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STAY HEALTHY OUR FRONT-LINE WORRIERS AGAINST COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has come at a high cost worldwide, especially
among front-line health professionals fighting the virus. As doctors, nurses and
other medical and non medical professionals have an increased risk of disease
due to viral exposure and long hours of care for sick patients.
Taking steps to protect
yourself by increasing your immune
health is absolutely guaranteed. Doctors and Nurses’ particularly those caring
for patients with COVID-19, should do what they can to strengthen their immune
systems. “The corona virus-19 disease pandemic (COVID-19) threatens to overwhelm
the country's health resources, but it also poses a personal danger to health
workers, including doctors and nurses’.
Physicians, Nurses are at high risk of contracting the disease
through exposure to patients who may be symptomatic of the disease or its
asymptomatic carriers across the spectrum of clinical specialities. In
particular, the physician workforce is not only at risk of wasting time spent
on clinical care due to these exposures, but also at personal risk of serious
illness requiring hospitalisation and associated with high morbidity and
mortality.
Be active. Physical activity can boost your immune system in many ways.
Researchers have shown that exercise improves the immune and metabolic systems.
Regular exercise increases the production of antibodies and T cells in your
body, causing them to circulate faster. Plus, it helps flush toxins out of your
body, which can energise your cells and metabolism.
Regular exercise also lowers your body's stress hormones, including adrenaline and
cortisol, which gives your immune system extra strength. Even sweating is good
for immune health. When you sweat, your body reacts like when you have a fever.
By increasing your body temperature, you are helping your body kill pathogens.
According to a recent study, exercising at least 5 days a week reduced the risk
of getting an upper respiratory infection by almost 50% compared to being
sedentary. This exercise regimen also made symptoms less severe, from 32% to
41%, depending on one's level of fitness. Go for a walk or go for a run, just
make sure you keep that 6-foot distance. Go outside and into the garden. Watch
and follow exercise videos on YouTube. Lift weights in the basement. Find
something to get your body moving and your immune system in great shape.
Eat well.
One of the keys to a healthy immune system is eating right. The intestine and
the immune system are inextricably and symbiotically connected. When things are
fine in the gut, everything is fine with the immune system. So it should come
as no surprise that eating healthy foods leads to a healthy micro bio-me,
leading to a healthy immune system that can help fight infection faster.
The
Mediterranean diet, for example, may be one of the healthiest diets in the
world. Eat healthy, whole foods when you can, and try to include a
"rainbow" of colours, which is a good way to make sure you're getting
the key vitamins and nutrients in your diet. It's also a good idea to include
fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso, yogurt, and kefir in your diet. These
are prebiotic foods that "feed" the good bacteria in your gut. On the
other hand, try to limit the intake of meats, processed foods, and fried foods,
which are inflammatory.
Get enough sleep.
Sleep and the immune system are old friends who have been linked since time
immemorial. Sleep reboots your mind and body.
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