This video aims to provide a framework--and some tentative answers--to several key questions. * Why do the elderly have more severe Covid-19 disease? * But "ill-health" or "weakness", generally speaking, is not a risk. Why is it that patients with specific conditions--lung disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and particularly hypertension--are especially vulnerable? * Why are men are more susceptible to severe Covid-19 disease? * What makes severe Covid-19 disease so dangerous? Why is it more fatal than influenza? * And finally, how is it that SARS-CoV-2 is relatively transmissible, even though high infectivity usually implies low mortality? In short: How does SARS-CoV-2 cause Severe Covid-19 Disease? Hopefully this brief video lends some insight into these questions. Of course, the full answers, which we certainly don't know, are more complex. Multiple--and some unknown--factors are surely involved. But I've tried to summarize things in a coherent, if sobering, framework. The antidote to fear is knowledge. For more videos about medicine (including Covid-19), subscribe to the Mini-MD Youtube channel at: http://bit.ly/3d2tqZf
What causes Severe Covid-19 disease?
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The video was referenced (paragraph 11) in a Daily Kos article by a nurse, Kellen Squire out of Virginia. Thanks to Josh Stanfield for letting me know. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/19/1928803/-The-fatalistic-view-from-an-ER-Nurse-on-what-s-ahead The article is more generally about the challenges facing healthcare professionals in the field.
excellent, will pass this along
There have been reports that anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.) may worsen Covid-19. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/14/anti-inflammatory-drugs-may-aggravate-coronavirus-infection Unlike influenza which instigates a generalized inflammatory response, I don't think that the primary pathology in Covid-19 (at least that which leads to fatality) is inflammation-mediated but rather, as outlined in this video, occurs via (1) direct destruction of Type 2 pneumocytes, leading to ARDS and (2) compromise of cardiovascular (hemodynamic) functions via reduction of ACE2. Hence this framework fits with this realization that anti-inflammatories (which would otherwise have some role in influenza - https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/qa/how-can-nonsteroidal-antiinflammatory-drugs-work-to-treat-a-cold-and-flu) could be counter-productive with Covid-19.
Thank you Ogan! Very helpful.
Ozan Gurel
4y
Great explanation.
Innovation Leader
4yTonight (Tuesday April 7 @ 7:30pm KST) I will be interviewed live on Arirang TV for the "News-In-Depth" coverage of Covid-19 hosted by Jennifer (Connyoung) Moon. https://www.arirang.com/News/News_Index.asp Hope you can tune in!