Why exactly are we higher risk?

[Chickpea33]

Hello. Can anyone clarify why people with heart disease and high blood pressure are higher risk if we catch coronavirus? I wouldn’t have thought it’s to do with reduced immunity. Is it to do with the heart being under more pressure and the virus adds to that? Reduced oxygen flow is worsened by chest infection? These are my best guesses but if anyone knows the official reasoning I’d be interested to hear. Many thanks.

[barniecroft]

Hi - my understanding from the link below is that there is a possibility that if you have plaque in your arteries, this can be destabilised by the virus.

heart.org/en/news/2020/02/2...

[Chickpea33 in reply to barniecroft]

Thanks that’s interesting. Very pleased I’m on a high dose statin then!

[Gladwyn in reply to Chickpea33]

I read someplace that statins afforded a certain amount of protection against the virus so that explains why . Thanks 😀

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

Anybody with an underlying health condition will be at higher risk not just heart disease.

Age and being male also seem to be other risk factors too thought to be associated by men being more likely to smoke.

Any infection may put the heart under extra strain.

The BHF nurses have provided this information.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

I will be carrying on as usual taking the same precautions I always do in the winter to avoid flu and food poisoning.

[christina1947]

It was a virus that attacked my healthy heart causing 21% etopics which caused dangerous low heart rate . The cardiologist told me a virus can attack any part of your body and cause damage so if you already have damage I suppose . Anyway we are not going to get this Coronavirus because we know it’s lurking and we can stop it entering our body . Keep your hand bug free and away from your face . Avoid crowds public transport and people with bugs and you will be just fine. Take care xxx

[barniecroft]

Definitely. Take care.

[stevejb1810]

Looking at the figures, your biggest risk is your age, the older you are the more likely you are to be more seriously affected. This is almost certainly due to your reduced immune system as you age.

Being male adds to the risk - it’s speculated that this might be due to smoking and the ‘weight’ of the Chinese data still in the global figures (Chinese men are way more likely to habitually smoke than Chinese women).

If I’m reading the data correctly, chronic diseases - diabetes, asthma/COPD, cancer, cardio vascular disease - are adding about 2-3 percentage points to the underlying death rates for any given condition (see the link below).

worldometers.info/coronavir...

It is still the case that infection rates remain very low, even in the worst affected areas. Most people get mild symptoms and crucially, most people recover 😃

[hf54]

If you have heart Failure etc then the heart already has to work harder .any virus including flu would put additional strain on the heart. The highest risk from the coronavirus is when it gets in the lungs and attacks those. People who are old and additionally carry other medical conditions (sometimes more than one) are at the highest risk. If there is any simple advice to be gained for all this and you are not Extremely old with several underlying medical conditions it would be this -

1/keep your overall health and immune system in the best possible condition you can through diet and possibly through vitamin/mineral supplementation. Keeping your levels of vitamin c up improves your immune system as well.

2/keep away from KFC McDonald’s and the like.As well as the food not being healthy think of how many thousands of people pass through the stores every day.

3/ if and when the outbreak turns into a pandemic Limit your contact to the outside world. This may be inconvenient and Unwanted but we’re dealing with something serious here not a Wish List.

4/ Bear in mind that anybody could potentially be carrying the virus, your loved one, your children, your relatives and any stranger that appears well and fit. They may be a “transferer “ and not display any signs of symptoms hence the need for isolation.

5/ A slightly sinister one here but something with a basis in fact. as things stand all self-employed people will not have any access to immediate sick pay. For those on the bottom rung of the pay scale the choice between staying at home when ill and continuing to work will be too great (Uber eats, Deliveroo et cetera) therefore it is possible, and I say possible That those lowest paid workers with very few rights may continue to work and heighten the risk of spreading infection.Apparently patient zero in Italy was a Pakistani delivery driver who refused to self isolate and continued working. I have the link somewhere if anyone thinks I’m making this up – I’m not

[gladliz in reply to hf54]

Sounds like ' Typhoid Mary ' all over again. If I remember correctly she was eventually jailed to stop her spreading the disease. She was a carrier but had no symptoms herself.

[Sunnie2day]

Very simple bottom line answer?

'Underlying conditions' mean your body is already working overtime to overcome/remedy/work-around the underlying condition.

Throw in a 'novel' virus and you're asking your body to add to the battle to keep you alive. The additional burden could easily tip you over to needing extreme medical intervention and is a battle your already overworked system may well lose.

Sorry to be so blunt but I hope this helps simplify the why of compromised systems mean this virus could be so much worse.

[CFla]

In addition to vitamin C, I take supplemental vitamin D to boost immune system. Your body needs ample daily sunlight on exposed skin which most of us don’t get during the winter. Coincidence that’s time of year when flu bugs invade our bodies? Inadequate Vitamin D levels may also make us more prone to cancer. My pup has cancer and 80% of dogs with cancer tested with low Vit D levels. Similar for humans.

[hf54 in reply to CFla]

This is spot on about the Vit D I forgot to mention it - well said cfla

[Rob6868 in reply to CFla]

My beautiful boxer zeta died last yesr of cancer and lived for the sun and would be straight out to sunbath at the first opportunity. She would of certainly got her vit D and dogs make much more vit C than most anima so your theory doesn't really stack up im afraid. Yes vit d is needed and sunlight is the perfect answer. But plenty of sun worshippers still die from cancer. Its a collective of many things.

[Trevor29]

I had flu at the start of the year which put me in bed for a couple of days. I wear an Apple Watch which monitors my heart rate and it kept giving out alarms as my heart rate went to 110 bpm even while lying in bed. It’s normally in the 60s so I’m guessing this is why flu type viruses are such a problem for us.

[Cradds1202]

these are your answers take note of advice for our at risk group,having trained nursing 1961 I am 81/health risk and am now self isolating today spring cleaning watch out.