The name comes from the Latin word “corona”, which means “crown” or “halo”, and refers to the shape of the virus particle when viewed under a microscope.
“Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people,” the WHO says.
Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), kidney failure and even death, it adds.
But what is this Covid-19 being referred to everywhere?
It’s the disease caused by a “novel coronavirus” which originated in Wuhan, China.
According to the WHO, the responsibility for naming diseases falls with the organisation itself and “are named to enable discussion on disease prevention, spread, transmissibility, severity and treatment”.
What could cause confusion is that viruses and the diseases they cause often have different names. More familiar examples of this would be HIV – the virus, which causes the disease Aids, and rubeola – the virus, that causes measles.
So what is the name of this new coronavirus?
On the same day that the disease was named, the “novel coronavirus” was given a name, by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV).
According to the WHO, “there are different processes, and purposes, for naming viruses and diseases.
“Viruses are named based on their genetic structure to facilitate the development of diagnostic tests, vaccines and medicines.”
They add that virologists and the wider scientific community do this work, so viruses are named by the ICTV.
The virus was named “severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2” – or SARS-CoV-2.
The WHO stresses that while the SARS CoV-2 and SARS-Cov (the major outbreak in 2003) are genetically related, they are different.
So why are we not calling the virus by its name SARS-CoV-2?
The WHO says that “from a risk communications perspective, using the name SARS can have unintended consequences in terms of creating unnecessary fear for some populations, especially in Asia which was worst affected by the SARS outbreak in 2003”.
It says it refers to the virus carefully as “the virus responsible for Covid-19” or “the Covid-19 virus” in communications.
But, it stresses, that these terms are not meant to replace the official name.
Since news of the new coronavirus broke early January, cases have escalated worldwide. And as news broke of South Africa’s first confirmed case, along with other cases in sub-Saharan Africa, two South Africans on a cruise ship in Japan, and 151 South Africans living in Wuhan who are about to be evacuated back to South Africa, the impact is being felt closer to home.
But in a time of sensational news headlines and increasing numbers of infections worldwide, it’s important to go back to basics. Here are the answers to the most common questions:
Diarrhoea (not as common but reported in 3.7% of cases)
2. If it starts off mild, why do people die?
While about 80% of people suffer mild cases, older people (over 60) and those with underlying conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, heart conditions or pre-existing lung conditions are more likely to become severely ill and die from respiratory failure.
3. Will I get it?
The WHO reports that your risk depends on where you live or where you have travelled to recently, as the risk is higher in areas where numbers of people have already been diagnosed with the coronavirus.
So, if you are currently in South Africa and haven’t travelled to affected areas, your risk remains low.
4. How do I prevent it?
And what if indeed you are traveling to or living in an affected area? The best way to prevent it is to practice proper hygiene. That means going back to basics and regularly washing your hands thoroughly with soap, or an alcohol sanitiser. Cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow.
Also refrain from touching your face and eyes with unwashed hands.
If you are currently wondering about the effectiveness of masks, the WHO states that only those who are already coughing and sneezing, or taking care of others who are coughing and sneezing, should wear a mask.
5. What if I get it?
If you have travelled to an affected area recently or have been in close contact with someone who has travelled to an affected area, go and see a doctor immediately if you experience any symptoms, however mild.
Since news of the new coronavirus broke early January, cases have escalated worldwide. And as news broke of the first sub-Saharan case identified in Nigeria, two South Africans on a cruise ship in Japan, and 151 South Africans living in Wuhan who are about to be evacuated back to South Africa, the impact is being felt closer to home.
But in a time of sensational news headlines and increasing numbers of infections worldwide, it’s important to go back to basics. Here are the answers to the most common questions:
1. What are the first symptoms?
These are the most common symptoms listed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) most likely to be experienced first:
Fever
Fatigue
Dry cough
Other symptoms may include:
Muscle aches
Nasal congestion
Sore throat
Diarrhoea (not as common but reported in 3.7% of cases)
2. If it starts off mild, why do people die?
While about 80% of people suffer mild cases, older people (over 60) and those with underlying conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, heart conditions or pre-existing lung conditions are more likely to become severely ill and die from respiratory failure.
3. Will I get it?
The WHO reports that your risk depends on where you live or where you have travelled to recently, as the risk is higher in areas where numbers of people have already been diagnosed with the coronavirus.
So, if you are currently in South Africa and haven’t travelled to affected areas, your risk remains low.
4. How do I prevent it?
And what if indeed you are traveling to or living in an affected area? The best way to prevent it is to practice proper hygiene. That means going back to basics and regularly washing your hands thoroughly with soap, or an alcohol sanitiser. Cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow.
