APA: LET’S BURN IT
ASexplained in the introduction of the series APA the three ways to annihilate the third wave after A, anticipate comes P which stands for preparation. And preparing for the third wave we definitely should.
A number of countries are already in the 3rd wave and with the situation completely out of hand in Brazil, now which is literally a Global emergency. The P1 mutant is now in over 40 countries and with the negative attitude of most people in Zambia towards the pandemic, it is just a matter of time before the wave hits us once again.
Again as explained earlier, preparation will be at different levels, global, continental, regional, national, hospital etc but the greatest and most significant one is what we shall do at personal level.
Today I would like us to talk about a very important aspect that we should work on individually that I believe will help our chances of surviving the infection if we ever get it or better still even help us not to get it in the first place.
This aspect has to do with our weight. From my experience with Covid-19 patients over the one year I have been working with them as a frontline Doctor and I have attended to a lot believe me, and also documented cases globally, mostly people who are overweight and obese tend to have severe form of the disease when they get Covid-19. And many studies are now showing that they even are at risk of getting infected than people of similar ages, sex, environment just because they are “fat” (sorry excuse my French, let us just call it what it is fat)
Looking at how broad and important this topic is, I am introducing a series called “lets burn it,” to discuss weight in all its aspects, how it comes about, how it affects health and how we can control it.
To begin with, being “fat (locally known as kuyina, kuneneya, ukununu, ikuyina, kutuha etc) is seen with different eyes from different countries and cultures. For instance in most western countries it is considered offensive to call someone “fat,” special advise to most African men, if you think that will be a compliment to a western lady you want to take on a date by calling her “fat,” my friend you should know that you would have committed an unpardonable deal breaker and that would mark the official end of the date even before it begins.
The misunderstanding will be caused because in most of our African culture being fat is seen as a good thing, as a sign of wealth. And as said most African men usually prefer “thick” ladies to slim or thin ones that is why the Victoria secrets models are never seen as standard of beauty, this I also agree with, not all women should be that “small” to be considered beautiful. I would rather people have their ideal weight according to genetics and most Africans “thick “ladies are not necessarily “fat” in the eyes of the admirers.
Body mass index (BMI) is a value derived from the mass (weight) and height of a person. The BMI is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height, and is expressed in units of kg/m2, resulting from mass in kilograms and height in metres. It was Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgian Astronomer, Mathematician, Statistician, and Sociologist who devised the basis of the BMI between 1830 and 1850 as he developed what he called "social physics?
Obesity now considered a ‘disease’
The American Medical Association (AMA) has officially recognised obesity as a chronic disease. Paul Terpeluk, DO, couldn’t agree more that obesity is a serious problem. He is the Medical Director for Employee Health at Cleveland Clinic, which classified obesity as a chronic disease five years ago in 2008. He says the AMA’s action is “great news.”
“This raises obesity and overweight out of the lifestyle world and into the medical,” Dr. Terpeluk says. “It’s about more than fitting into your clothes, and all the cultural noise out there about weight. It’s about your life.
“Patients sometimes are in denial about their obesity, says Dr. Terpeluk. “This can help move them out of denial and get the real problem put on the table to be talked about with their doctors.”
One in three Americans are obese, according to the Centres for Disease Control. Obesity is not only widespread, but it’s become a real health risk. It can lead to other serious problems such as diabetes and disease.
The second most obese nation in the world is the UK and then followed by South Africa. And being “fat” in South Africa is almost glamourised, in some pockets even among their celebrities especially musicians proudly showcasing the notable “big” tummies in their music videos.
The three nations have been hit harder by the pandemic, with the US on the lead globally and South Africa leading in Africa in number of infections and death. And mostly the affected are those overweight and obese.
Obesity has many other problems
Problems with obesity range from social (not so cool), seen as a sign of gluttony especially in areas where majority are starving, living on less than a dollar a day. It also leads to low self-esteem if seen as less attractive.
But greatest of the evils is its effect on health. Obesity is a predisposing factor to a lot of health problems and studies have shown it even reduces one’s lifespan by up to 15 years. Some of the health problems associated with obesity are diabetes, heart problems, hypertension, stroke, liver and kidney problems etc.
Studies have shown that Fat cells in obese people produce higher amounts of a protein that the coronavirus binds to in the bodies of infected people. The protein is called ACE2.
A report on
July 29, 2020 revealed that experiments conducted at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, confirmed that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 can infect human adipose cells (which store fat) and remain inside them.
This finding has helped scientists understand why individuals with obesity are more at risk of developing the severe form of Covid-19.
According to the hypothesis tested by the UNICAMP group, subjects with obesity have larger reservoirs for the virus, in addition to being susceptible to chronic diseases such as diabetes, dyslipidemia and high blood pressure, which in themselves are significant coronavirus risk factors.
“We have fat cells in all parts of our body. People with obesity have many more and much larger adipose cells. Our hypothesis is that adipose tissue is a
SARS-Cov-2.
“With adipocytes that are larger and more abundant, patients with obesity tend to have higher viral loads. However, we have yet to confirm whether the virus, after replicating, can exit fat cells with the capacity to infect other cells,” Marcelo Mori, a professor in UNICAMP’s Institute of Biology and principal investigator for the study. reservoir for
We need to work on and maintain a good health weight to be able to stand a good chance against this pandemic and the impending third wave.
UNTIL THEN, ALUTA CONTINUA, THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES; PLEASE KINDLY, *MASK UP
*OBSERVE HAND HYGIENE *SOCIALISE WISELY.
AND BECAUSE YOU CARE, PLEASE SHARE.
Accident cases involving drunk drivers causing the death of others are quite rampant during holidays. Drinking reduces the speed with which you react to changes in road conditions.