Take control to avert Covid-19 damage
The truth is, there is a deadly virus out there and it is not going away anytime soon. The infection can cause notable damage to vital organs.
The disease caused by the coronavirus is primarily a respiratory or lung disease, but the heart can also suffer. There are multiple mechanisms for heart damage, temporary or lasting damage to heart tissue can be due to several factors:
Lack of oxygen: As the virus causes inflammation and fluid to fill up the air sacs in the lungs, less oxygen can reach the bloodstream. The heart has to work harder to pump blood through the body, which can be dangerous in people with preexisting heart disease. The heart can fail from overwork, or insufficient oxygen can cause cell death and tissue damage in the heart and other organs.
Myocarditis: Inflammation of the heart. Covid-19 may infect and damage the heart’s muscle tissue directly, as is possible with other viral infections, including some strains of the flu. The heart may also become damaged and inflamed indirectly by the body’s own immune system response.
Stress cardiomyopathy: Viral infections can cause cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disorder that affects the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively. When attacked by a virus, the body undergoes stress and releases a surge of chemicals called catecholamines that can stun the heart.
Preventing infection spread is the key. There is no single right answer on how to be sure-shot safe from Covid-19. The ways to lessen risk for certain activities include frequent handwashing, wearing a mask, keeping your distance and other familiar protective measures. Here, the threat to safety is catching, and possibly spreading, an unpredictable, potentially deadly infection. So, my behaviour affects not only my health, but may also affect the health of others. And the behaviour of others can affect me.
If you are considering relaxing restrictions in your work or social life, consider these three important steps: Think about your risk factors for developing a severe case of Covid-19; do the same for others whom you’ll have contact with.
Find out if community spread is common where you live. Gauge how risky the activity is.
And then what? Weigh the five Ps to round out your reckoning of risks and benefits:
Personal risk tolerance: Is your mantra ‘better safe than sorry’, or is it closer to ‘you only live once’?
Personality: If you’re an extrovert, you may be willing to dial down your restrictions (and accept more risk) because the alternative feels like torture. For introverts, limiting social interactions may not seem so bad.
Priorities: If you put a high priority on dining out, getting your hair done or getting a tattoo, it’s a bigger sacrifice to put these off than it is for someone who doesn’t care about these things. Pocketbook: Although the pandemic affects everyone, it does not affect everyone equally. Some can weather the economic impact better than others. As a result, keeping one’s business closed or staying home from work are less appealing for some than for others.
Politics: One’s preferred sources of information and political affiliation have a dramatic effect on views about restrictions related to the pandemic.
We will all have to continue to make challenging decisions each day about how to behave during this pandemic, until
There is no single right answer on how to be to be sure-shot safe from Covid-19. The ways to lessen risk include frequent handwashing, wearing a mask and keeping distance.
DR RAJNEESH KAPOOR VICE CHAIRMAN INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY, MEDANTA HEART INSTITUTE, MEDANTA - THE MEDICITY
far more people are immune due to infection or a vaccine, or until we have effective treatment. And that could be many months or even years away.
So, listen to experts and their recommendations, especially when they change in response to new information about the virus. Spread out your risk if you can: if you go to the grocery store today, put off your haircut to another day — in this way, the “virus dose” may be lower than if you’re out doing multiple errands among other people over a few hours.
Think about your decisions and how they may affect you and others. Try to be reasonable and consistent, but flexible in considering new information. Avoid the temptation to “Covid-shame” those who have chosen a different approach; if their decisions put you at risk, do your best to avoid them.
Talk about your plans with those whom you’re sharing space with. When there’s no right answer and our decisions may affect each other, it’s especially important to understand others’ perspectives.
The author of this article is Dr Rajneesh Kapoor, vice chairman -Interventional Cardiology, Medanta Heart Institute, Medanta - The Medicity, Gurugram, Haryana