What To Do If You’re Diagnosed with COVID-19?

Understanding inflammation is key to knowing how your body is likely to respond to COVID-19. Here are five things you need to know about it:

1. What is inflammation?

Inflammation is the process by which the body alerts the immune system, letting it know that it needs to heal and repair the body’s tissues or fight an invader.

1. How does inflammation manifest?

There are two kinds of inflammation — acute and chronic.

Acute inflammation is good for us; it is lifesaving. It has an obvious cause which, in the context of this book, is the COVID-19 virus. When your immune system senses danger, it quickly springs into action and tries to kill the virus. (Unless one is immunocompromised or has an impaired immune system.) After killing the virus, the inflammation subsides. This explains why a fair number of people who test positive for COVID-19 are asymptomatic.

When the immune system does not settle down and is always up in arms, it can cause the body’s inflammation to linger for much longer than it should. This is known as chronic inflammation and it seems to be the common denominator in patients with comorbidities, be it obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease or other lifestyle ailments. Chronic inflammation exacerbates the problem of COVID-19. The added assault by the virus further burdens the immune system which is already fighting existing problems.

1. Can inflammation help track the progress of COVID-19?

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a blood test marker for inflammation in the body. This same test, that is used to detect inflammation in the body, is used as a standard protocol for assessing the clinical trajectory of a patient with COVID-19. It is the most important, gold-standard blood test for identifying the severity of illness. Other tests — ferritin, LDH, IL-6, etc. — are all negotiable, and may or may not be done but a CRP test is always done.

1. Can controlling inflammation help expedite recovery and reduce complications of COVID-19?

Yes. Any lifestyle modification that reduces inflammation will help fight COVID-19 and its complications. For e.g., extreme inflammation caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus can cause breathlessness and even pneumonia. Keeping inflammation at its lowest is crucial for a better prognosis and quick recovery.

1. What is the best way to treat chronic inflammation?

Changes in diet and lifestyle can significantly reduce inflammation. This is crucial for both a quick recovery (if you have COVID-19) and to expedite recovery in the wake of any complications that the virus leaves behind in the form of inflammation (if you are a long-hauler).

In my practice of almost two decades, I have seen and helped thousands of patients reverse chronic lifestyle diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, stress, etc. The presence of these comorbidities, all of which have inflammation as a common denominator, is associated with a poor outcome in patients with COVID-19.

I have developed a protocol that will show you how to reduce inflammation and therefore expedite recovery and reduce the chances of complications from COVID-19. My programme is an integrated approach that focuses on reducing inflammation in the entire body, not just targeting one organ/system as most medications do.

This protocol will also work in the event of new strains of the virus emerging.

DoctorVee’s 6-Point Plan covers:

• Diet — High in good fats, medium protein, low carb and no processed food.
• Gut health — Feed the good bacteria, starve the bad ones.
• Sleep — Follow your circadian rhythm and switch off those gadgets.
• Exercise — Take the six-minute walk test to know if your body is ready.
• Stress management — Meditation and correct breathing techniques are powerful tools to alleviate stress.
• Enhanced healing with supplements — vitamins, minerals and other natural supplements can help you fight this virus.

This is a brief outline of the protocol that can be followed to expedite recovery from COVID-19, reduce the chances of post-COVID complications and recover from them. For the complete plan, and an anti-inflammatory sample diet, click here to buy Covid and Post-Covid Recovery: DoctorVee’s 6-Point Plan.

Note: The information and knowledge provided here is for the general education and guidance of the reader. It does not take into account any person’s individual situation and health needs and is not a substitute of the advice given by their doctors/healthcare providers.

About the Book

At a time when COVID-19 has gripped our world, forcing us to frantically search for the best ways to survive and thrive, Dr Vishakha Shivdasani shares her 6-point plan to help us accomplish just that.

Using the same principles of healing that have helped thousands of her patients reverse chronic lifestyle diseases, Dr Shivdasani (popularly known as DoctorVee) has developed a new protocol that will show us how to expedite recovery from COVID-19, reduce the chances of post-COVID complications and recover from them. This protocol also works on new COVID strains that are emerging.

Offering practical strategies that are easy to implement, Covid and Post-Covid Recovery is an essential read.

About the Author

Dr Vishakha Shivdasani (popularly known as DoctorVee) is a medical doctor and award-winning nutritionist. She has treated thousands of patients all over the world for weight management, and helped countless others reverse chronic health problems like diabetes, heart disease and other lifestyle ailments by judiciously combining nutrition and other lifestyle changes with medicine. She has been vice president of South Mumbai’s Medical Association of Doctors. She is a recipient of Vogue’s ‘Nutritionist of the Year’ award and has been named by the magazine as a top ‘Wellness Influencer of India’. She also delivers talks and conducts workshops with corporate managements on health, nutrition and wellness.