Dr. Tsubokura's Radiation Lecture Vol.136

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura PhD.

Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D.,PhD., Yuki Senoo

271. Regular life rhythm to maintain health

Currently, COVID-19 continues to spread across the country. Since COVID-19 is an infectious disease, it is quite different from radiation, as human contact can spread the virus. Therefore, it is essential to avoid closed or crowded spaces with poor ventilation and close-contact settings to protect yourself and others against the spread of the virus.

For the foreseeable future, various prevention measures such as travel restrictions and lockdowns are expected to be officially announced. The reasons for enacting these preventive measures is that avoiding contact with other people is one of the most crucial and effective methods to reduce the transmission rate of infectious diseases.

On the other hand, when such measures are enacted for a long time, our life rhythm is likely to be disrupted, and we tend to become isolated from society. It is of course important to protect ourselves from infectious diseases, but it is also crucial to maintain healthy lifestyles and protect our mental health.

Even when your outside activities are restricted, it is crucial to have a healthy daily routine, such as opening the window every morning to look outside and trying to wake up and go to sleep at the same time each day.

It is quite natural for us human beings to lose motivation or feel down when our life rhythms change, and it is certainly not because you are weak person. Thanks to technological advancement in recent years, we have many ways to communicate, including telephones, SNS, and letters. In this challenging situation, we need to keep in touch with each other to reduce stress as much as possible.

272. The importance of avoiding disruptions in our daily routines

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading nationwide.

The name “coronavirus” derives from the virus’s shape, which features spikes on its surface that resemble the rays of the sun or the points of a crown. “Corona” is the Latin word for “crown.” The coronavirus family is estimated to cause 20% of common colds. In most cases, symptoms are mild, but infection with the novel coronavirus can easily lead to a life-threatening situation.

Because COVID-19 results from a viral infection, antibiotics (i.e., medication used to treat bacterial infections) are not effective. Therefore, the main way of treating viral infections is to ease symptoms using medicines such as fever reducers, antitussives, and expectorants. For this reason, it is crucial to take careful prevention measures, including washing your hands, gargling after going outside, and avoiding crowded places. Otherwise, when you are exposed to the disease, your only option is to fight it off using your immune system.

Moving forward, restrictions on unnecessary cross-prefectural travel and public gatherings are expected. This situation will likely continue for the long term because avoiding in-person social gatherings is one of the most powerful ways to control the spread of infectious diseases. Although April is the beginning of the academic and fiscal year in Japan, we need everyone’s cooperation to prevent the further spread of the virus.

However, excessive and sudden limitations to your daily routine could lead to the disruption of your physical activity pattern. I hope you can remain healthy without any physical and psychological stress during this challenging time. Please take effective measures against COVID-19 and avoid physical and psychological stress.

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The Japanese version of the manuscript was originally published in Fukushima Minyu, a local newspaper in Fukushima prefecture, Japan, 29th March and 5th April, 2020 was reproduced for MRIC Global under the author's permission.