you've heard it said over and over the
novel coronavirus is more likely to
affect the elderly and people with
underlying conditions for the latter
group that might have something to do
with the medication that they're on the
condition itself or their immune system
that's Aamir Khan a national health
service doctor in the UK the Cova 19
coronavirus is a respiratory virus which
means it can invade your respiratory
system affecting how you breathe in
oxygen and get it to your bloodstream
and where the virus targets can explain
why certain conditions are especially
vulnerable
first there's diabetes people with
diabetes have a higher risk of
developing complications from the corona
virus although the vast majority will
suffer mild to moderate symptoms there
is a small proportion that will suffer
severe symptoms and that is higher than
those people who don't have diabetes
diabetes is a condition in which either
the body doesn't produce enough insulin
or the body is resistant to the effects
of insulin insulin is important because
it regulates the amount of sugar in your
blood
high levels of blood sugar over a long
period of time can actually depress your
immune system so it doesn't respond as
quickly to the virus when it enters the
body and it has more time to replicate
get down to your lungs and cause the
problems associated with breathing that
can lead to meeting hospital treatment
if you have diabetes and are worried
about contracting kovat 19 khan says the
best thing to do is to control your
blood sugar as much as possible so your
immune system stays healthy people with
heart conditions should also be
concerned looking at the numbers coming
out of China and other countries we can
see that people with heart conditions
really are at high risk of developing
complications of the first 40 4672
diagnosed kovin 19 cases in China
patients with cardiovascular diseases
had the highest fatality rate at 10.5%
other heart conditions include previous
heart attacks or
when the corona virus enters your body
and gets down to your lungs what it does
is stop the lungs effectively passing
oxygen through into the blood and so the
heart has to work harder to pump that
blood round which has less oxygen in it
and if you have an underlying heart
condition that will put excess strain on
your heart and lead to further
complications finally people with
conditions that involve the lungs like
asthma are also at higher risk of being
affected by coronavirus one of the
organs we know the corona virus goes to
is the lungs it actually attacks the
edges of the lungs and the edges of the
lungs or the alveoli we call them are
actually responsible for much of the gas
exchange with asthma anything that's
foreign or unusual that enters the lungs
often triggers an asthmatic response and
causes the Airways to narrow further and
for you to become wheezy this cause and
effect also applies to people with
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or
COPD a disease that blocks air flow to
the lungs with people with COPD in
particular there's already damage done
there so any further damage will cause
really severe lung problems cancer is
the best thing to do for people who have
either of these conditions is to speak
with your doctor to make sure you're
using your inhaler correctly patients
who have had cancer may also be at
higher risk since some types of cancer
and treatments can weaken immune systems
thus increasing chances of infection
although having an underlying condition
increases your risk of having more
severe complications from coronavirus
most cases are survivable the CDC says
you should seek serious medical
attention if you're experiencing any of
the following symptoms trouble breathing
persistent pain or pressure in the chest
confusion the inability to get up or
blueish lips or face otherwise stay
vigilant by washing your hands cleaning
the surfaces you use daily avoiding
close contact with people and monitoring
your head