The (not so) silent killers before coronavirus
There has been an existing health crisis even before the pandemic, and it is high time we realize it.
By Simon Arciaga (Quezon City, Philippines)
February 19, 2021
If you have met with financial advisors in the past, one of the details they emphasize whenever they introduce to you a policy is the health care benefit for critical illnesses. This guarantees that a potential client's insurance covers more than 30 diseases - one of which you could possibly acquire in your lifetime due to many factors.
As for Pinoy clients, financial advisors emphasize three particular diseases: heart attack, stroke, and cancer - these three being the most common killers of Filipinos. They are the OGs, so to speak, way before COVID-19 terrified us on a daily basis.
We have already heard of family members, friends, and colleagues acquiring the coronavirus - making us anxious that this deadly virus is getting nearer and nearer into our circles. Yet, we have also visited relatives in the hospital before and attended countless funerals of friends and loved ones who died of pre-existing diseases way before this New Normal came to be. And I don't think we had the same degree of panic as the level of anxiety we are all feeling right now in this new era.
In all of the hoarding of masks and supplements to protect ourselves from the threats of COVID-19, did the old normal motivate us enough to change our lifestyle and take our health seriously so we get to avoid inflicting sudden grief on our loved ones due to, say, a cardiac arrest that may or may not come any time soon?
Did it ever cross our minds that while the world is literally trying to heal from this pandemic, our planet has always been sick (in every sense of the word) since forever?
Is our fixation on fighting this virus per se... justified?
A Negative Result is still Negative
Fighting the COVID-19 virus has been central this year, and rightly so. With the death of millions of people this year, a collective and decisive response from around the world is to be expected. Wearing masks, practicing physical distancing, and frequent handwashing have become common practices to serve as protection against the virus.
But as we continue to battle this pandemic, our hopes of staying alive and being healthy should go beyond the ‘positive-negative distinction’ that our plight seems to foster among us. Testing negative for COVID-19 is a relief, but we can do much better than that.
Bursting our Bubble
According to the latest analysis (as of November 2020) that was released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is strong and consistent evidence that suggests how people with underlying medical conditions such as cancer, chronic kidney disease, heart conditions, and diabetes have a higher risk of getting a severe illness from COVID-19.
Our experience in dealing with this virus sheds light on the importance of our immune system. Those with weakened and compromised immune systems due to these underlying medical conditions are more likely to succumb to the virus. What this tells us, among other things, is that the fight against COVID-19 is just a fraction of the bigger battle that we have been grappling with long before the pandemic happened.
This current crisis exposes, even more, the graver threats to our health. To this day, the World Health Organization reports that cardiovascular disease accounts for most deaths globally. Compared to the death toll of COVID-19 at 2.1 million cases as of writing, deaths due to cardiovascular disease in 2019 alone stand at 8.9 million. Such a trend could be reduced if only people were more conscious of adopting a healthy diet, being more physically active, and avoiding the harmful use of alcohol.
The distribution of the vaccine is making some headway around the world. Soon enough, the pandemic will start to lose its grip on us. But even then, those underlying medical conditions remain. If there’s one thing that this pandemic taught us, it is the fact that prevention is always better than cure. Moving forward, there’s a lot of work to be done and systems to be put in place to educate and equip people about the importance of our immune system.
Habits over Protocols
Coach Jeredan Conde of Tito Fit, a fitness vlog in the Philippines, suggests a more holistic approach when it comes to staying healthy. Aside from following the mandatory health protocols, he believes that wearing our “inner mask” is even more crucial.
This means adopting a lifestyle that boosts our immune system, such as exercising regularly, eating properly, and getting enough sleep. Taking the right supplements, such as vitamins C and D, also gives that extra push to make our bodies better equipped. At the end of the day, a body that’s well maintained is the best protection we have, not just against COVID-19, but also with respect to the bigger threats that have been hounding us for so long.
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As we begin a new year, we realize that COVID-19 is not the only issue we’re facing. As a matter of fact, that virus is so ‘2019’. The positive thing about this virus is that it should have opened our eyes by now to the importance of demanding more from ourselves in adopting a lifestyle that will put us in a better position to be healthy through and through in the long run.
