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Coronavirus: How to protect your mental health during the covid-19 pandemic

healthtips — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 06:15:40 +0000

Coronavirus: The constant news about the pandemic can seem endless and this is affecting the mental health of many, particularly those already living with conditions such as anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Although worrying about the news is understandable, for many people this can make existing mental health problems worse.

All of this leads us to the question: how can we protect our mental health during the covid-19 pandemic?

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) released tips to protect mental health during the outbreak and this was well received on social media.

As Nicky Lidbetter of the British NGO Anxiety UK explains, the fear that everything will spin out of control and that they will be unable to tolerate uncertainty are common characteristics of many anxiety disorders.

Therefore, it is understandable that many people with anxiety feel that they are facing a challenge at this time.

"A large part of anxiety cases are based on worrying about the unknown and waiting for something to happen: the coronavirus is that, on a macro scale," agrees Rosie Weatherley, spokesperson for the non-profit association of mental health Mind.

How can we protect our mental health?

Limit the flow of news and be careful what you read.

Nick is a father of two who lives in Kent, UK, and suffers from anxiety. Reading a lot of news about the coronavirus has caused you panic attacks.

"When I feel anxious, my thoughts can get out of control and I start to think of catastrophic consequences," says Nick, adding that he is also worried about his parents and other older people he knows.

"In general, when I suffer I can walk away from a situation. This is out of my control," he explains.

Spending long periods away from news sites and social media has helped him control his anxiety. Similarly, she has found the helplines, run by mental health charities like AnxietyUK, to be very helpful.

Limit the amount of time you spend reading or looking at things that don't make you feel better. Perhaps you choose a specific time to read the news.

There is a lot of misinformation circulating, so you should stay informed through reliable sources of information, such as government websites and public health institutions.
Take a break from social media

Alison, 24, who lives in Manchester, UK, suffers from illness anxiety disorder and therefore feels an obligation to stay informed and investigate.

But at the same time you know that social media can be a trigger.

"A month ago I was clicking hashtags and seeing all these conspiracy junk (theories) that is unverified and made me really anxious. They made me feel really desperate and I was crying," she says.

Alison is now careful about the accounts she follows and avoids clicking on coronavirus-related hashtags. She is also trying to spend time away from social media, watching TV, or reading books.

Wash your hands, but not excessively

The charitable organization OCD Action has seen an increase in requests for support from people whose fears have centered on the pandemic.

For people with obsessive-compulsive disorder and some types of anxiety, it can be difficult to be constantly told to wash their hands.

For Lily Bailey, author of Because We Are Bad, a book about living with OCD, fear of pollution was an aspect of her obsessive-compulsive disorder.

She says advice on hand washing can be a big trigger for people who have overcome the disorder.

"It's really hard because now I have to repeat some of the behaviors that I've been avoiding," says Bailey.

"I stick to the advice very rigidly, but it's difficult, considering that for me soap and sanitizer used to be something comparable to an addiction."

OCD Action says that the issue to look out for is function, for example, is washing done to reduce the risk of spreading the virus or is it done ritualistically to make it feel "right"?

Bailey notes that for many people with OCD, getting better means being able to get out of the house, so self-isolation can present another challenge.

"If we are forced to stay home, we have a lot of free time and boredom can make OCD worse," he says.
Stay connected with people

An increasing number of people will be joining those who are already self-isolating, so now might be a good time for you to make sure you have the phone numbers and email addresses of the people you care about.

"Set up regular contact hours and stay connected with the people around you," says Weatherley.

If you isolate yourself, try to strike a balance between having a routine and making sure each day is a little different.

You could end up feeling like you've just had a pretty productive two weeks. You could go through your to-do list or read the book you've been wanting to read.

Avoid burnout

With weeks and months of the coronavirus pandemic ahead, it is important to have downtime.

Mind recommends staying in contact with nature and sunlight. Exercise, eat right, and stay hydrated.

Anxiety UK suggests practicing a recognized technique for dealing with anxiety and worry, which consists of:

Acknowledge and admit the uncertainty that comes to mind.

Don't react like you normally do. Don't react at all. Pause and breathe.
Tell yourself that it is the worry that is affecting you and that an apparent need for certainty is not useful or necessary. It is just a thought or feeling. Do not believe everything you think. Thoughts are not statements or facts.
Say goodbye to some thoughts and feelings. They will pass. You don't have to react.
Explore the present moment, because now, in this moment, everything is fine. Measure your breathing and the sensations of this action. Look at the ground below you. Look around you and see what you see, what you hear, what you can touch, what you can smell. Then turn your attention to something else, to what you need to do, to what you were doing before you realized the concerns that concern you.