Also refrain from touching your face and eyes with unwashed hands.
If you are currently wondering about the effectiveness of masks, the WHO states that only those who are already coughing and sneezing, or taking care of others who are coughing and sneezing, should wear a mask.
5. What if I get it?
If you have travelled to an affected area recently or have been in close contact with someone who has travelled to an affected area, go and see a doctor immediately if you experience any symptoms, however mild.
Little ones who stay up late may have a higher risk of becoming overweight by the time they are school-age, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that young children who routinely got to sleep after 9pm tended to gain more body fat between the ages of two and six. Compared with kids who had earlier bedtimes, they had bigger increases in both waist size and body mass index (BMI) – an estimate of body fat based on height and weight.
The findings do not prove that later bedtimes cause excess weight gain, said Dr Nicole Glaser, who wrote a commentary accompanying the study, which was published online in Pediatrics.
But the report adds to evidence linking sleep habits to kids’ weight, according to Glaser, a paediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, Davis.
“At this point, I think it’s clear that there is a relationship between [sleep quality and obesity risk],” Glaser said. “The big question is whether the relationship is a causal one.”
Dr Claude Marcus, senior researcher on the study, agreed. “The causality is difficult to establish,” he said.
Kids’ sleep habits do not exist in a vacuum, and it’s possible that other factors cause both late bedtimes and greater weight gain, said Marcus, a professor of paediatrics at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
For example, it’s possible that kids who stay up late are eating more at night, or that their parents put fewer limits on them in general, he said.
Marcus also pointed to stress, which could feed both poor sleep and overeating.
It’s “certainly possible,” she said, that poorer sleep alters young children’s metabolism – or behaviour, like physical activity during the day.
But, Glaser added, “It’s equally possible that the association between sleep patterns and obesity simply reflects the fact that similar brain centres are involved in modulating both.”
The findings are based on 107 young children who were part of an obesity prevention project. Sixty-four had overweight or obese parents, so they were considered at high risk for excessive weight gain.
Between the ages of two and six, kids’ sleep habits were recorded for one week each year, with the help of a wrist device that monitors activity.
On average, the study found, children who routinely went to bed after 9pm showed somewhat greater gains in BMI and waist size over the years. The link was independent of total time asleep, and it remained even after the researchers accounted for factors like kids’ exercise habits and “screen time”, and parents’ education levels.
Earlier bedtime a good idea
The connection was stronger among children whose parents were obese. Their waist size grew by an average of 3.5cm more, compared to kids with earlier bedtimes and average-weight parents, the findings showed.
The researchers said that might mean late bedtimes made it more likely that high-risk kids would gain extra weight. Or late bedtimes may simply be part of a general lifestyle that promotes obesity.
But while the cause-and-effect question remains unanswered, the message for parents may still be straightforward.
“An earlier bedtime for kids is absolutely a good idea,” Glaser said. Whether that promotes a healthier weight or not, she noted, there are other benefits, including well-rested kids and parents.
Good sleeping habits
“Parents can have some much needed quiet time and time together to recharge the batteries, so they can have more energy for their kids the next day,” she said.
Marcus said sleep should be seen as an important element of a healthy lifestyle, along with diet and exercise.
“A well-organised life with good sleeping habits may be of importance, whether it is directly affecting weight or if it is a marker of living habits in general,” he said.
Kids, like adults, do vary in how much sleep they need, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. In general, the group recommends toddlers get 11 to 14 hours of sleep each day (naps included), while three- to five-year-olds should get 10 to 13 hours.
Listen up, guys: A healthy diet is good for your brain and heart, and also your sperm, new research suggests.
In a study of more than 2 900 Danish men, median age 19, those whose diet was rich in fish, chicken, vegetables, fruit and water had higher sperm counts than those who ate a “Western” diet rich in pizza, French fries, processed and red meats, snacks, refined grains, sugary beverages and sweets, researchers found.
“Because following a generally healthy diet pattern is a modifiable behaviour, our results suggest the possibility of using dietary intervention as a possible approach to improve sperm quality of men in reproductive age,” said lead study author Feiby Nassan. She’s a postdoctoral research associate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston.
Sperm count can affect fertility because the lower the count, the lower the chance of getting a partner pregnant. “It may be useful for men’s fertility to follow a generally healthy diet,” Nassan said.
Room for error
For the study, her team compared sperm counts among men who ate a healthy diet; a Western diet; a Danish diet rich in cold processed meats, whole grains, mayonnaise, cold fish, condiments and dairy; and a vegetarian-style diet rich in vegetables, soy milk and eggs, but no red meats or chicken.
