DOCTORS say that until a vaccine or cure is made available, our only chance against the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a “strong immune system”.
I have researched the role of the immune system as the body’s multi-level defense network against harmful bacteria, viruses and other disease-causing pathogens.
A strong immune system could be the reason why TV documentarist Arnold Clavio survived COVID-19 after 11 days of palliative confinement in a Quezon City Hospital.
Otherwise, nobody would have recovered from this “incurable” disease. As I was writing this yesterday, the World Health Organization’s “odometer” on the pandemic had hit 2,557,994, of which 695,355 had recovered, which is much more than the 177,688 deaths.
The Philippines’ share is 6,599 cases, of which only 437 have died. Would that smaller number alarm us to the point of depression?
To be depressed is to weaken our immune system. In our country of 110 million Filipinos, 1,591 die of various causes every day, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA),
Having survived emphysema, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases, I have resorted to gorging nutritious foods and taking food supplements to stay alive and kicking at 70.
Whenever I visit my suki pharmacy, I hum the first five notes of the “Alphabet Song” to tell the sales lady what five vitamin pills I am buying.
There were no drugs in the olden days. But according to the Old Testament, a Hebrew patriarch named Methuselah lived for 969 years.
While we don’t live as long today, we are capable of aging healthy due to advances in nutrition and medicine. In the United States, according to the Bureau of Census, life expectancy has accelerated. An American born in 1900 could expect to live an average of 47.5 years; one born today could hope to reach 76.
We Filipinos, on the other hand, enjoy an average life expectancy of 71 years.
Everybody wants to live not just longer but healthier lives despite the natural process of aging that wears the body out because it is no longer capable of replenishing damaged cells. This is often apparent among the old who become senile due to declining number of brain cells.
Science has found the reason behind aging. It is now widely known as the free radical theory. Free radicals are chemicals that rob the body of its normal health by depriving the cells of oxygen, in effect triggering diseases, including all forms of cancer. This damage, called oxidation, is comparable to rust-destruction of metals. Therefore, to rise to the age of Methuselah, one should wipe out free radicals.
Fortunately, like all other animals, the human being has an immune system that could produce antioxidants – glutathione and melatonin, for example – to fight free radicals. The older the body, however, the less it is capable of producing them. There is now urgent need for acquiring them from food and food supplements. Among the major food antioxidants that boost the immune system are vitamins A, B, C, D and E, zinc, beta-carotene, ginseng and selenium.
Studies have shown that people with sufficient vitamins E and C have lower risk of heart diseases. Thanks to the ability of these antioxidants to minimize fatty deposits, thus preventing atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries.
Wrong choices of food, on the other hand, may trigger organ malfunction. It is universally accepted, for instance, that too much sugar may damage certain body proteins, notably collagen. Since collagen helps form bones, teeth, skin and tendons, such damage could worsen from tooth decay to arthritis and diabetes. Diabetes is considered “accelerated aging.” (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
