General Wellness

When I first went into practice, I heard of a local pediatrician who treated a young boy who had some warts on his hands by having him take a potato slice and rub it on the warts a few times a day. It worked. Although there may be some plant compound in the potato which killed off the virus which causes these benign warts, the most likely explanation is the power of the mind on the immune system. This is the field of psycho-neuro-immunology.

Well, we know a lot more about how integrated our mind and body are and how our psychological state and thoughts impact on our health. There are numerous studies showing how stress impacts negatively on our immune function, not to mention a slew of other health measures including weight gain.

Although we were a stressed out society long before Covid hit the scene, this pandemic, along with the social and political upheaval of the last year, and the constant barrage of negative information through all our news and social media outlets had contributed significantly to that stress. 

We know that any chronic disease, including anything affecting your immune system, increases the risks of catching Covid or having a worse course of the disease, including the Chan cues of dying from it. This added stress we are experiencing has a significant impact as well.

The level of paranoia and resulting behavior changeI have seen in my patients, family, friends and even myself, is simply not healthy. As someone who needs to be as up to date with the most correct medical information I can, I struggle with keeping my information overload under control but admittedly, it’s tough. 

Don’t get me wrong. This is a serious disease and we need to be careful however, there is a point of diminishing return.

It is simply not rational to not have gone to a supermarket and have everything delivered for the last year. It is not rational to ride a bike with a mask. It is not rational to feel the need to cross the street when seeing someone walking up a deserted suburban sidewalk. These situations are so remotely assciated with contracting Covid-19 but the stress that results in that mindset is much more damaging.

I have mentioned numerous times in previous posts about how important, not only physical health is, but also mental health. We need to keep things in perspective. We need to approach our behaviors and activities carefully but we must also engage with each other to some degree.

These are basic human needs.

Socialization.

Direct interaction.

Movement.

Being in nature.

Being cooped up, isolated, biting our fingernails while watching the goings on in the world ona screen is simply not natural, not healthy and is making us sicker.

We will get past this but in the meantime, do the best you can to stay healthy, stay engaged with others and keep moving foreword.

I’m changing the order of my recommendations.

GET HEALTHY. Not just physically, but mentally. Eat well, move more, interact, relax.

DISTANCE. Interact but do so at a distance.

WEAR A MASK. It DOES work. Wear it properly. Stop touching it!!!!!

PROTECT YOUR EYES.

WASH YOUR HANDS. Sanitize appropriately. Unnecessary use of sanitizers increases stress and impacts on your skin’s health.

STOP TOUCHING YOUR FACE.

VENTILATE. This helps with safe personal interaction.

VACCINATE.

Stay safe and be well. AC

AC

This is not the time to soften the message!

I was disappointed in a recent interview I saw with Dr. Fauci as well as comments I heard in an interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Both have been staunch advocates for mask wearing, distancing and vaccination during the pandemic.

Both were asked about mask wearing and social distancing needs after vaccination. Although they both did say that despite vaccination, we need to continue to be very careful, they both fell short of how adamant they were about protection in certain situations. The very rapid loosening of restrictions on things like dining and gyms is also concerning to me. I have been in some restaurants and left because there was no way they were following the rules.

The problem with humans is that if you give them an inch, they take a foot. They try to get away with whatever they can. It’s our nature.

I get it. I hate the masks. I hate everything about this pandemic. However, we need to continue to be vigilant, get vaccinated, and then CONTINUE to be vigilant.

Are there situations where we could loosen up a bit? Sure. There always have been. If you’re outdoors or in a small group of known, careful people, you can let your guard down a bit. However vaccination is no hall pass. Vaccination is not a barrier. You can still catch Covid-19 and more concerning, you can pass it on to others, especially with the new, more aggressive strains which will soon become the dominant ones.

Let’s be clear. If you were sick, there MAY be some protection for a few months. If you were REALLY sick and hospitalized, maybe for 6 months. With mild disease, maybe only just a few. THAT’S IT. I’ve heard many patients and friends make comments indicating their comfort with less protection since “my kid was sick last summer” or something like that. If you were sick last summer, you have just about no protection any more. Or at least, you should assume that.

The same goes for vaccination. NO HALL PASS. I suspect that by the time everyone in the US is vaccinated, it will be time for the first recipients to get a booster. It is quite possible, and even likely, that Covid-19 will turn into the next Flu. Yearly resurgence of a variant which will need an annual vaccination.

It’s tough to think about but we need to accept what is going on and move on. We need to figure out how to live in a world where these types of pandemics will be the norm and, if by chance it doesn’t happen, great. If nothing else, it makes us appreciate what we have already. And even as bad as it is, life ain’t so bad, as long as you are careful. I do think there is an excessive amount of paranoia out there, which is also not healthy. There must be a happy medium, and eventually, we will get there.

So PLEASE be careful, have an appropriate amount of paranoia and keep looking out for everyone else.

I’ll skip the drill for today. You know what to do.

Stay Safe and Be Well.
AC