Often, when we lament the loss of an important person in our lives, whether this is a family member, someone we know or a well-known public figure/actor, the line goes something like this: “Gone, but not forgotten”.
Today, I am turning this statement in reverse: “Forgotten, but not gone”. And what I am referring to: Covid infections. Over the past several weeks, I am witnessing in my medical practice a jump in the number of Covid cases we are seeing/treating.
The good news: The levels of “sickness” is not as high as when the pandemic hit us several years ago. We certainly are not hearing about ventilator shortages, ICUs overrun with patients, thousands of people dying etc. There are several reasons why the extent of illness has lessened, with immunizations and “herd immunity” probably playing some roles.
The bad news: The Covid infections we are seeing now appear to be indiscriminate/independent of vaccination status. We are seeing many patients that have had vaccinations, boosters etc but are still presenting with new Covid infections.
I have written previously about “Covid Fatigue Syndrome”, referring to the concept that we all sort of fed up with Covid, masks, debates/fights about immunizations, politics becoming involved, etc etc. We are all sort of “done” and want to resume all of our regular activities, including attending shows, parties, traveling etc. We do NOT want to hear anything more Covid and pandemics.
There are still many controversies surrounding Covid but one issue that is not debatable: The major risk factors for developing severe Covid illness, aside from age, mostly revolve around weight-related co-morbidities such as diabetes, heart disease and altered immune functions caused by poor weight control.
We are trying desperately to forget about Covid, but please do not make the mistake of thinking it is “gone”. Please use the fear/respect of how a severe Covid infection can wreck our lives as yet another motivation to stay steadfast in our weight control efforts.
And for any Country and Western fans out there, here is Brantley Gilbert singing “ Gone But Not Forgotten”.