[건강]Chronic Diseases, Elderly People, and Immunity Before Corona Vaccination

With the government unveiled the’Corona 19′ vaccination plan in February, it is a very important time for disease management and immunity management of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and elderly patients, whose immunity is less than that of the general public to increase vaccine effectiveness and prevent side effects to be.

The immune system that protects our body from external viruses, toxins, and cancer cells is called innate immunity, and macrophages, NK cells, T cells, B cells, and mononuclear lymphocytes are representative. On the other hand, a vaccine is an’immune memory system’ that can quickly respond when an external virus invades again by remembering innate immune activities such as T cells and B cells through acquired immunity.

The’Corona 19′ vaccine is a way to prevent infection by strengthening acquired immunity while responding by remembering the innate immune activity. Therefore, in order to increase the effectiveness of the acquired immunity vaccine, it is necessary to increase the immunity to activate the immune activity.

“The’Corona 19′ vaccine includes synthetic antigen vaccines, mRNA vaccines, vector vaccines, inactivated vaccines, etc., and these are all treatments that strengthen the immune memory system, that is, acquired immunity,” said H Plus Yangji Hospital, a specialist in circulatory organs. “People with chronic diseases such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes have low immunity and are susceptible to infection and various inflammatory reactions, so they should take the lead in managing chronic diseases along with vaccination,” he said.

◆Elderly and chronically ill patients with high fatality rate after corona 19 infection

The elderly and chronically ill patients are eligible for vaccination because of the high mortality rate during infection. After the virus multiplies in the body, symptoms worsen are various inflammatory reactions, and symptoms appear in various tissues such as lungs, kidneys, heart, liver, and brain. Elderly people with low immunity and chronic diseases are not easy to overcome this inflammatory reaction.

In fact, according to data from the Central Defense Agency as of January 26, the Corona 19 fatality rate (the number of deaths from a disease divided by the number of patients with that disease) is 0% for those in their 20s or younger, but 1.37% in their 60s and 70s. 6.50%, those in their 80s and older, soared to 20.28%.

In addition, most of the deaths from Corona 19 had underlying diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Patients with hypertension have a variety of complications, so care should be taken. High blood pressure overloads the heart and increases the level of inflammation in the blood vessels, causing problems with cellular metabolism.

Therefore, the immunity is lowered and the mortality rate after infection is increased as much as it is susceptible to infection. Some studies show that stroke patients are fatal to the coronavirus.

According to the American Heart Association journal Stroke, the NIHSS (stroke scale developed by the National Institutes of Health) score was surveyed, and as a result of the survey, the’Corona 19′ patient group averaged 19 points, which is much higher than the average patient group’s 8 points. It turned out to be severe. NIHSS is a measurement value used to objectively quantify the disability of a stroke patient. It consists of a total of 11 items, divided into 0-42 points according to symptoms, and 16-20 points are judged as severely ill.

◆ Maintaining immunity through lifestyle improvement and chronic disease management

Vaccination alone cannot be completely free from viruses. In addition, in order to increase the vaccine effect and prevent side effects, chronic disease management and immunity must be enhanced. Chronic disease is difficult to cure once it has occurred. Therefore, prevention is the most important, and even mild symptoms should be diagnosed and treated early.

The most important thing in chronic disease management and immunity is improvement of lifestyle. Eating habits should reduce excess salt intake and reduce animal fat intake. Instead, eat plenty of protein and fresh vegetables. Smoking can increase blood pressure and cause arteriosclerosis and arrhythmia. Regular exercise lowers blood pressure and levels of bad cholesterol. However, for cardio-cerebrovascular patients, excessive exercise may be poisonous, so appropriate exercise is required according to the judgment of the attending physician.

H Plus Yangji Hospital Neurology Specialist Kang Seok-jae said, “If you are an elderly or chronically ill person who is subject to vaccination, you should get vaccination early and try to manage disease and immunity through consistent lifestyle management.” If there is, it is important to have regular check-ups for symptom tracking and observation.”