Median sperm counts were highest among men who ate a healthy diet (167 million), followed by the vegetarian-style diet (151 million) and the Danish diet (146 million). (Median means half had higher counts, half lower.)
Men who followed a Western diet had the lowest median sperm count (122 million). They also had lower levels of some sex hormones that boost fertility, the investigators found.
Because men self-reported their eating habits, there is room for error and the findings could be skewed, the researchers said.
Dr Christine Mullin, chief of fertility at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, reviewed the findings.
Important study to repeat
Mullin said that while many diets improve inflammation, heart and mental health, studies of dietary effects on fertility have been limited.
“It is well known that environmental effects of smoking, radiation, pesticides and heavy metals negatively affect spermatogenesis, but little is known on dietary effects on sperm quality,” she said.
While these findings from Danish men may not apply to other populations, Mullin suggested it would be an important study to repeat in the United States, as the Western diet had the most negative effects on sperm quality.
“If we could emphasise diet not only for women, but also for men in regard to fertility success, then we could improve the disease in a similar fashion that diet has improved cardiac health,” she said.
The report was published online in JAMA Network Open.
Midwifery is an old profession, but certainly not a redundant one. These medical professionals are responsible for not just one life, but two.
It takes dedication and passion to be a good midwife. Acting as a medical professional, cheerleader, and trusted advisor, a midwife must advocate for the best and safest birthing method for each one of their patients. Yet, some argue their importance in the health sector is overlooked and the profession is often neglected.
Being part of a miracle
“Many people haven’t a clue what the role of a midwife is,” says Louette Maccallum, a midwife with an estimated 5 000 births under her belt.
She describes the profession she has immersed herself in for the last 34 years with a sense of reverence. “I get to be part of a miracle with every birth I attend. To be able to assist women in their most vulnerable moments… and then to observe the transition from woman to mother and man to father and the joy in the moment of bringing their child into the world is the most beautiful thing to behold.
“You need to be passionate, caring, compassionate, patient, and be willing to work day or night or both sometimes, with long hours and lots of physical work,” Maccallum says. Regardless of whether they have to conduct their duties in the cheerful daylight hours or in the muted darker hours, midwives play a vital part in the healthcare system. “Midwifery, where care includes proven interventions for maternal and newborn health as well as for family planning could avert over 80% of all maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths,” the World Health Organisation (WHO) states in their 2020 campaign to honour nurses and midwives.
The core of maternal health
“Midwifery is the core of maternal health. If you strengthen midwifery in your country, then you are going to see healthy future generations,” says Dr Margreet Wibbelink, a midwife and current general manager at the organisation Sensitive Midwifery.
Midwives have these skills because they have been medically trained to monitor pregnant women and their babies through the entire duration of the pregnancy. According to Wibbelink, midwives are expected to care for expectant mothers from the start.
“For the first visit, you will do the full examination, and ask all the (necessary) questions about the woman’s health, her medical history, and menstruation,” she says. “You are already screening her to see whether she is a low-risk (pregnancy) or if there are any red flags.”
They will also conduct the necessary blood tests and confirm how far along the pregnancy is. From this first visit, the midwife begins a journey with the expectant mother. In the public health sector, this journey is likely to take place in a Midwife Obstetric Unit. “During the pregnancy they have regular consultation visits, where you do the blood pressure check, check the growth of the baby, check if the mom is well nourished, and her iron levels are fine,” Wibbelink says.
“Because there is so much change (happening) in their bodies, they often have lots of questions,” she says. “You will answer them, and in that process, you are making them ready and empowering them for what’s ahead.” According to Colleen Frost, a former midwife, one of the best parts of the job was the relationships she built with patients. “They would then open up about many things. I’m not a counsellor, but I’m able to listen and to be empathetic towards them,” she says.
Power struggles
Midwives also work closely with obstetricians according to Wibbelink, and in the case of a complication or a high-risk pregnancy the doctor will be able to step in and perform a Caesarean-section. However, she cautions that in the private sector, there is currently a power struggle between obstetricians and midwives.
“The doctors do all the antenatal check-ups, and the birth. The midwives monitor the women but under the doctor’s guidance. They are not independent practitioners. They have given massive territory to the doctors, who are ruling the whole pregnancy sphere,” Wibbelink says.
Maccallum, who is currently working as an independent midwife, has seen this struggle too. “In the private hospital sector midwives have become carers and assistants. They are not operating in their full capacity. They look after women in labour and monitor the progress but no longer do hands-on births,” she says.
‘Old-fashioned’ vs. ‘modern’ medicine
According to Wibbelink this power struggle comes down to the notion that natural birth is old-fashioned and unnecessary, while modern medicine gives a safer and more convenient alternative in the form of interventions like Caesarean-sections and inducing labour. By extension, midwives could be seen as old-fashioned as well. However, anyone entertaining this notion will quickly be set straight by Wibbelink. “It’s not an old-fashioned thing,” she says emphatically.
