Category: COVID19

People with this habit are four times more likely to die from COVID.

Walking slowly is a warning sign of contracting severe COVID-19 and is linked to a higher risk of death, a study has found.

Slow walkers are twice as likely to develop a severe coronavirus infection and four times more likely to die from it.

For the study, researchers from Leicester University collected data from more than 400,000 middle-aged UK adults.

They wanted to find out if body mass index (BMI) and walking pace have any effect on contracting a severe infection and death from COVID.

The results showed that people of a normal weight with a slow walking habit were 2.5 times more likely to develop severe COVID and 3.75 times at higher risk of dying from the infection compared to fast walkers.

A walking pace of less than three miles per hour was considered slow, three to four miles per hour as steady or average, and more than four miles per hour as brisk (fast walkers).

People who usually walk fast have greater cardiorespiratory fitness.

Professor Thomas Yates, the study’s first author, said:

“We know already that obesity and frailty are key risk factors for COVID-19 outcomes.

This is the first study to show that slow walkers have a much higher risk of contracting severe COVID-19 outcomes, irrespective of their weight.

With the pandemic continuing to put unprecedented strain on health care services and communities, identifying individuals at greatest risk and taking preventative measures to protect them is crucial.”

Also, the research team found that obese people who walk fast are less likely to develop severe COVID and die than slower walkers with a normal weight.

However, the risk was similarly high in both obese and normal weight slow walkers, suggesting walking pace can be a useful risk predictor.

Professor Yates, said:

“Fast walkers have been shown to generally have good cardiovascular and heart health, making them more resilient to external stressors, including viral infection but this hypothesis has not yet been established for infectious disease.

Whilst large routine database studies have reported the association of obesity and fragility with COVID-19 outcomes, routine clinical databases do not currently have data on measures of physical function or fitness.

It is my view that ongoing public health and research surveillance studies should consider incorporating simple measures of physical fitness such as self-reported walking pace in addition to BMI, as potential risk predictors of COVID-19 outcomes that could ultimately enable better prevention methods that save lives.”

The study was published in the journal International Journal of Obesity (Yates et al., 2021).

The vitamin helps to enhance the immune response to the virus.

Vitamin D deficiency makes people vulnerable to coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, a report reveals.

Vitamin D is crucial for the immune system: it improves the body’s defence response against infections, helps avert respiratory infections, and reduces the need for antibiotics.

The scientists point out that vitamin D is a seasonal vitamin and and so emphasise the need for vitamin D intake.

The study highlights that one-in-five Irish adults aged 55 and older are deficient during the winter and one-in-eight adults over 50 are deficient all year round.

Exposure to the sun for even 15 minutes daily can give the body a chance to make enough vitamin D.

In Northern countries, vitamin D cannot be produced in winter so the only chance to make it is between late March and late September.

The amount of exposure to the sun through this period also depends on factors such as rainy days, cloud cover, and so on.

In that case, with the correct diet and supplementation, deficiency can be avoided.

Vitamin D is found in foods such as oily fish including salmon, trout, mackerel, and sardines, eggs, liver, and some fortified foods including diary.

People who are in isolation at home and have no exposure to the sun are at risk of vitamin D deficiency.

The other vulnerable group are those who are physically inactive, obese, have chronic lung disease or asthma.

For these reasons it may be important to consume a diet high in vitamin D or take vitamin D supplements, which are available over-the-counter.

The research team say that vitamin D supplementation is advisable for people over 50 who don’t get enough sunlight or those who are ‘cocooning’ because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Professor Rose Anne Kenny, the lead researcher of the study, said:

“We have evidence to support a role for Vitamin D in the prevention of chest infections, particularly in older adults who have low levels.

In one study Vitamin D reduced the risk of chest infections to half in people who took supplements.

Though we do not know specifically of the role of Vitamin D in COVID infections, given its wider implications for improving immune responses and clear evidence for bone and muscle health, those cocooning and other at-risk cohorts should ensure they have an adequate intake of Vitamin D.

Cocooning is a necessity but will reduce physical activity.

Muscle deconditioning occurs rapidly in these circumstances and Vitamin D will help to maintain muscle health and strength in the current crisis.”

The report was published by Trinity College Dublin (Kenny et al., 2020).

It may be that hundreds of people have contracted polio in the current outbreak, but do not realise.

The polio virus has been detected in wastewater in both London and New York.

Polio is a disease it was thought was almost eradicated outside of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The disease was declared beaten in the U.S. in 1979.

A consistent vaccine programme has meant that most people are immune to it.

However, a few cases have sprung up around the world: in Ukraine, Israel and now there is a case of paralysis from polio near New York City.

