It is a difficult time for all of us. We are passing through a period which has never happened before and hopefully it will not happen again. Now is the time to turn our negative energy into positive energy and we are going to learn from the challenge.
Why does a pandemic happen? Is it a natural evolutionary process or have humans contributed to it? Where did Covid 19 live before coming to humans? These are difficult questions.
What we know?
We know all living thing are interdependent. Do you know an adult human has approximately 30 trillion cells and 40 trillion bacteria? There are many viruses living within us and most of them don’t cause diseases and may be some of them help us to kill bad bacteria present in our body.
Researchers have found that Covid 19’s primary home is bats. In certain parts of the world, there are “wet markets” and one of the larger wet markets in the world is in Wuhan, China. I found this video on 60 minutes Australia to be informative. In wet markets, live wild animals are killed and sold in deplorable conditions. When these bats are slaughtered in front of other bats and animals, their stress and pain is unimaginable. It may result in loss of their immune system and exponential growth of the Covid 19 virus. Trillions of the virus released from the bat’s blood, feces, urine and saliva land on humans or may be an intermediate host. Finally, Covid 19 has landed on humans and it is feast for the virus. Please review the New York Post article by Paula Froelich dated March 28, 2020.
What can we do?
We can get panicked, get stressed out and weaken our immune system and let the Covid-19 virus to grow, maybe a trillion of times per second. We have no medicine, no antibiotic, no vaccine. So, what can we do? We need to boost our immune system, our internal defense force inside and keep the virus away outside.
How can I build my immune system?
Have you heard of the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous system? Sympathetic system is for fight and flight and weakens our immune system and Parasympathetic nervous system is for rest and recovery and increases your immune system. So, let us talk about how to improve PSNS and increase immunity.
Sleep:
- We need to have a deep and restful sleep.
- One should feel refreshed and charged in the morning.
Stress:
- Reduce stress, we should focus on the things we can control and reduce our reactions to things we cannot control.
Meditation:
- We cannot remove all the external stress. Meditation is the best way to decrease reactivity to stress we cannot control. It teaches us to ignore triggers.
- It reduces our breathing rate, slows our heart rate and decreases our blood pressure.
- Meditation also reduces lactic acid in our muscles, promoting recovery.
- Meditation is able to activate the PSNS.
Massage:
- Regular massage can restore balance between SNS and PSNS.
- Massage makes us stronger, calmer and more able to fight infection.
Breathing:
- Slow breathing is the hallmark of PSNS.
- Daily breathing exercises will strengthen your lungs and improve your immune system. Simple breathing exercises to activate your PSNS.
- Inhale for a count of 2, hold your breath for a count of 5 and exhale for a count of 7.
Yoga:
- Daily or weekly yoga will improve your strength, flexibility and breathing.
Nutrition:
- Anti-stress diet made up of protein, fat, carbohydrates and minerals from healthy organic grown grains, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, fresh vegetables, including root vegetables, and fruits.
- Other people may prefer eggs, fish and grass-fed meat and dairy.
- No processed, bleached, refined sugars or hydrogenated fatty foods.
- Drink half of your bodyweight in ounces of water throughout the day, for example, a person weighing 150 lbs should drink 75 ounces of water throughout the day.
- Chew food until it is a liquid, approximately 30 times.
- Spice: The spicy red pepper can lower your sympathetic tone.
- Alcohol and caffeine can increase your SNS.
Exercise:
- There is compelling evidence between physical activity and immune response.
- Exercise increases carbohydrate uptake and polyphenol, a class of non-vitamin chemicals present in many plants and are much more potent antioxidant than traditional vitamin C and D.
- During aerobic exercise our muscles need 15 to 25 times more oxygen than at rest and the benefit is to every cell of the body.
- Exercise also keeps our SNS in optimum performance in a controlled fashion.
How to keep the Covid-19 away?
- Please follow all the CDC and IDPH guidelines to stay safe.
- Do not spread the infection. If you or someone else has or has been exposed to COVID-19, please quarantine/isolate and stay at home. A person may be asymptomatic and still transfer the infection. A person is infectious 5 days before the symptoms begin and up to 2 weeks after the symptoms have gone. It is highly contagious and spreads through droplets and contact surfaces/fomites.
- Please, please, please stay home and use all the precautions to contain the infection.
To minimize the spread among the household, take the following precautions:
- Please do not touch or hug people who are at the risk for getting severe infection. They are people over 65 years and older and any person who has a chronic illness like asthma, COPD, heart disease, diabetes, after organ transplant, on chemotherapy, long-term use of steroids, or immunosuppressant medications and children are at high risk if they have any of the above or any other comorbid illnesses.
- Clean all contact surfaces including countertops and floors, frequently used doorknobs, refrigerator, oven, microwave handles, and children’s toys with common household cleaners which can kill 99.9% germs and viruses. Scrubbing with soap and water is also effective.
Some people, who must go work or the store, should take special precautions. They should be using a face mask or bandana or homemade face mask.
- Do not touch any contaminated surface. Clean with a disinfectant before touching or use hand sanitizer. Do not shake hands. Keep a safe distance. The virus can stay in the air for up to 3 hours after a cough and sneeze or even with normal talking. It can stay up to 24 hours on soft surfaces like cardboard, clothes, skin, hair and up to three days on hard surfaces.
- After coming back from work, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer before touching anything. Also, clean the doorknobs, light switch which are frequently used by household members.
- Please change your clothes as soon as coming home. Wash clothes immediately in a hot water cycle.
- Take shower before touching your children and other household members.
If you take precautions as though everyone is carrying the virus, you will be mindful and minimize your exposure of giving or taking the virus.
