The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has changed life for all of humanity. With more than 80 million people directly affected and nearly two million deaths, changes in our hygiene and social habits have been necessary, rapid, and profound. And we must maintain them because the risk of infection is still very high.
From everything we have learned, at Biosalud Day Hospital we have adopted certain habits that can help us stay healthy, such as good hand hygiene and covering our mouths with our elbows when we sneeze. These are simple gestures that are very valuable. And beyond that, we are paying attention to our immune systems, concerned with keeping them in good health.
The network of cells, organs, and molecules that make up the immune system extends throughout the body. This defense mechanism has evolved over millions of years, and its response to attack depends, among other things, on interactions between the nervous and endocrine systems. That's why, when we talk about habits that can strengthen the immune system, we know that exercise, sleep, and diet are good for our defenses. Stress, on the other hand, weakens it.
But 2020 has not only been the year of COVID-19. Extreme weather events have been more numerous than at any other time. Climate change has a direct impact on entire populations, is increasing atmospheric temperatures, and is bringing us diseases, especially infectious diseases.
The rise in global temperatures particularly affects elderly people and those with chronic conditions. Heat has a direct impact on their health: it is estimated that in the European Union, for every degree that the average temperature rises, mortality increases by between one and four percent.
Heat also has a major impact on the changing geographical distribution of vectors—animals that transmit diseases, such as ticks and mosquitoes—and infectious diseases are being detected in areas where these insects were not previously present.
A study recently published in the journalPLoS ONE, coordinated between the University of Tours, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and Hannover Medical School, has revealed that half of the population is unaware of the relationship between climate change and concludes that, if we are aware of this relationship, we will be more predisposed to fight against climate change.
The One Health concept, which the World Health Organization is working on to improve public health worldwide, links animal health, plant health, and the environment. We are part of a whole, and what we do in one of these areas can influence the others.
Some believe that we still have time to slow down global warming. At Biosalud Day Hospital, as specialists in infectious diseases, we know that the first step is prevention at the individual level. Diseases such as Lyme disease are already endemic in many areas of the United States and Europe, and their incidence is increasing because ticks reproduce for longer periods of time and travel for longer periods with migratory birds.
Lyme disease is a major challenge. We have discussed this condition extensively in our articles because we believe it is important to understand how it is transmitted, how to diagnose it correctly, and how to treat it appropriately. A tick bite can paralyze a person's life if the bacterium borrelia bugdorferi bacteria is transmitted. Affecting millions of people in Europe, there are few specialists in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. That is why at Biosalud we treat patients from all over the world.
Diet, exercise, living in clean environments... we know these are determining factors for health. However, we find it difficult to adopt healthy habits permanently.
From the perspective of integrative medicine, we believe that physical, environmental, and emotional factors are important for maintaining good health. Everything influences the immune system, and in our diagnostic approach, we place great importance on analyzing those factors that interfere with our health.
Every day we see more chronic diseases —allergies, autoimmune and rheumatic diseases—functional disorders, and syndromes related to sensitivity to different substances or phenomena. Knowing the origin of the pathology in each case leads us to complex but also healing treatments.
A healthy lifestyle involves more than just eating a balanced diet or exercising. We are surrounded by insecticides and herbicides, heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, fungi, and other elements that pollute the air, our food, and our water, thereby affecting our health.
Although it is difficult to leave our environment and distance ourselves from everything that harms us, it is important to remain aware of our surroundings and make choices: moderate consumption, read the labels on the food we eat, or disconnect from our ever-present electronic devices from time to time.
The closure of gyms, restrictions on movement, and social distancing requirements have reduced the amount of time we spend doing physical activity. In other words, we are more sedentary, and this has prompted the World Health Organization to call for us to devote more hours to sport.
Specifically, the WHO recommendation for adults is to devote between 150 and 300 minutes to exercise. Around 43 minutes a day can help prevent non-communicable diseases, and it does not have to be done consecutively; every minute counts.
In the case of children and adolescents, the requirement is greater, as it is recommended that they exercise for at least one hour throughout the day. In addition, they specify that "it would be advisable to incorporate, at least three times a week, vigorous activities that strengthen muscles and bones in particular."
