Wellness Journal

As we finally emerge from the pandemic with the lifting of lockdown restrictions and the gradual resumption of everyday life, many of us carry mixed feelings on the matter. On the one hand, we greatly anticipate being able to gather again in the physical presence of our family, friends, and colleagues. On the other hand, many of us are also apprehensive about resuming social contact after having been isolated for more than 18 months, and fear contracting Covid or spreading it to our loved ones. Having borne witness to the tragedies wreaked by Covid, of lives lost, and the millions who continue to suffer the devastating consequences of Long-Covid months after first contracting the virus, there are many who now fear human contact, perceiving them as hosts of this invisible threat. Having treated hundreds of Long-Covid patients over the past year at the clinic, I have noticed two groups of patients come through our doors. The first group has Long-Covid, with all the physical pathologies associated with the condition. The second group on the other hand, can be described as being self-diagnosed with the virus, and no doubt suffer from the physical symptoms of fatigue and anxiety. Their anxieties about Covid have been perpetuated by the barrage of negative media headlines, contradictory government communications on the matter, as well as the financial stresses associated with the global economic downturn, resulting in a constriction of their hearts through the tensing of the pericardium, the membrane surrounding the heart, and the hyperactivation of their nervous systems. Tuning into my patients during treatment, I have felt the inextricable link that exists between the brain (central nervous system) and the heart. Stressful events and traumas of a mental and emotional nature result in the constriction and compression of the pericardium, which places mechanical stress on the heart. This can manifest in symptoms such as a sensation of tightness in the chest, chest pains, and tachycardia (fast heart rate). Additionally, with the hyperactivation of the nervous system, the flow of spinal fluid is affected, resulting in cognitive impairment manifesting in symptoms such as brain fog, and impaired speech; we have all experienced being at a loss for words when in a state of fear and anxiety. We often forget about the feedback loop that exists between the heart and the brain; our emotions affect our thoughts, and vice versa. The inseparability of both organs is established in utero; the heart develops in close conjunction with the brain, and descends afterwards, but the link between both organs still remains. In many of these patients, this hyperactivation has resulted in a state of dysautonomia, which is a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Dysautonomia is prevalent amongst my Long-Covid patients too, and is associated with symptoms such as fatigue, frequent vague but disturbing aches and pains, tachycardia, dizziness and faintness, hypotension (low blood pressure), poor exercise tolerance, numbing and tingling sensations, blurred vision, gastrointestinal symptoms, anxiety, and depression. The autonomic nervous system controls all the involuntary functions in our body such as heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and the dilation and contraction of key blood vessels and airways in our lungs called bronchioles. It can be split into two branches; the sympathetic nervous system, better known as the fight-or-flight response, and the parasympathetic nervous system, better known as the rest-and-digest response.   Sympathetic Nervous System   The sympathetic nervous system is activated in response to perceived threats in our surroundings, and was developed as an evolutionary response to help our ancestors survive in the face of life threatening situations by enabling them to react quickly to threats and to garner the physical resource to fight off or flee from threats such as a fearsome tiger or warring tribes. When we experience a stressful event or encounter a dangerous situation, our eyes and ears send this sensory input to a primitive area of our brain responsible for emotional processing known as the amygdala, which interprets these images and sounds and immediately sends out a distress signal to the hypothalamus, our brain’s command centre. This process happens instantaneously beneath the level of our conscious awareness and is what enables us to react with the speed necessary to ensure our survival; for example, when we instinctively jump away from an oncoming vehicle before our minds have the chance to process what is happening. This immediate response is known as the amygdala hijack, as it bypasses our frontal lobes, which form part of the cerebral cortex; this newer, rational part of our brain is where logical thinking, reasoning, and decision-making takes place. Upon receiving the distress signal, our hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system by sending signals to our adrenal glands which respond by pumping adrenaline into our bloodstream. The circulation of adrenaline in our bloodstream brings about various physiological changes. Our heart begins to beat faster and the blood vessels in large muscles dilate, while blood vessels in the rest of the body in areas such as our digestive and reproductive organs constrict. The functioning of these systems require significant energy resources and are not a priority when we are faced with an existential threat, so the body redirects their blood flow to other areas of our body. Blood flow to our muscles is promoted and causes our heart rate and blood pressure to increase. Our pupils dilate so we can take in more visual cues from our surroundings and respond to them. We begin to breathe more rapidly, and our bronchioles dilate so our body can receive more oxygen. Adrenaline also triggers the release of blood sugar from our liver and other storage sites in our body. The increase in oxygen and blood sugar availability results in more energy being produced by our body via the process of cellular respiration. After the initial surge in adrenaline subsides, if the brain continues to perceive danger, the hypothalamus then releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which travels to the pituitary gland, triggering the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH then travels