Building Immunity in the middle of the Coronavirus

The world just witness what Europeans went through during the Black Death era in the Middle Ages. Many of us lost someone who was important and close to us. Some say it was due to an accident that the virus mutated to its current form, while others held the view that the genesis of this pandemic was laid much before with rapid-intercontinental travel, lack of anti-contamination measures and most importantly, a lack of preparedness for an event of this magnitude. This could be seen even in the fact that a large amount of people refused to even acknowledge the disastrous effects of this virus even when it was in full swing. These people paid a high price for their anti-rational actions, and many of them were unable to survive the pandemic’s later waves because they had not taken the proper precautions and treatments.

Everyone looks to the treatments they can use to improve their conditions in such a catastrophic situation. Considering “precaution is better than cure,” as the saying goes, one should try to stay as far away from these airborne virus particles as possible. This is where the masks and social distancing comes in. People are asked to wear masks at all time and also maintain physical distance from each other. People also upgraded their masks to face shields so as to cover a larger portion of their areaand started to use PPE kits. However, no matter how much one physically tries to distance himself from the virus, given the size of these particles and the society that we live in, it is nearly impossible for someone to completely limit themselves from the virus. It’s not even advisable to do this because complete isolation from the virus may prevent the development of antibodies, increasing the likelihood that a person may contract the infection. Building up our immunity is therefore the most long-term strategy for dealing with this threat, as it will prevent the virus from having any effect even if it happens to infect us.

One approach to achieve this is by receiving the proper vaccination, which helps our system to become familiar with the virus and develop how to fight it.In addition to immunizations, lifestyle modifications help in better preparing the body for the virus’s attack.If one has a strong immune system and gets enough sleep, infections can be warded off more effectively. Almost everyone in the world has got something or the other to worry about. But the coronavirus isn’t so considerate. It just sees a stress-induced body as a more vulnerable one to attack. Stress directly impacts your immune system. One should find ways to lower stress levels by meditating, exercising and controlled breathing techniques.

Last but not the least, we are what we eat. No amount of words can adequately convey the significance of eating a good, balanced diet, not only in reference to the Coronavirus but also generally for living a long, happy life.The major nutrients to focus on constitute vitamins, zinc, selenium and the omega 3 fatty acids which have been shown to have immunomodulatory effects, particularly beneficial in an infectious disease. Additionally, there is a lot of potential for these nutrients to reduce the effects of COVID-19.

Coronavirus and other topics are discussed at the Pharmacy College at Amrapali Institute, Haldwani. Amrapali Educational Institute is a top ranked institute in Uttarakhand.