What Covid Taught Us About Health

The height of the pandemic was brutal. Three years after this all started, leading scientists tell us what hard-learned lessons have stuck when it comes to staying healthy now-and through whatever comes next.

- By Carolyn Todd

RISK MANAGEMENT IS HUGE.

Before the Pandemic, how often did you really think about defending yourself from respiratory bugs? "Most people were shrugging off the risk. Respiratory viruses weren't that big of a thing," says Amesh Adalja, M.D., an infectious-disease physician at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Covid forced us all to take viruses seriously on a daily basis, and it highlighted the power our personal habits-handwashing, masking, getting vaccinated, determining which indoor situations to take the risk on or not-can have over the likelihood of getting sick.

Covid also made it clear that not managing risk had consequences beyond a tough stay in the hospital or, in mild cases, losing a few sick days. One 2022 study found that a person infected with Covid was 33 times as likely to suffer from a first-time arterial blood clot during the first week of infection as someone who had never had the disease.

Respiratory viruses can trigger other real medical emergencies, and these compounding factors can damage major organs and raise your risk of autoimmune conditions. Even relatively mild Covid can cramp your breathing and gym stamina for months.

VITAMIN DISA HEALTH HERO.