It is thought that the virus may be once again spreading among people who are not vaccinated.

How does polio spread?

Polio is very contagious and spreads from person to person and through contaminated water — usually via faecal particles.

It can also spread by coughs and sneezes, but that is less likely.

What are the symptoms of polio?

Most people have no symptoms of polio infection, which is what can make it difficult to track and contain.

It may be that hundreds of people have contracted polio in the current outbreak, but do not realise.

Around one-quarter of people experience a few days of flu-like symptoms, including fever, headache, sore throat and nausea.

A small number of people, though, will get more serious symptoms.

Polio is most dangerous to children under five-years-old.

The virus can enter the spinal chord, causing paralysis and the possibility of permanent disability and death.

Vaccination

Most people in wealthy nations are routinely vaccinated against polio.

In the U.S. around 93 percent of 2-year-olds have had the polio vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For those who are vaccinated, there is no need to do anything.

Research has shown that people retain protective antibodies in their blood for decades after vaccination.

For those who are unvaccinated, some health officials are recommending polio shots.

Unvaccinated people are at a higher risk of more serious side-effects, such as paralysis.

Health agencies have begun offering polio shots, especially for young children who are not already vaccinated.

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The symptoms in the latest outbreak of monkeypox are different to those reported in previous outbreaks.

The main symptoms of monkeypox are an unexplained rash on any part of their body plus one or more classical symptoms of monkeypox infection.

The classical symptoms of a monkeypox infection are:

• acute illness with fever (>38.5°C),
• intense headaches,
• myalgia (muscle aches and pains),
• arthralgia (joint stiffness),
• back pain,
• and lymphadenopathy (swelling of the lymph nodes).

However, the latest research suggests that there are important differences in the symptoms in the most recent outbreaks of the disease.

Scientists analysed 197 confirmed monkeypox cases in London between May and July 2022.

The found that some of the most common symptoms were penile swelling and rectal pain.

These are different symptoms than those reported in previous outbreaks.

Every person in the study was a man who had sex with other men, except one.

They had lesions on their skin, most often on their genitals or around the anal area.

The other symptoms they reported were fever (62 percent), swollen lymph nodes (58 percent), and muscle aches and pain (32 percent).

Some patients, the researchers found, developed skin lesions first (38 percent), while others experienced systemic symptoms like fever in the first instance.

Only 10 percent of patients were admitted to hospital for the management of pain and no deaths were reported.

Three-quarters of patients had not had contact with someone who had a known monkeypox infection and only one man in the study had travelled to a region where the disease is endemic.

This raises the possibility that the disease can be transmitted between people who have few or no symptoms.

The study’s authors write:

“Understanding these findings will have major implications for contact tracing, public health advice, and ongoing infection control and isolation measures.”

The study was published in The BMJ (Patel et al., 2022).

Monkeypox has now spread to 90 different countries, with one-third of the cases occurring in the U.S..

The top way that monkeypox spreads is through prolonged skin-to-skin contact, especially when there are lesions, research finds.

Lesions are abnormal areas of skin that have been affected by disease or injury.

In monkeypox these can be rashes, scabs, pimples or bumps on the skin.

The other two main ways that monkeypox is spread is through touching contaminated objects and surfaces and by contact with respiratory secretions such as mucus.

However, simply brushing against someone or shaking their hand might not spread the virus.

Scientists are also not convinced that contaminated surfaces are strong vectors for the transmission of the virus.

Monkeypox has now spread to 90 different countries, with one-third of the cases occurring in the U.S..

Most cases have been among men who have sex with men, especially those who have more casual or anonymous sex.

Dr Michael Marks, co-author of a recent study on monkeypox, said:

“The more we understand about the monkeypox virus and how it spreads, the better we can diagnose and treat patients in order to get this outbreak under control.

One striking finding was that the viral load – the amount of virus present – was more than 1000 times higher in skin lesions than in lesions in the throat.

This, combined with the correlation between sexual contact type and location of lesions, suggests that transmission is most likely to have occurred by direct close contact during sex rather than through respiratory droplets.

This points to an increased risk of disease spread through sexual networks.”

The study examined 181 confirmed cases of monkeypox in Spain.

Skin-to-skin contact, mainly during sexual intercourse, emerged as the main method of transmission, certainly above airborne transmission.

Next researchers want to find out how the viral load changes over time, said Dr Marks:

“We now need to see how the viral load caries over time during the infection.

For example, whether the amount of virus in the throat is highest during early stages of illness, which could indicate how the risk of transmission may vary over the course of infection.”

The study was published in the journal The Lancet (Tarín-Vicente et al., 2022).

A supplement that enhances immunity against COVID-19 and other viral infections.

