The young healthy people who are dying..

[Whitefeather01]

Do you think that those who died and were said to have been young, fit and healthy with no underlying health issues, probably did have something underlying but didn't know about it?

Or do healthy people really just die from things like this?

I read somewhere that being in contact with Corona doubles your risk of dying in the next 3 months.

If you start off at a tiny number 2x a tiny number is still tiny. If you start out at a high number, it is clearly higher.

However, many people, even in the highest risk groups, do pull through. And, being statistical, doubling your risk from 1/10000 to 2/10000 will kill a few very low risk people in a population of millions.

If you are low risk, you are still low risk. If you were tolerating a higher risj, it has roughly doubled, not become a death sentence.

It's not always easy for someone to "take responsibility". A PP explained how medication and illness caused her weight gain. There's also a high correlation between poverty and obesity. I was struck actually by how much cheaper it would've been to stock up on cheap carbs. I didn't stockpile but I got enough for a few weeks. I could've halved my food bill by buying cheap white bread, pasta, biscuits. Some people comfort eat. It's as much a mental illness for some as not eating is for others. It's not always a lifestyle "choice".

I accept it's unrealistic to shield 60%+ of the population. That horse has bolted. I'd like us to have taken the South Korean approach. We should at least issue clearer advice. Ensure people are fully aware of all conditions that increase your risk including being overweight. Some people are still failing to take it seriously enough because they think it's only a tiny minority at greater risk.

Men are at a far higher risk of dying than women. Should we shield all men then?

And yes there is a very strong correlation in the west with being poor and being fat. There are well researched reasons for that and ways it could be changed on a national level. But easier just to blame the fatties?

China did report that those who smoked or were overweight were more likely to die as well
Perhaps they fell into that category?

Do they know why men are more at risk? Is it a biology thing, genetics, or perhaps lifestyle related?

Do they know why men are more at risk?

define "more" ? Are more men dying of C-19 than would be expected given the sex ratio of other diseases ? Or is it just more men die anyway ?

Is it a biology thing,

it's all biology

genetics

XX, XY - plus the fact that generally men appear to have a less effective immune system than women ?

or perhaps lifestyle related?

Which would have to be something which united male lifestyles across the globe, if it's affecting the figures equally. It's hard to think of anything that might fit the bill apart from masturbation ...

"I heard today talk of young people dying due to an immune overreaction, and it's this rather than the illness itself (bit like sepsis)."

That's still dying from the disease. The old people who die also die of complications of the disease e.g. pneumonia, but it's still because of the disease.

@Wingedharpy @ DarnedSocks
That's worrying about healthy immune system overreacting to the virus

Can it really be that all our efforts to stay healthy will backfire, that would be horrendous

Can it really be that all our efforts to stay healthy will backfire, that would be horrendous

Not everyone .. we haven't got this far to all be wiped out by the same thing ...

I find the dissection of peoples deaths on here so cold. (Oh, well, don’t worry, that one had an underlying health condition. That one was obese. That one probably had a heart condition. Let’s not panic until healthy people are dying.)

These were people and their deaths are not something to use to make yourself feel better about your own likelihood of dying.

Possibly, possibly not. If these people did have unknown underlying conditions, then anyone here could also be walking round with one too. It's so important people aren't lax with the rules thinking they're invincible because they're young.

Some absolute tragic corona stories coming out in the news. The ones I'm reading about NHS doctors/nurses and workers are really making things hit home for me about how important is it we all individually stay at home to try keep healthy and try stop this spreading.

I think most people on here are concerned about rather than dismissive of those at higher risk. I have a close relative with cardiovascular issues and diabetes. They're male too. I agree with you @Purpleclownsuit the othering, the "it's only the elderly and frail" message initially pushed hard by government and media was horrible. Their lives are as valuable as anyone's. It was also highly irresponsible. I don't see it so much on this thread, which highlights exactly how many people are included in the "underlying conditions" category.

@YogaLite we have hope. Several drugs have shown promise and are in advanced stage trials. A vaccine will be available eventually. Being as healthy as you possibly can taking into account your individual circumstances will help. Taking precautions will help. There's only so much any of us can do but all is not lost. It's not in the interest of a virus to kill all its hosts. It needs us for its own survival. The hope, as well as treatments and a vaccine, is it will eventually mutate to a milder form.

The worst case predictions without any intervention is 2 mil deaths out of 60 milllion. With our current intervention 20k deaths. So the human race won’t be wiped out according to scientists! So it’s bad but pls don’t think we will all vanish!

And in the uk 1 million die each year and some will overlap with corona deaths. Road traffic accidents are down. Just saying that to calm anyone feeling rubbish x

So the human race won’t be wiped out according to scientists!

While "not impossible" that isn't something I'd devote any brainpower to. Humans are like cockroaches and some will survive everything.

It may not be quite as we know it know. But it'll be life.

Even if 80 million people die from this worldwide, there will still be the same population on earth as there was a year ago.

The human race has endured many pandemics historically if your ancestors genes got them through those pandemics then we do stand a good chance of surviving this one. It’s only the last 50 years of advances in medicine and surgery that we’ve manage to alter the odds in our favour for old diseases.
There are many people who you know and love who wouldn’t be here without mass vaccination and the amazing drugs available to us.

"That's worrying about healthy immune system overreacting to the virus "

I think that was a big thing with swine flu, but not this one so much. Plenty of younger and middle aged people do end up in hospital though.

@DGRossetti
Humans are like cockroaches and some will survive everything

Thank you, that made me smile on a bad day

I've just read that two young nurses, both in their 30's with young children have died of COVID-19. Its absolutely terrifying and incredibly sad.

Saw an interview last night with an ICU consultant in Wales. He seemed to be saying all their ICU patients are aged from early twenties through fifties. Many of them very fit, I think he said one is fitness professional. He said this virus does not care discrimate based on age and cares very little about underlying conditions.

Here is a link from the government on numbers of deaths:

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19roundup/2020-03-26
The vast majority of deaths involving COVID-19 have been among people aged 65 years and over (100 out of 108), with almost half (45) of these occurring in the over-85 age group.

It also has a report on the financial impact, the younger generation were not in a financial position, no savings, as much as the over 65’s

I do think the media is - quite rightly - sharing some of the stories of younger people dying to shock people into taking this seriously, even though statistically it’s a small number. It’s very sad but if they kept on saying it was only older people / those (like me) with health conditions dying I don’t think younger people would take it seriously and they tend to be the ones who are the “silent spreaders”.

it's about statistics - but because of the ridiculously low number of tests no one knows the exact statistics to quote. however if there are 100,000 old people and people with pre-existing conditions ill, and 20% of them die, that's 20,000 deaths, and meanwhile there's 500,000 younger and healthier people who catch the virus and the vast majority are absolutely fine but 2.5% get it more seriously and die, that is still 12500 deaths of young, fit and healthy people. these numbers are made up to illustrate the maths of why it is perfectly possible to have large numbers of deaths among the young fit and healthy despite it being much more dangerous to older and more vulnerable people. I do not know the actual ratios.