How To Take Care of Your Lungs and Live Well With COPD

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive one that worsens over time. It can deteriorate one's quality of life as time passes. Making some lifestyle modifications can go a long way in improving one's quality of life. In an exclusive interaction with The HealthSite, Dr. Arvind Kate, Pulmonologist at Zen Multispecialty Hospital, Chembur shares some vital tips to manage this condition and live well.

Do you have symptoms such as breathing problems, cough, mucus production, and wheezing? It could be due to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). If you have been already diagnosed with COPD, you need to learn about the strategies that are very useful in managing the condition. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be termed as a chronic inflammatory lung disease leading to obstructed airflow from the lungs. Chest tightness, tiredness, swelling of feet, ankles, legs, unintentional weight loss, and frequent respiratory infections are some of the other symptoms of it. Smoking, long-term exposure to dust particles, and other respiratory infections can cause COPD. The doctor will determine the proper line of treatment for you after evaluation.

Tips To Take Care Of Your Lungs When You Have COPD

Below, Dr. Kate gives you a quick low down on the strategies to swear by when you have COPD. 

Vaccination: You can take the flu and pneumonia vaccine at least once before age 65, as recommended by your doctor.

Hand washing: This is the key to eliminating germs and enjoying a disease-free life. Avoid dust, allergens, and molds to manage this condition.

Bid adieu to smoking: Smoking can kill. But many people fail to take this warning seriously. Smoking can not only lead to COPD but even lung cancer. You will have to opt for a smoking cessation program.

Opt for an air purifier: COPD tends to trigger breathlessness and cough. Indoor air can be polluted. Thus, it will be a good idea to use a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. The purifier can filter even the fine particles and toxins. In addition, always make sure the house is clean by washing the carpets, rugs, and bedding.

Exercise daily: You will have to stay physically active in order to enhance the circulation and help the body use oxygen more efficiently. You will have to maintain an optimum weight too. Exercising furthermore strengthens the immune system, and keeps allergies and infections at bay. You can choose activities like swimming, cycling, walking, jogging, aerobics, yoga, Pilates, Parkour, and Zumba. But, before starting any fitness routine, just consult a fitness expert.

Eat a well-balanced diet: It is a good idea to opt for fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Avoid junk, spicy, oily, canned, and processed foods. Do not have sodas, colas, and fruit juices. Eat nutritious meals and avoid eating heavy meals. The meals should not be high in calories. 

De-stress: Yoga or meditation is a great way to de-stress. Plus, you need to get enough sleep of 8 hours on a daily basis. Keep your medication handy and stock it properly. Stay in touch with the doctor, if there are abnormal changes in the body.

Breathing exercises: Doing these exercises can increase lung capacity and help you breathe freely. You can ask the experts regarding the exercises that are suitable for you.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Detectable Level of Coronavirus Infection on Face Masks Can Still be seen after Seven Days

According to a new study by researchers from the University of Hongkong, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes the COVID-19 can remain to the outer layer of a face mask for a week and stays on stainless steel and plastic surfaces for up to four days.

Common household disinfectants such as bleach are effective in killing the virus.

The team's research adds to the growing studies about the stability of the COVID-19 and what can be done to prevent its further spread in public. They published their research in the medical journal The Lancet on Thursday.

The team of researchers is composed of Leo Poon Lit-man, the head of the public health laboratory sciences division, and Malik Peiris, a clinical and public health virologist. They said that that Sars-CoV-2 can be highly stable in a favorable environment but can quickly die to standard disinfection methods.

Staying alive on different surfaces

Lit-man and his team tested the duration in which the virus could remain infectious at room temperature on different surfaces.

For example, the virus can last less than three hours on printing and tissue paper, while on treated wood and cloth, which is a standard cotton laboratory jacket disappears only by the second day.

Moreover, the virus is still evident on banknotes and glass on the second day and will be gone on the fourth day. While on plastic surfaces and stainless steel, coronavirus is always present between four to seven days.

On glass and banknotes, the virus was still evident on the second day but had gone by the fourth, while on stainless steel and plastic, it was present for between four and seven days.

The researchers also pointed out that "strikingly" there was still a detectable level of the coronavirus infection on the face mask's outer layer after a week. Peiris said, "This is exactly why it is very important if you are wearing a surgical mask you don't touch the outside of the mask. Because you can contaminate your hands and if you touch your eyes you could be transferring the virus to your eyes."

The study said that the concentration of the virus reduced quite rapidly over time on all surfaces. However, it does not necessarily reflect the potential to pick up the virus from casual contact as the presence of the virus is detected using laboratory equipment and not fingers or hands, as would be in the case in everyday life.

What should we do?

