It’s something that has puzzled researchers from the start of the pandemic – why do some people experience severe illness, and others do not? These differences extend beyond known risk factors – like age, and existing disease.
To answer this question, researchers began studying the genetics of people exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and were able to identify links between developing the disease and variations in specific parts of their DNA.
Here in South Africa, there seems to be two active responses on social media to the shock of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. One is a sense of outrage and sadness at the disruption and tragic loss of life. The other seems to be an almost flippant expression of gratitude for being far away ‘down south’ from the conflict zone.
Let’s be clear – there is no quick fix to immediately ‘boost’ your immunity – no ‘wonder supplement’ or ‘power food’ will suddenly strengthen your immune system. However, living a healthy lifestyle does go a long way to keep your immune system strong. This has been found in a recent study showing that exercise may strengthen the antibody response to vaccination – both the COVID-19 vaccines and the annual flu vaccines.
Life keeps throwing us challenges. As we saw with Covid-19, in this globally connected world we are all touched by whatever is happening, no matter how ‘far away’. Resilience is a key quality of those who are best able to respond.
Underlying all human rights is a deep respect for human life. There are those passionate people whose daily lives center around defending and upholding these precious rights so that we can all live in a more caring and just world. Each one of us can take inspiration from this and make choices that demonstrate how our own personal values uphold human rights.
The pandemic has highlighted the idea of a disease being front and center in all aspects of our lives. However, for someone living with a chronic condition, this has been their reality long before COVID-19 came along, and the pandemic has simply made things worse.
Economic, social and psychological distress is common amongst those living with chronic conditions, such as tuberculosis (TB).
06 May 2020
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