Image by shutterstock
How Chronic Conditions Increases The Risk Of Corona virus Infections In Seniors
June 17, 2020 | Health | By Amanda Johnson
You might have heard it said that certain people are more at risk than others when it comes to the Covid-19 pandemic. And you might be worried, especially if you’re dealing with a chronic condition.
In this article, we set out to explain why someone with a chronic condition may be more at risk of catching the virus, to assuage some worries.
First Of All, What Do We Mean When We Say Chronic Condition?
Although there is no way to know for sure of everyone who has an increased risk, health authorities seem to agree that people with chronic lung disease (like asthma), diabetes or heart disease have a higher risk of getting the corona virus.
How Are These People More At Risk?
When you have a chronic affliction like diabetes, you suffer from high blood sugar constantly. Its diabetes’ defining trait and this high blood sugar has the nasty tendency of damaging your blood vessels.
Now, the trouble with damaged blood vessels is that they increase the risk of a complication in any pulmonary affliction (such as Covid-19).
But don’t worry. As long as you do all in your power to keep your diabetes under control (e.g. keep stocks of insulin in the house and other carbs-rich foods that can help with the level of sugar in your blood), then there is no reason why you should get the virus or have it any worse than someone without a chronic condition.
It’s easy to see how a chronic lung disease like asthma can increase your risk of complications during infection. Why? Because Covid-19 chiefly affects the lungs, and if your lungs are already damaged or weakened, as they would be in the case of a chronic lung disease, then they have less strength to battle the disease.
What you can do in this case is work to strengthen your immune system and of course, do all you can to keep your lung condition under control.
Lastly, let’s talk a little bit about the heart. If you have a heart condition, a weak heart or have had a heart attack, then you also have an increased risk of developing complication to the corona virus.
How does that work, you wonder? Well, it’s simple. If you have a chronic heart condition, this means the muscle of your heart is weakened. And as we well know, the heart and the lungs are neighbors and highly dependent on one another. If the lungs are affected and can provide less oxygen to the heart and if the heart, in turn, is weak and can’t pump blood as well as it should, then the pulmonary affectation that is Covid -19 can easily turn nasty.
But Again, It’s Important Not To Panic.
By keeping your chronic condition under control, doing what you can to strengthen the immune system and maintaining social distancing and sanitary regulations, then there is no reason why you should get Covid-19 (any more than others, that is) and no reason why you should experience complications.
Never underestimate the power of optimism. The more you spend worried you’ll get a disease, the worse you’ll feel, so try not to worry too much about it.