HKU research team's findings emphasize public health and hygiene, and what precautions people should take when bringing items from outside such as groceries into their homes. The study author said that hand washing still remains the top priority of the list as theoretically tin cans carry enough live virus to cause an infection.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Could COVID-19 Become a New Seasonal Illness Like the Flu?

A novel observation has led researchers to allow the possibility that the Novel Coronavirus may become a new seasonal illness like the flu and other respiratory infections. This is because of the medical trends observed in the Southern Hemisphere, where COVID-19 has been on the rise as countries like Australia are nearing cold weather. In the Southern Hemisphere, winter typically begins at around the end of June, and the temperatures have already started to drop.

If this is indeed the case, we should also start observing a decline in new Coronavirus cases towards the end of spring. Unfortunately, this also means that the virus may return to the Northern Hemisphere once again next winter. What does this mean for the people and the healthcare system in the short and long term? We discuss this in detail below.

How Could the Coronavirus Become Seasonal?

More and more independent researchers are considering that the virus causing COVID-19 may ultimately become seasonal. Dr. William Schaffner, an expert in infectious diseases, revealed the following in a statement to Healthline, “We think this coronavirus will likely become more prominent during winter in the Southern Hemisphere… and cycle back to the Northern Hemisphere in the next winter season. We’ll be dealing then with influenza, other respiratory viruses, and the coronavirus.”

The question is: Is this even possible? Could a new virus just show up and become a new seasonal burden we have to fight? The answer is, tragically, ‘yes’, and historians believe this has happened before with a more familiar virus - influenza. The first recordings of the flu date back to 1580.

Compared to other infectious diseases like syphilis, tuberculosis, and malaria, which have all been found in Ancient Egyptian mummies and date back millennia, the four centuries influenza has been around are nothing. The first cases of the influenza virus have been recorded in Asia, and the outbreak spread all across Europe, North Africa, and even the Americas at this time. Although we don’t know the exact number of casualties, this first influenza virus reportedly killed 8,000 people in Rome alone.

As the virus spread, it became a seasonal recurrence and a bane that we still have to fight every winter, with the virus constantly evolving. Some years, it is mild, and in others, it’s particularly devastating, like it was with the Spanish Flu in 1918 or the H1N1 outbreak of 2009. Thus, it is certainly possible that the Novel Coronavirus may become the new, worse version of the flu existing alongside it.

If the Coronavirus Becomes Seasonal, What Shall We Do?

Should the Novel Coronavirus turn into a new seasonal infection, we all have to be prepared this time. One of the first and foremost goals of the healthcare systems in the Northern Hemisphere is the development of a vaccine and other treatments for the virus, both of which are already in development in several labs across the globe. Ideally, we would have a vaccine for the next seasonal outbreak, which would be capable of reducing the severity and spread of SARS-CoV-2.

This will only work, though, if the virus doesn’t start mutating rapidly, and the strains prominent the next season will not be too different. Mutation is one of the major concerns right now, as the Novel Coronavirus is an RNA virus, which means that it doesn’t have DNA, and is, hence, less stable and could mutate more quickly much like the flu - another RNA virus. The good news is that, so far, researchers haven’t observed particularly rapid mutations of the virus, with 800 different strains of SARS-CoV-2 being sequenced across the globe.

One positive aspect of the possible seasonality of the virus is that many countries would then have time to recuperate and recover from the virus during the warm months. If that is the case, the number of new cases should start dropping in the Northern Hemisphere shortly. Unfortunately, researchers aren’t sure how long this break will last.

What About the Southern Hemisphere?

Researchers say that the Southern Hemisphere should prepare for the worst as it gets closer to winter. Luckily, since these countries will be affected much later than Asia, Europe, and North America, they will have a lot more information about the virus and ways to contain it than those in the Northern Hemisphere. Taking advantage of this abundance of information available both for medical professionals, governmental structures and the public is key.

In Australia, we are already observing a tightening of mass gathering laws and a countrywide stay home order, though people are still allowed to go to work. No public gatherings of more than two people are allowed since the end of March, which seems to have curbed the number of new cases compared to a rapid increase that was observed in mid and late March already (see chart below).
According to Worldometer, there are currently 5,895 recorded Coronavirus cases in Australia, of which there are 46 fatalities (approximately 2% of patients).

COVID-19 Seasonal Australia

If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, you should start engaging in practices that are known to work, such as social distancing. It's also crucial to abide by personal hygiene and cleaning rules, such as the disinfection of surfaces in your home, vehicle, smartphone, and hand washing.

Another important thing you can do is get your flu shot early this year, since reducing your chance of getting the flu, or getting both the flu and COVID-19, is crucial for your health and the workload of medical facilities in your area.

Time will tell whether or not the predictions are true and SARS-Cov-2 will indeed become a new seasonal respiratory infection, but meanwhile, we would like to urge you to exercise caution and abide by local medical regulations regarding the virus, no matter where you live.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
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