COVID-19: WHY HEALTHY LIFESTYLES MATTER AS MUCH AS A VACCINE
SUMMARY:
Severe Covid-19 illness and death has been significantly higher in people with chronic conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, type II diabetes, and obesity. There is also preliminary scientific research showing that COVID vaccines are less effective in people with chronic conditions.
Most chronic conditions are caused by unhealthy lifestyles (and by unhealthy lifestyles we mean poor sleep, unmanaged stress, a negative outlook, lack of physical activity, poor nutrition and smoking). These conditions also weaken our immune systems and our ability to fight off other diseases.
The good news is that a healthy lifestyle can prevent most chronic conditions. Secondly, a healthy lifestyle can often reverse chronic conditions. And lastly, making healthy lifestyle choices also strengthens one’s disease-fighting immune system naturally and decreases the risk of Covid-19 hospitalizations. Therefore, the COVID vaccine program should be paired with a strategy to drive healthy lifestyle behaviors. This will not only help to end the pandemic; it will help increase the sustainability of our healthcare systems going forward. Governments and the private sector both have critical roles to play. Fostering employee health and safety is a cornerstone of ESG. It’s time for action.
CHRONIC CONDITIONS HAVE WORSENED THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
In a major scientific study of 900,000 Covid-19 hospitalizations published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in February 2021, it was revealed that 89% of all patients were suffering from one or more of the following four chronic conditions: obesity, hypertension, diabetes and heart failure. The research also concluded that 64% of the Covid-19 hospitalizations could have been prevented if not for these four conditions [1].
When the pandemic struck, governments decided it was in the public health interest to engage in lockdowns. The goal was to “flatten-the-curve” and prevent overburdening the healthcare system with seriously ill Covid-19 patients. However, if nearly 2/3 of hospitalizations could have been prevented with a lower prevalence of lifestyle-driven chronic conditions, this costly “lockdown” approach might not have been necessary.
Lockdowns not only have caused significant economic hardship; they have also exacerbated already worsening lifestyles. High levels of stress, unhappiness, poor sleep, poor nutrition and physical inactivity have become even more common. One result has been a significant increase in weight gain in many countries, setting the stage for a further increase in chronic conditions [2a] [2b].
VACCINES ALONE ARE NOT ENOUGH
The development of effective vaccines for Covid-19 in a very compressed timeframe is a great achievement. Vaccination is an indispensable tool in helping reduce severe illness and death from Covid-19. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of vaccines appears to be reduced in those with chronic conditions. Hospitalizations and deaths in breakthrough cases of fully Covid-19 vaccinated individuals are higher among people with chronic conditions [3a] [3b].
WHY HEALTHY LIFESTYLES MATTER
Healthy lifestyles are the most effective way to:
1) Prevent the majority of illnesses and
2) Mitigate or reverse the effects of chronic conditions
Healthy lifestyles also boost the immune system naturally [4] and help protect against Covid-19. For example, the latest science shows that sleeping for 7 hours a night [5a] and exercising for 150 minutes or more a week significantly help in the fight against Covid-19 [6a]. The scientific data is clear: healthy lifestyles are closely tied to stronger immune systems, and can reduce not only the chance of getting Covid-19, but also its severity [6b].
VACCINE & HEALTHY LIFESTYLE - THE IDEAL APPROACH
Strengthening one’s own immune system naturally, is therefore an essential strategy against the ongoing threat of Covid-19 and other illnesses. It’s imperative that alongside the vaccine rollout, a strategy is put in place that drives healthier behavior. Healthy lifestyles need to be vigorously promoted in both the public and private sector. This will ensure not only a more effective fight against Covid-19 and its variants; it will also better prepare us for the future.
LET’S CREATE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE “ECOSYSTEM” NOW!
We need an infrastructure that makes it easier for people become aware, learn and make healthy lifestyle choices. Creating such a healthy lifestyle ecosystem is an essential factor in improving the sustainability and quality of healthcare systems around the world. We can use the enormous success in smoking cessation as a guide. The US federal government along with state, local, insurance companies, health providers and employers created an ecosystem that drove smoking from 42% of the adult population 50 years ago down to 14% today – a stunning 67% percentage decrease in smokers [7]. This was accomplished due to the coordinated efforts of all these players.
Governments, hospitals, insurers, schools, employers must work together to achieve a healthier and happier population. They all have a significant role to play in building an effective ecosystem that reinforces healthy lifestyles [8]. It is not only the right and socially responsible thing to do, it also makes good economic sense [9]. Better lifestyles will result in a happier, healthier and more productive society. Everyone wins.
Thank you for your time.
We wish you true wealth.
Sources and references:
[1a] Most COVID-19 hospitalizations due to four conditions - NIH Research Matters, March 2021
[1b] Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalizations Attributable to Cardiometabolic Conditions in the United States: A Comparative Risk Assessment Analysis - JAHA, March 2021
[2a] How to Shake Pandemic Weight Gain and Get Your Health Back On Track- Health Essentials, Cleveland Clinic, April 2021
[2b] Pandemic weight gain: Not your imagination – Harvard Health Letter, June 2021
[3a] BNT162b2 vaccine breakthrough: clinical characteristics of 152 fully vaccinated hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Israel - Clinical Microbiology and Infection, July 2021
[3b] Israeli doctors find severe COVID-19 breakthrough cases mostly in older, sicker patients - Reuters, August 2021
[4] How to boost your immune system- Harvard Health Publishing, February 2021
[5a] COVID-19 illness in relation to sleep and burnout – BMJ - Nutrition, Prevention & Health, June 2021
[5b] Pandemic weight gain: Not your imagination – Harvard Health Letter, June 2021
[6a] COVID-19 illness in relation to sleep and burnout - BMJ - Nutrition, Prevention & Health, June 2021
[6b] The central role of mitochondrial fitness on antiviral defenses: An advocacy for physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic - Redox Biology, July 2021
[7] Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults in the United States - Centers for Disease Control, December 2020
[8] An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - RENDLE, May 2020
[9] About Chronic Diseases: Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) - Centers for Disease Control, June 2021
About RENDLE:
RENDLE helps organizations drive lifestyle improvements in a structured, data-driven manner. Our methodology guarantees populations will improve their sleep, stress management, happiness, exercise and nutrition while reducing back pain, smoking and other costly conditions. For more details about how we can help your organization improve contact us.