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Coronavirus might trigger diabetes in otherwise healthy people

healthtips — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 06:31:45 +0000

It’s properly established that individuals who have diabetes are at the next danger for critical issues from Covid-19, particularly if the diabetes isn’t properly managed. However researchers at the moment are wanting into one other aspect of the connection between these two sicknesses: whether or not an infection with the novel coronavirus could set off diabetes in folks with no prior historical past of diabetes.

Whereas it’s too early to say with certainty that the coronavirus causes new-onset diabetes, diabetes researchers from world wide are conscious of sufficient instances to pique their curiosity in a possible hyperlink. They just lately created a world affected person registry and initiative referred to as The CoviDIAB Challenge to enhance their understanding not solely of how frequent new-onset diabetes on account of Covid-19 could also be, but in addition how and why it’s creating, and how you can handle and deal with it.

“Given the very brief historical past of human an infection with SARS-CoV-2, an understanding of how Covid-19–associated diabetes develops, the pure historical past of this illness, and applicable administration shall be useful,” diabetes consultants concerned within the initiative wrote in a letter revealed within the New England Journal of Medication on June 12.

For the reason that registry’s launch only a few weeks in the past, at the least 120 hospitals from world wide have requested to contribute, says Francesco Rubino, MD, professor and chair of metabolic and bariatric surgical procedure at King’s Faculty London, and co-lead of the CoviDAB undertaking. He’s seen some instances of new-onset diabetes amongst Covid sufferers and has word-of-mouth data of quite a lot of different instances from his colleagues, however wants extra knowledge to have a greater understanding of the large image.

This wouldn’t be the primary time researchers have motive to consider that a viral an infection could set off diabetes.

It wouldn’t be the primary virus to set off diabetes

With each sort 1 and sort 2 diabetes, the physique has hassle processing blood sugar. Hyperglycemia, or excessive blood sugar, occurs when the physique both doesn’t have sufficient insulin (within the case of sort 1 diabetes) or can’t use that insulin correctly (within the case of sort 2 diabetes). Rubino says preliminary knowledge exhibits that some Covid sufferers with out a prior historical past of diabetes are presenting with sorts 1 diabetes, and others with sort 2. And he wouldn’t be stunned to see sufferers with a hybrid type that isn’t clearly sort 1 or sort 2.

This wouldn’t be the primary time researchers have motive to consider {that a} viral an infection could set off diabetes. It was seen with the SARS coronavirus, mumps virus, coxsackievirus B, and different enteroviruses. Little is thought about why these viruses could set off diabetes, however one idea is that the virus triggers an autoimmune response that impacts the pancreas, the place insulin is made, Rubino says.

If it seems that the novel coronavirus is definitely triggering new instances of diabetes, consultants aren’t certain precisely why, however they do have some concepts. One idea is expounded to the way in which the virus mounts its assault on the physique by binding to sure receptors current in organs and tissues just like the pancreas, small gut, and kidneys, all of that are crucial to metabolic functioning.

When the virus binds to those ACE2 receptors (the identical receptors SARS-CoV-2 is assumed to make use of when coming into by cells within the nostril and throat) it might change glucose metabolism in a manner that complicates present diabetes or results in new-onset types of the illness. “If the virus enters these cells in these tissues, it might trigger dysfunction,” Rubino says, and this dysfunction might ultimately result in diabetes.

In some folks with Covid-19, there’s additionally proof of irritation within the pancreas, says Kevan Herold, MD, an endocrinologist at Yale Medication. On the whole, the insulin-producing cells within the pancreas — the beta cells—don’t like irritation, he says. “So that might result in both the poor efficiency or probably even the killing of some beta cells. Nevertheless it’s all hypothesis at this level.”

It’s nonetheless unclear whether or not the new-onset instances are distinctive to the novel coronavirus or in the event that they’re occurring in individuals who would possibly already be vulnerable to creating diabetes when dealing with systemic an infection or extreme stress from an sickness, equivalent to a cytokine storm, says Robert Eckel, MD, president of medication and science on the American Diabetes Affiliation and professor of medication emeritus within the division of endocrinology, metabolism & diabetes on the College of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

“It’s very doubtless {that a} share of the sufferers who develop diabetes within the context of extreme Covid achieve this due to the same old well-known stress response that our physique places in place when there's any crucial sickness or an an infection,” Rubino says. “However we suspect there could also be one thing extra particular.”

