2024-07-05 20:19:37
Dr. Colas Tcherakian (pulmonologist at Foch Hospital) explains how the synergy of pollutants and irritants increases the risk of infection, especially COVID-19.
TRANSCRIPTION
Hello everyone, today I want to do a rather special math since we will discuss the sum of “Sahara sands + COVID-19”, and in general “the cocktail effect”, this synergistic effect of things you observe are not simple extras that can attack your lungs.
We breathe more than we drink
All the elements in the air will not be a sum of one pollutant + 1 other pollutant, but a synergy of pollutants.
The aspects to keep in mind are:
We generally drink 1 and a half liters of water a day and breathe 15,000 liters of air, or 15 kg of air that enters and leaves our lungs during the day. You can imagine how important it is to have the cleanest air possible.
then, what could be in this air? Many things, like pollen (it’s the season now), mushrooms (you can have some at home in the form of aspergillus, which is a spore that is aggressive to the lungs, at least if you have pre-settled soil) , viruses and bacteria that are nothing more than pollution as well. And there are other types of pollution, especially with NO, volatile organic compounds that can be found in exhaust gas, but also in other substances at home.
whatever happens, all these elements will not be a sum of one pollutant + 1 other, but a synergy of pollutants. And this is something we have realized in recent years.
In fact, there were already assumptions, but today it is very clear that we have elements that show, for example, that when a dust storm occurs in the Sahara there is a peak of COVID-19. You will tell me: “I don’t see the connection between sand and COVID”. In fact, it often feels like we are exposed to COVID (or any other virus), and then we either get sick or not. In fact, we can carry this virus without being sick and it will remain unbroken, attacking the mucosa to be able to penetrate and multiply in the epithelium.
Synergy of pollutants
It has been shown that these exposures to fine particles can trigger infection and that exposure to Saharan dust synergizes with COVID peaks. But it turns out that right now there is dust (since there are storms in the Sahara again) and the peak of COVID. We can therefore imagine that there is an increased activity of the COVID infection and a synergy between the two.
These synergies have also been described for pollen and pollution, this is what we call “pollution”, where the fact of being exposed to certain types of pollution will modify the conformation of the pollen, making them more allergenic or alter the response of the immune system. . And this gives what we call “synergy of pollutants” today, where you see that you can be exposed to a background of dust mites (if you are sensitized), or mold, at home. And add irritants on top of it, whether it’s external pollution, the sandstorm of the Sahara, in short, many things that will add to each other until worse is seen, that is to say a time when the symptoms appear on of respiration. level.
Among the triggering factors we can also have viruses and these elements are not independent of each other. So this reflection I wanted to share with you: “1 + 1 = 2? No, it’s equal to 1! » I think we cannot better summarize the cocktail effect, which is that 1 + 1 does not always make 2, and that there is a real synergy between the different exposures, which are the sum of what goes into your lungs and will interact with each other, and with your immune system and epithelium. So be careful: dust from the Sahara + COVID = a bad combo.
#Sands #Sahara #COVID19 #cocktail #effect