In the world of public health, understanding the timeline of infectious illness is paramount to saving lives and minimizing suffering. In other words, there is an evolution of illness, from an exposure to a latency phase, to symptom development to resolution. It does not take place in a vacuum and some of the ways we fall ill are somewhat predictable. There are numerous tactics to reduce our risks and keep ourselves and our loved ones as safe as possible.

Understanding the risk factors, shifting susceptibility, acting swiftly if exposed and taking up supportive treatments when illness occurs and during recovery, can all favorably impact the course of infectious disease.

As we learned during the pandemic, following public health guidelines helps. Beyond that, there are many places along this timeline, both pre and post-exposure, that are modifiable. We are not strictly passive physical beings with no power against any strongly infectious agent. We have some control in what we do and can take more control with accurate, evidence-based, actionable information. It is also true, that someone can do everything possible, and still fall ill, even gravely ill, but it’s important to appreciate that our bodies are built to fight infection when given the right circumstances and time for healing. Let’s take a closer look.

We each have underlying susceptibility based on our genetic inheritance and a slew of previous environmental exposures, choices, and experiences which brings us to our unique state of health. When there is exposure to a pathogen, we know that not everyone exposed becomes sick. Likewise, expression of the illness, whatever it may be, looks different for different people. Various organ systems may be impacted, to more or less degree. Some might suffer more on the psycho-emotional realm, and overall, the length and severity of symptoms can vary widely. Likewise, some fully recover, some sadly, are left disabled, or worse, some do not make it through. This reflects individual, biochemical response to an offending agent. This is why not everyone gets sick with every exposure to every infectious agent.

Here are a few examples from each part of the timeline.

Let’s start with predisposition, including pre-existing illnesses. We can exemplify this with diabetes. Shown with regard to COVID, but also true for other acute ailments, those with diabetes are both more at risk for acquiring and have worse outcomes when they do fall ill. Research tells us that among adults with diabetes, about 91% have Type II diabetes, which is both preventable and treatable with diet and lifestyle modification. So, if you are someone with Type II diabetes or are pre-diabetic, it’s a perfect time to bring your blood sugars into a more healthy range, through diet, exercise, and other natural medicine approaches.

Similarly, studies have confirmed that Vitamin D deficiency is associated with higher risk for falling ill with both COVID and other acute winter illnesses. More than half the world’s population is Vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D supplementation is inexpensive and carries few side effects. We can impact how often we fall sick by ensuring optimal vitamin D status.

Other integrative and naturopathic medicine approaches make good sense based on an understanding of susceptibility and how this viruses spread. Stress reduction, ensuring adequate sleep, and dietary recommendations related to food and supplementation all play a role. We can positively impact our susceptibility now by addressing underlying medical diagnoses and maximizing lifestyle approaches to support enhanced immunity.

Leaning into the anti-inflammatory diet or the Mediterranean diet helps— as we enter any acute illness, the healthier we are going into it, the better we generally do! Creating or keeping up with your exercise habit is also a top priority!

If you have a viral exposure, is there anything to do to lower your chance of falling sick or becoming severely ill? Some promising developments include using readily available nutritional supplementation:

Studies have shown that the mineral zinc may play an important role. We read, “Zinc may possess protective effect as preventive and adjuvant therapy” during viral infection. This occurs by “reducing inflammation, improvement of mucociliary (the little hairs that help us remove mucous) clearance, prevention of ventilator induced lung injury, and modulation of antiviral and antibacterial immunity.” As with many nutritional and botanical medicine approaches, Zinc is readily available and inexpensive.

Vitamin C and Quercetin (a potent anti-inflammatory,) have been studied and show synergistically “overlapping antiviral and immunomodulatory properties.” Again, it is not hard to find these nutritional supplements and they are not expensive. If you know you’ve been exposed, consider supporting your body’s inherent capacity for healing. Look for chances to rest, to eat well, to continue light exercise, to laugh, all things that help your immune system work best.
Other items to consider includecurcumin derived from turmeric, EGCG from green tea, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), resveratrol, and elderberry.

We have the chance to feel empowered by the fact that we have tools to impact severity of illness each step of the way! If you are looking for individualized, personal recommendations in this area, for yourself or your family, including dietary goals,issues related to exercise and stress management, which all play a part in both prevention and treatment, consider adding a licensed naturopathic doctor to your health care team.

Looking out longer term, many of us know people who have had a viral infection who are now fine. Others have mild symptoms remaining, hearkening back to previously experienced ailments, worsened during their sickness. Yet other people have totally new symptoms unfamiliar to them ranging from mild to severe to life-altering.

There is also concern about the broad impact in previously uncharted psycho-emotional realms related to viral ailments. During COVID times, we saw the stress of social distancing, changes in employment and income, the instability of the times cause or heighten anxiety and depression. Much of this is also true for other viral ailments. There is also evidence that the inflammatory process in some of those who have been ill cause post-viral psycho-emotional symptoms of great concern.

Screening for and making medical and other supportive approaches can help modify long term effect in this area and is an important angle for long-term follow- up. Using conventional medical approaches, physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, psychological screening, and talk therapy alongside naturopathic medicine approaches can all be part of supporting convalescence, healing and recovery.

Lastly, we would do well to pay attention to how public health recommendations potentially impact our long-term health. In other words, choices we are making now impact our future susceptibility to both acute and chronic ailments. For instance, if you spend more time indoors and exposed to secondhand smoke, that is a problem. When your children spend more time sitting passively in front of a screen, that impacts metabolism and more. When you decide that going to the gym is too much of a risk, you may be more sedentary now, which can impact cardiovascular health, bone density, and mental health in years to come. During the COVID years, many people took advantage of time outdoors, but not everyone feels safe outdoors, so we circle back to being more sedentary, having less exposure to the sun, which can lead to further Vitamin D deficiency. Trading off some risks for others is what we all do; being aware and trying to compensate as best we can makes good sense.

We have important tools to impact susceptibility and if we fall ill, we have tools that may well favorably impact the course of illness and recovery.

Photo by Edu Lauton on Unsplash
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