The human gastrointestinal tract is populated with trillions of tiny living organisms called gut flora or gut microbiota.

The gut microbiota contains a series of good bacteria that are beneficial to the immune system.

There is a delicate balance between beneficial and bad bacteria which is important for immune function and regulation.

Dysbiosis is a condition that refers to an imbalance in the gut microbial community that would make individuals highly vulnerable to infections.

Gut dysbiosis seem to be also common in COVID-19 patients since many beneficial bacteria are missing in their gut, a study has found.

Many probiotics supplements which are designed to improve the immune system have potential drawbacks.

For instance, a large number of probiotics are destroyed by stomach acid, high levels of humidity and temperature, and have short shelf-life.

Besides that, not all probiotics can boost immunity against infections as well as the coronavirus disease.

Professor Francis Chan, the study’s co-author author, said:

“Gut health rules over the immune system of our bodies.

We must identify the composition of intestinal bacteria that helps maintain our defense.

From there on, we can modulate the gut microbiota to boost our immunity against viral and bacterial infections.

This will be a novel approach in the combat of COVID-19.”

The research team identified the missing good bacteria in patients with COVID-19 by comparing a range of microorganisms in their guts with healthy people.

They have then created a probiotic formula addressing gut dysbiosis in order to enhance immune defence against viral infections such as COVID-19.

They expect that this formula will be on the market shortly as a daily supplement to help the body fight off infections.

Professor Paul Kay Sheung Chan, study co-author, said:

“This is the first study in the world to realize that severe gut dysbiosis exists in COVID-19 patients.

Some commensal symbionts, generally good bacteria, were missing while other pathogens were increasing in the patients’ guts.

The condition prevailed even after patients had been discharged.”

The research team have designed a processing method for the probiotic formula to increase the quantity of live bacteria and also improve their stability.

The study was published in Gastroenterology (Zuo et al., 2020).

“Food is our first medicine and the kitchen is our first pharmacy.”

Vitamin B6 has a potential role in preventing cytokine storms in COVID-19 patients, research suggests.

The beneficial effects of vitamin C and D and minerals such as magnesium and zinc on the immune system have attracted attention, but there are hardly any studies on vitamin B6.

Vitamin B6 is an essential nutrient and belongs to the B vitamins which are water-soluble, meaning they are not stored in the body so we consume them from everyday foods and dietary supplements.

Vitamin B6 is found in various foods such as beef, fish, bananas, whole grains, chickpeas, soya beans, sweet potatoes, nuts, and milk.

The new study reveals that vitamin B6 has a potential ability to reduce the risk of cytokine storms by improving immune function and supressing inflammation.

Vitamin B6 protects against long-term health conditions including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) by decreasing inflammasome activity, carbonyl stress, and oxidative stress.

On the other hand, vitamin B6 deficiency would result in poor immune function, increased risk to viral infection, and higher death rate from CVD.

Dr Thanutchaporn Kumrungsee, the study’s first author, said:

“In addition to washing your hands, food and nutrition are among the first lines of defence against COVID-19 virus infection.

Food is our first medicine and the kitchen is our first pharmacy.

Recently, many scientists have published papers regarding the role of diet and nutrients in the protection against COVID-19.

However, very few scientists are paying attention to the important role of vitamin B6.”

The main harm caused by respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 is related to inflammation and lung injury.

Antioxidant supplementation such as N-acetylcysteine and carnosine has been shown to improve lung injury.

Oral intake of vitamin B6 seems to have similar beneficial effects on lung injury by using its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory power against the COVID-19 virus.

The authors wrote:

“Coronaviruses and influenza are among the viruses that can cause lethal lung injuries and death from acute respiratory distress syndrome worldwide.

Viral infections evoke a cytokine storm, leading to lung capillary endothelial cell inflammation, neutrophil infiltration, and increased oxidative stress.”

Dr Kumrungsee pointed out that a high incidence of cytokine storms and thrombosis are associated with a greater severity of COVID-19 infection.

Cytokine storms or hyper-inflammation happen when the immune system overreacts and attacks healthy cells.

Thrombosis or blood clots seen in COVID-19 patients cause serious damage to organs such as the liver, heart, kidneys, and lungs.

However, vitamin B6 intake is known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombosis effects.

Dr Kumrungsee said:

“Vitamin B6 has a close relationship with the immune system.

Its levels always drop in people under chronic inflammation such as obesity, diabetes and heart diseases.

We can see from the news that obese and diabetic people are at high risk for COVID-19.

Thus, our attempt in this paper is to shed light on the possible involvement of vitamin B6 in decreasing the severity of COVID-19.”

