Everybody should be careful to avoid coronaviral disease. For most people who are young and healthy, symptoms will be mild and brief. But Type 2 Diabetes can make COVID-19 deadly! At any age. Someone with diabetes must be very careful!

If flu-like symptoms come on, anyone with diabetes should lower sugar intake, stay well-hydrated and monitor blood glucose more than usual.

Protect yourself by keeping some distance from others. Especially from others not wearing a facial mask! Wear a mask yourself. Maybe you’re infected and just don’t know it.

Let us help you protect yourself from COVID-19.

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www.herdhealthcare.com

Viral diseases have been infecting people for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. Probably as long as people and animals have been around each other.

Infections like influenza infect both animals and people. We’ve found medications to treat the flu, and developed vaccines to build immunity against severe disease.

Once infected, we become immune to that virus and somewhat immune to disease from similar viruses.

When an infection gradually disappears from people, infections persist and keep adapting in animals. Eventually, a variation develops that can pass from animals to people and from person to person. Then it spreads from individuals to groups then populations. Eventually spreading wherever people travel.

Respiratory coronavirus disease has existed in animals and people for more than 40 years. Several varieties cause illnesses such as the common cold. Other varieties cause influenza. During the last 40 years, we’ve developed medications to treat respiratory virus diseases in general and vaccines to prevent influenza.

In 2019, in China, a new version developed in bats and spread to people. This variety of coronaviral disease is more dangerous than the flu. It’s new. There’s nothing we’re certain is effective to treat it or protect us against it. All we can do is cut down how fast it spreads.

What we know so far is that COVID-19 spreads from each infected person to at least 2 or 3 others. We also know that 80% of infected people had only minor disease and recovered in 2 or 3 weeks. However, 20% had severe disease and 1 or 2% died.

In comparison, influenza only spreads from one infected person to fewer than 2 others. Also, it is deadly for fewer than 1 in 1,000 of those who are infected.

Influenza is particularly dangerous combined with type 2 diabetes. Severity of influenza requiring hospitalization is 6 times greater in patients with type 2 diabetes than those without diabetes. Death rates are 3 times greater.

The greatest danger from this new coronavirus disease is the severity of illness. In the US, approximately 10% of patients with COVID-19 required hospitalization, 2 and one half % required Intensive Care and 1% died. This severity of illness is more than 10 times greater than severity of influenza.

The Center for Disease Control lists diabetes as one of the chronic illnesses that increases the chance of developing serious complications of COVID-19.

Severity of this illness in China was substantially greater for patients who had type 2 diabetes than those without chronic disease. The Table shows that most of the patients admitted to hospital had either Hypertension, Diabetes or Heart disease. Approximately 20% of them had diabetes and about half of those with diabetes did not survive.

The natural response to infections involves immunity cells. These are cells located in blood, organs and tissues. The metabolism of these cells is just as complicated as cells in any other system. They depend on sugar, fat and protein for energy to operate just like function in all other cells.

Insulin is especially important. Insulin resistance from poorly controlled diabetes damages immune function. Just like it damages function of muscle, liver, heart, brain and nerves.

The time to repair the immune system is before viral infection. Repairing insulin resistance requires physical, nutritional and behavioral fitness. Health fitness takes time, planning and day-by-day action.

So far, it looks like type 2 diabetes slightly increases risk for COVID-19. What is certain is that diabetes increases its severity of illness! Insulin resistance is much, much greater than usual. If flu-like symptoms occur, any sugar or excess calories raises blood sugar levels 2 or 3 times more than usual.

We are pleased to share our blog articles with you, and we are always interested to hear from our readers. Our website address is: www.herdhealthcare.com

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