Many questions, however no have to panic

There’s nonetheless so much to be taught on condition that the virus has solely been round since December 2019. For instance, physicians know that folks hospitalized with Covid-19 who even have preexisting diabetes or new-onset diabetes fare worse with Covid-19 when their blood glucose ranges are increased, Eckel says. However what medical doctors nonetheless don’t know is “whether or not or not optimum administration of glucose ranges improves [Covid-19] outcomes.”

Diabetes consultants additionally aren’t certain if this new-onset diabetes is simply current whereas persons are sick with the coronavirus, or if it's going to persist after they recuperate. They anticipate that many instances could resolve, but it surely’s too early to inform with certainty. They’re additionally questioning if this may occasionally predispose folks to creating diabetes sooner or later, equivalent to how having gestational diabetes can enhance a lady’s danger of creating sort 2 diabetes later in life.

All issues thought of, it’s essential to grasp that the probability of getting new-onset diabetes from Covid-19 is most probably low. “We don’t know the extent but, however I feel it’s secure to say that it’s not 100% of the individuals who get Covid,” Rubino says. “It’s a fraction of it.”

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Coronavirus: Potential vaccine generates enough antibodies to fight off virus, first peer-reviewed study suggests

healthtips — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 08:32:48 +0000

A potential coronavirus vaccine developed by US scientists has been found to produce antibodies capable of fighting off Covid-19 in the first peer-reviewed study of its kind.

The vaccine, which was tested on mice by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, generated the antibodies in quantities thought to be enough to “neutralise” the virus within two weeks of injection.

The study’s authors are now set to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration for investigational new drug approval ahead of phase one human clinical trials planned to start in the next few months.

Scientists across the globe are racing to develop a vaccine to protect against coronavirus, which has infected more than a million people worldwide and claimed 50,000 lives.

The first human trial of a vaccine began at a lab in Seattle last month after a team of US researchers skipped animal testing, which is used to establish effectiveness and safety.

Dozens of other teams around the world have potential vaccines in development.

But the Pittsburgh research is the first study on a Covid-19 vaccine candidate to be published after review from fellow scientists at outside institutions.

The scientists were able to act quickly because they had already laid the groundwork during earlier epidemics of coronaviruses: Sars in 2003 and Mers in 2014.

“These two viruses, which are closely related to [Covid-19], teach us that a particular protein, called a spike protein, is important for inducing immunity against the virus. We knew exactly where to fight this new virus,” said Andrea Gambotto, associate professor of surgery at the Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

The vaccine candidate, which the authors are calling PittCoVacc, uses lab-made pieces of viral protein to build immunity in the same way as a flu jab.

To increase potency, the researchers also used a new drug delivery approach involving of a fingertip-sized patch of 400 tiny microneedles that inject the spike protein pieces into the skin, where the immune reaction is strongest. The patch is stuck on like a plaster and the needles – which are made entirely of sugar and the protein pieces – simply dissolve into the skin.

“We developed this to build on the original scratch method used to deliver the smallpox vaccine to the skin, but as a high-tech version that is more efficient and reproducible patient to patient,” said study co-author Louis Falo, professor and chair of dermatology. “And it’s actually pretty painless – it feels kind of like Velcro.”
The vaccine is delivered into the skin through a fingertip-sized patch of microscopic needles (University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre)
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The vaccine is delivered into the skin through a fingertip-sized patch of microscopic needles (University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre)

The researchers said their system could be scaled up to produce the protein on an industrial scale. Hundreds of millions of doses will need to be produced worldwide.

Once manufactured, PittCoVacc can sit at room temperature until it is needed, eliminating the need for refrigeration during transport or storage, the researchers said.

“For most vaccines, you don’t need to address scalability to begin with,” Prof Gambotto said. “But when you try to develop a vaccine quickly against a pandemic that’s the first requirement.”

When tested in mice, PittCoVacc generated a surge of antibodies against Covid-19 within two weeks of the microneedle prick.

The results have not yet been tracked in the long term, but the mice who were given the Pittsburgh researchers’ Mers vaccine candidate developed enough antibodies to neutralise the virus for at least a year. The antibody levels of the rodents vaccinated against Covid-19 “seem to be following the same trend,” according to the researchers.

Coronavirus: Potential vaccine generates enough antibodies to fight off virus, first peer-reviewed study suggests

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