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition (Kumrungsee et al., 2020).

The protective effect of the diet against COVID appears to be even greater for those living in deprived areas.

Eating healthy plant-based foods will reduce the risk of COVID infection and its severity, a study finds.

The protective effect of a healthy plant-based diet against COVID appears to be even greater for those living in deprived areas.

Dr Jordi Merino, the study’s first author, said:

“Previous reports suggest that poor nutrition is a common feature among groups disproportionately affected by the pandemic, but data on the association between diet and COVID-19 risk and severity are lacking.”

Past research suggested that good nutrition has a direct impact on reducing infectious diseases.

These studies have reported that the replication of common human coronaviruses such as 229E and SARS-CoV-1 were halted when linoleic or arachidonic acid were administrated to patients.

The others found an association between specific dietary supplements and nutrients with reduced risk of COVID infection.

During 2020, the present research followed up 592,571 residents in the UK and the US.

To assess the quality of diet, participants were asked about their dietary habits before the pandemic.

The team used a scoring system that included food categories like vegetables, fruits, oily fish, fat, and sugary products.

The unhealthiest food group scored 1 and the healthiest scored 3 points.

They found that those with a high diet quality were less likely to get seriously ill from COVID-19.

Participants in the highest quartile of the diet score were 9 percent less likely to become ill with coronavirus disease and 41 percent less likely to develop severe illness.

Dr Merino said:

“These findings were consistent across a range of sensitivity analysis accounting for other healthy behaviors, social determinants of health and community virus transmission rates.”

Dr Andrew Chan, study co-author, said:

“Although we cannot emphasize enough the importance of getting vaccinated and wearing a mask in crowded indoor settings, our study suggests that individuals can also potentially reduce their risk of getting COVID-19 or having poor outcomes by paying attention to their diet.”

Moreover, the negative health impact of poor diet was found to be even bigger when accompanied with low-socioeconomic status.

Dr Merino said:

“Our findings are a call to governments and stakeholders to prioritize healthy diets and wellbeing with impactful policies, otherwise we risk losing decades of economic progress and a substantial increase in health disparities.”

The study was published in the journal GUT (Merino et al., 2021).

These nutritional supplements may reduce risk of testing positive for COVID-19.

According to a large study, women taking omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, multivitamins or vitamin D supplements are less likely to test positive for COVID.

The protective effects from these nutrients were modest but significant.

On the other hand, the study found that taking vitamin C, zinc, or garlic supplements had no beneficial effect on reducing infection risk.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, many celebrity doctors, via social media, have encouraged taking specific dietary supplements to prevent and treat coronavirus.

In the UK, shares in food supplements rose by 19.5 percent before the first national lockdown, with a 93 percent increase in sales of multivitamins and a 110 percent increase in sales of vitamin C.

In the USA, the sales of zinc supplements increased by 415 percent when COVID fears were at their height.

Nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc are important for supporting the immune system but whether any particular supplement can reduce the risk of being infected by coronavirus is not evident.

Consequently, this study tracked 445 850 individuals for 3 months to find out whether taking dietary supplements would reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19.

The UK results showed that regular supplementation of vitamin D lowered the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection by 9 percent,omega-3 fatty acids by 12 percent, multivitamins by 13 percent, and probiotics by 14 percent.

Taking supplements regularly was defined as a minimum of 3 times a week for at least 3 months.

Women of different ages and weights were the ones who benefited from taking these supplements but not men.

The protective effect for the participants in the US and Sweden was even higher.

Americans who were taking multivitamins had a reduced risk of COVID infection of 12 percent, probiotics 18 percent, omega-3 fatty acids 21 percent, and for vitamin D, 24 percent.

Swedes who were taking multivitamins had a reduced risk of COVID infection of 22 percent, probiotics 37 percent, omega-3 fatty acids 16 percent, and for vitamin D 19 percent.

The differences in the figures might be related to the fact that this study relied on self-reported information and self-reported dietary supplement usage.

Professor Sumantra Ray, Executive Director of the NNEdPro Global Centre for Nutrition and Health, commented:

“We know that a range of micronutrients, including vitamin D, are essential for a healthy functioning immune system.

This, in turn, is key to prevention of, and recovery from, infections.

But to date, there is little convincing evidence that taking nutritional supplements has any therapeutic value beyond maintaining the body’s normal immune response.”

He added:

“What’s more, this study wasn’t primarily designed to answer questions about the role of nutritional supplements in COVID-19.

This is still an emerging area of research that warrants further rigorous study before firm conclusions can be drawn about whether specific nutritional supplements might lessen the risk of COVID-19 infection.”

The study was published in the BMJ Nutrition (Louca et al., 2021).