blocking glasses. bipolar disorder, 24, 25.

 

He, X., Lau, E. H., Wu, P., Deng, X., Wang, J., Hao, X., … & Mo, X. (2020). Temporal dynamics in viral shedding and transmissibility of COVID-19. Nature Medicine, 1-4.

 

Henrik Salje, Cécile Tran Kiem, Noémie Lefrancq, Noémie Courtejoie, Paolo Bosetti, et al.. Estimating the burden of SARS-CoV-2 in France. 2020.

 

Hillaker, E., Belfer, J. J., Bondici, A., Murad, H., & Dumkow, L. E. (2020). Delayed Initiation of Remdesivir in a COVID‐19 Positive Patient. Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy.

 

Hunt, M., & Koziatek, C. (2020). A Case of COVID-19 Pneumonia in a Young Male with Full Body Rash as a Presenting Symptom. Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine.

 

Jimenez-Cauhe, J., Ortega-Quijano, D., Prieto-Barrios, M., Moreno-Arrones, O. M., & Fernandez-Nieto, D. (2020). Reply to “COVID-19 can present with a rash and be mistaken for Dengue”: Petechial rash in a patient with COVID-19 infection. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

 

Kong, W. H., Li, Y., Peng, M. W., Kong, D. G., Yang, X. B., Wang, L., & Liu, M. Q. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 detection in patients with influenza-like illness. Nature Microbiology, 1-4.

 

McCarty, M. F., & DiNicolantonio, J. J. (2020). Nutraceuticals have potential for boosting the type 1 interferon response to RNA viruses including influenza and coronavirus. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases.

 

Lin, J. B., Gerratt, B. W., Bassi, C. J., & Apte, R. S. (2017). Short-wavelength light-blocking eyeglasses attenuate symptoms of eye fatigue. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 58(1), 442-447.

 

Prasad, A. S., Beck, F. W., Bao, B., Fitzgerald, J. T., Snell, D. C., Steinberg, J. D., & Cardozo, L. J. (2007). Zinc supplementation decreases incidence of infections in the elderly: effect of zinc on generation of cytokines and oxidative stress. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 85(3), 837-844.

 

Principi, N., & Esposito, S. (2020). Chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis of COVID-19. The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

 

Sominsky, L., Walker, D. W., & Spencer, S. J. (2020). One size does not fit all–Patterns of vulnerability and resilience in the COVID-19 pandemic and why heterogeneity of disease matters. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

 

Qiu, J., Shen, B., Zhao, M., Wang, Z., Xie, B., & Xu, Y. (2020). A nationwide survey of psychological distress among Chinese people in the COVID-19 epidemic: implications and policy recommendations. General psychiatry, 33(2).

 

Tang, N., Li, D., Wang, X., & Sun, Z. (2020). Abnormal coagulation parameters are associated with poor prognosis in patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

To, E. E., Vlahos, R., Luong, R., Halls, M. L., Reading, P. C., King, P. T., … & Starkey, M. R. (2017). Endosomal NOX2 oxidase exacerbates virus pathogenicity and is a target for antiviral therapy. Nature communications, 8(1), 1-17.