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After dodging the bullet of Covid-19 for more than two years, I was crushed.
This is particularly annoying because during the pandemic I’ve tried to reduce my risk by avoiding crowded places like pubs and wearing a mask on public transport and in shops.
But the ripped virus finally got to me through my wife, Clare. Last week she developed classic Covid symptoms (lots of coughing and sneezing) and a few days later, after unsuccessful attempts to avoid each other whilst living in the same house, I followed her and am now plagued by frequent outbreaks of coughing that has spread sounds like someone trying to start an old tractor on a cold winter morning.
To be honest I’m not surprised to have succumbed as the most recent Covid variant, Omicron, is the fastest spreading virus in human history.
Omicron is much more contagious than previous Covid variants, but luckily it has also mutated into something less dangerous.
After dodging the bullet of Covid-19 for more than two years, I was crushed. This is particularly annoying because during the pandemic I’ve tried to reduce my risk by avoiding crowded places like pubs and wearing a mask on public transport and in shops
A study by Imperial College London of more than 1.5 million people who had either Omicron or Delta found that Omicron victims were half as likely to end up in hospital or worse.
The study showed that vaccines save lives, with people who are fully vaccinated being 85 percent less likely to die from Omicron than those who are unvaccinated.
Although Covid appears to be on the wane, the virus will continue to mutate and almost certainly has more tricks up its sleeve. So what is the next step in our fight against Covid?
First, it’s testing some promising antiviral drugs — including Paxlovid, which in an early study reduced the risk of ending up in hospital by 89 percent when given within three days of the onset of symptoms.
And there’s a new generation of nasal spray vaccines, which is exciting because research suggests spraying a vaccine up your nose can drastically reduce your risk of transmitting the virus.
This is because the Covid virus usually enters your body through your nose. So if you boost your nasal defenses, you can nip it in the bud. This would have a major impact on how quickly it spreads and how easily it mutates.
There is a new generation of nasal spray vaccines, which is exciting as research suggests that spraying a vaccine up the nose can drastically reduce the risk of transmission of the virus. A file photo is used above
Another benefit of nasal vaccines, as demonstrated in animal studies around the world, is that they not only generate lots of antibodies and “killer” T cells, as you would expect from a vaccine, but also immune “memory” cells that hanging around in the nose months.
Lancaster University researchers, who were the first to start developing a nasal Covid-19 vaccine in 2020, have shown that two doses of their vaccine given to hamsters completely protected them from lung infections and prevented them from shedding the virus.
The results were so encouraging that they are planning human trials later this summer. If it works as well as hoped, you could just go to a pharmacy and get yourself a spray to use yourself. Since there is no needle it would be easier and potentially a lot cheaper. That should also reassure people with needle phobia.
In the meantime what can you do if you get hit by Covid?
If, like me, your symptoms aren’t too bad, the NHS recommends getting plenty of rest, drinking water to stay hydrated and taking medication like acetaminophen to ease your symptoms. I would also suggest continuing to exercise if you can. Exercise increases blood flow to your muscles and brain, and this increased blood flow in turn stimulates blood vessels to release virus-fighting immune cells.
There’s a well-known adage about exercising when you have an infection: If symptoms are “above the neck” (e.g., sore throat, sneezing, and stuffy nose), you should be fine to exercise. But be more careful below the neck (e.g. fever, cough, pain and general fatigue). You certainly don’t want to exercise when you have a fever as it could make it worse (but it’s very unlikely you’d feel like exercising anyway).
Although I was coughing, I don’t have a fever, so I continued to do my usual push-ups and squats and run four or five miles every day.
But if you can, more exercise could help if you’re struggling to shake off the effects of Covid.
You could also consider singing. A study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine last month showed that an online singing program called ENO Breathe, designed specifically for long Covid, resulted in a significant reduction in shortness of breath and a major improvement in mood. The program encourages you to do things like singing lullabies as well as breathing exercises.
If you’re a bad singer like me, you’ll be happy to hear that “no experience or interest in singing is required”. However, they will need to be referred by a specialist NHS Covid clinic, so there is a waiting time.
You could also sing in the shower, which I love to do, much to my family’s delight!
The reversal in BOGOF deals will be a tragedy for generations to come
With childhood obesity rates on the rise and a recent report from Cancer Research UK predicting that rates of severe obesity will double by 2040, I was very disappointed to see that the government has largely abandoned its strategy to tackle obesity.
Under pressure from some MPs and members of his own cabinet, Boris Johnson announced a delay of at least a year for bans on BOGOF – buy one, get one free – and restricts junk food advertising to children.
A few weeks ago I wrote about food giants’ legal maneuvers to try to dilute the impact of new laws prohibiting the display of foods high in fat, salt or sugar in prominent places in supermarkets, such as in supermarkets. B. in the vicinity of the cash registers should ban. The reason for abandoning plans to eliminate BOGOF deals is that with rising grocery prices, we cannot deprive consumers of money-saving deals.
William Hague has described this about-face as “weak, superficial and immoral” and pointed out – as have others – that supermarkets run BOGOF promotions to increase profits, not to save us money. Thanks to BOGOF, we’re buying an estimated 20 percent more sugary junk food than we normally would.
And it’s pretty clear that people who spend more on junk food have to spend less on healthy stuff.
It’s also worth noting that the legislation would only have banned advertising for junk food, not three-for-two offers on fruits and vegetables or other staples.
As for the waiving of the promised restrictions on advertising junk food to children, it really makes me cry.
I’m old enough to remember when half the population smoked, but today it’s only 13 percent. Awareness campaigns didn’t change much (most people already knew that smoking is unhealthy), but one of the few things that made an impact was the ban on cigarette advertising.
McDonald’s alone spends £90m a year on advertising, while the total spend on fast food advertising is almost 30 times government spending on promoting healthy eating.
The UK is one of the largest consumers of ultra-processed foods in the world, creating a huge and growing problem: obesity increases your risk of cancer, depression, type 2 diabetes, heart disease – and kills more people than smoking.
Sir Winston Churchill once said: “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset a country can have”. If this government capitulates to the power of the food industry, it will be a tragedy not only for this generation but for the generation to come.
Hidden health benefits of donating blood
People donate blood out of the goodness of their hearts, but they may also reap an unexpected reward.
Research by the Environmental Protection Agency in Australia has shown that donating blood reduces levels of chemicals called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (or PFAS) that can build up in our bodies over time.
Animal studies have linked high levels of PFAS to a variety of health problems, including obesity.
What about the recipients? To be honest, I don’t think I would worry too much about PFAS if I bled.