According to the Lancet, a popular medical journal, in an article published on 3/11/2020, ibuprofen may decrease a person’s ability to effectively fight COVID-19. As information begins to build and more is discovered this is an ever-changing landscape of knowledge.
At this point, if you regularly take ibuprofen switch to acetaminophen. Ibuprofen reduces a person’s ability to fight the disease.
We know that those who are high risk can get sick. Really sick. But who exactly is high risk?
A shocking 40% of the American population meets that definition.
It’s because of our high rates of chronic disease. Americans take more medications than any other country. Those medications can put us at an even greater risk. In the last week, more information has been released on Ibuprofen, and ACE inhibitors, a group of medications used for high blood pressure. It is thought that immune suppressive drugs such as corticosteroids, methotrexate, biologics along with chemotherapeutic drugs also diminish the immune system and increase risk. According to the CDC older people who have chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease are high risk. People on certain medications are high risk. I want to emphasize again that 40% of Americans fall into this category.
The sad part is that these conditions often have a lifestyle base that could have been prevented in the first place if given the right tools and resources.
This disease is killing people with underlying conditions, and in many ways, has sounded the alarm bell for all of us that it is NOT okay to simply “live with chronic disease.”
If anything, this scare has told us that we need to be more proactive with our health. This is a very important point, so don’t miss this…
This crisis has shown me that it cannot be emphasized enough that we all need to take responsibility for our health and the things we can change. And this is so we have the best chance at fighting off infection and having the life we truly want for ourselves.
Stay Safe, keep your eyes up and remember we will figure this out together.
Wishing you Well,
Dr. Purcell
(Catch up on my daily COVID-19 posts HERE)
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