Coronavirus Survivors Could Suffer Effects For Year’s

Orleans Parish Coroner, Dr. Dwight McKenna is a COVID-19 survivor. Now more than ever,
there are some things he says you should know about the long term impact. Dr. McKenna says
beating the initial sickness may be just the first of may battles for survivors. He says dealing
with long term effects could be a reality.

Many patients report shortness of breath, fatigue and body pains. Some also struggle with
poor-functioning lungs, heart and liver. Many people depended on their immune systems to go
into overdrive to fight off the infection, in many cases making the damage worse.
Dr. McKenna says recovery and complications are so new that its unclear what percentage of
patients will recover and what the long term consequences will be. Most of the long
term damage could be to the lungs.

It’s important that economies and companies looking to get back to ‘normal’ will need to
understand how the illness impacts health in the long run. What is the duration of the long
term effects?

Researchers have discovered a strong correlation between severe vitamin D deficiency and
mortality rates. Looking at cases around the globe, what seems to kill a majority of patients is
the destruction of lungs followed by a broken down immune system. This is why vitamin D is
critical. Not only does vitamin D enhance our immune systems, it also prevents our
immune systems from becoming dangerously overactive. This means, healthy levels of vitamin
D could protect patients against severe complications, including death, from COVID-19.

It’s hard to say which dose is most beneficial for COVID-19 patients and survivors; however, it
is clear that vitamin D deficiency is harmful and it can be easily addressed with appropriate
supplementation. This might be another key to helping protect vulnerable populations, such as
African-American and elderly patients, who have a prevalence of vitamin D deficiency.