I posted something about the dangers of isolation earlier this week. Here is information about additional physical risks of isolation.
Recently published studies report that there were 500,000 more deaths in the US in March and April 2020 than in the same period in the prior 6 years. More than 50% of those were related to diabetes, stroke and heart disease and not Covid. In NYC, the out-of-hospital heart attack rate was 3 x higher in March and April than in previous years. A Mississippi study showed that, whereas the typical heart failure hospital admission rate was about 30 per week (pretty sad stat by itself), at the height of the pandemic, the rate was only 5 per week. These people were not miraculously getting better, they were worsening or dying.
The fear of contracting the virus has led to a trail of additional illness and death. As I mentioned in the other post, anxiety levels have quadrupled and depression and suicide rates have also climbed during Covid. As far as the additional medical deaths, some of factors leading to these deaths include:
- Delayed in treatment either through not going to the doctor or refusing procedures which could be lifesaving. Some of the life-saving procedures people have been foregoing include kidney dialysis, stent placement during a heart attack or even emergency abdominal surgery.
- Delay in blood work leading to worsening disease states which could otherwise be treated.
- Financial issues because of unemployment leading to people not being able to afford their medications. As an aside, Americans pay almost an order of magnitude (10x) more for meds than anywhere else in the world. Insulin, for example, is on average 8x more expensive than any other developed country!
The fact that so many more people are dying reveals the impact Covid fear and isolation is having on people.
When all this started back in the late winter, one of my hopes was that this pandemic would be a wake up call for people to maybe have a look at their lives and change their lifestyle habits. All of these, mostly lifestyle related deaths are terrible and all were preventable. Unfortunately, most people have really done nothing for themselves either and most people’s health has not improved overall with the average American gaining more weight since the lockdown.
The isolation led to less traffic and clear benefits to the environment. We all looked in amazement as wild animals walked the streets and man-made and natural structures, previously not visible because of smog, were now clearly visible. Waters became cleaner. Nature benefited, until restrictions eased and in many places, people went back to their usual wasteful ways.
The point is, work on your health and lifestyle choices to better yourselves and the planet as a whole BUT in the meantime, if you have a serious condition, don’t delay your appointments or avoid going to the hospital if something serious is going on. You need to mitigate the risks by wearing a mask and washing your hands regularly. Although you don’t want to catch this virus, especially if you already have some kind of chronic disease, the alternatives aren’t much better if something serious is going on.
DISTANCE. Whereas I have been promoting PHYSICAL vs SOCIAL DISTANCING, sadly, because of the rising numbers, we have to be careful of the social situations we decide to engage in. No large groups. No crowded places. It will soon be time to lock down as things continue to spiral downwards. It’s already happened in most of Europe.
WEAR A MASK.Wear an effective one and wear it correctly.
WASH YOUR HANDS. Don’t rely on hand sanitizers unless it’s an emergency. DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE.
VENTILATE.
VACCINATE.
GET HEALTHY.
Stay safe and be well.
AC 😎✌️🌱❤🐖🏃🏻🧘🏻♂️🌎😷