According to Wibbelink, the drive towards medicalisation and interventions is slowly being tempered by the realisation “that all these shiny interventions are not good for us”. As recently pointed out on the website AfricaCheck, the WHO previously recommended that caesarean rates should range between 10 and 15% but this recommendation was revised in 2014. Currently the WHO does not recommend an ideal caesarean section rate.
In comparison, South Africa’s rate of caesarean-sections seems relatively high.
According to the District Health Barometer 2015/2016, the national average for Caesarean-sections in the public sector was 26.2%. Rates appear to be even higher in the private sector. A 2012 study published in the British Journal of Midwifery, that focused on delivery methods used in the South African private sector, estimates that the rate is as high as 70%. While a more recent number from a single medical aid scheme, Discovery Health, indicates that the C-section rate among scheme members had risen to 74%, according to The Business Insider.
These high rates do not come without consequences, according to Wibbelink. She says that unnecessary interventions can cause set-backs for the newborn, as some babies are born slightly prematurely, as well as difficulties with bonding between mother and child, breastfeeding and a longer recovery time. According to the WHO report: “Caesarean sections are effective in saving maternal and infant lives, but only when they are required for medically indicated reasons…
At population level, Caesarean section rates higher than 10% are not associated with reductions in maternal and newborn mortality rates,” the report states. The report further cautions that more research is needed into the exact effect that high C-section rates can have on health, and states that this method of delivery can cause complications. However, it does not specify the exact nature of these complications.
Journey to becoming a midwife
In order to become a midwife in South Africa, a person will need to undergo at least four years of training, according to a 2017 case study by the African Institute of Health & Leadership Development, regarding nursing and midwifery in South Africa. Midwives who were educated in South Africa, like Maccallum, are required to train to become registered nurses first, normally a three-year course, and then study for another year to get a second qualification in midwifery.
While some institutions, according to the case study, teach midwifery as part of a four year nursing degree, Maccallum started out as a general nurse in Neurology at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. Four years later she started her studies in midwifery at the B.G. Alexander College in Johannesburg. There, she fell in love with midwifery. “I just loved it so much and became so passionate about it that I stayed in midwifery since,” she says.
According to Senior Manager for Education and Training at the South African Nursing Council (SANC), SJ Nxumalo, the reason South Africa’s path to midwifery is different to that of some other countries like the Netherlands which have a direct qualification for midwifery, is due to the demands of the public health sector.
“A nurse who is allocated in rural areas must be competent in providing comprehensive nursing, including midwifery services, in order to deal with the different needs of patients,” she explains. She adds that “each individual nurse must be comprehensively trained in order to deal with the quadruple burden of disease (that comes with midwifery)”.
In order to qualify as a midwife, an individual is expected to complete 1 000 clinical hours, according to Nxumalo. She further explains that during this time students will be expected to spend 60 of those hours in an antenatal clinic or department. They will also be expected to work with at least 30 pregnant women, who they will examine under supervision. The aspiring midwives will then witness five births before they are allowed to deliver any babies themselves.
The first birth
Frost, who obtained her qualification in 2001, still remembers the first birth she witnessed. “I remember that very well,” she laughs when asked to recall this experience.
“You don’t expect to smell those smells or see that amount of blood. Everyone thinks that it is like what you see on the television.” Frost pauses. “It’s definitely not like that. I remember feeling so dizzy,” she adds. “The smells and everything were completely foreign. I wanted to faint!” Once the student midwives have got through the required five births, they start the practical aspect of their training. For this, according to Nxumalo, they need to deliver 15 babies and do 15 internal examinations.
According to Nxumalo, student midwives during this time are also taught “breathing and relaxation techniques, antenatal exercises, post-natal exercises and performing episiotomies” (an incision made in the opening of the vagina during a difficult delivery). She further adds that once qualified the student will be able to “suture or stitch first and second-degree tears of the perineum and of episiotomies and administer local anaesthetic”. Nxumalo says depending on where they are working, a midwife can be expected to fulfil the duties of both nurse and midwife.
Is the training sufficient?
Although 1 000 clinical hours and 15 deliveries may seem like a lot, Wibbelink doesn’t think that this is sufficient to train midwives properly. “International standard says you need to have done at least 40 births,” she says.
Wibbelink has been conducting research for her PhD about the perceptions of midwives in the public sector. Within this research she claims to have encountered a similar concern among these midwives who state that “the new midwives are not skilled, not competent and lack practical training”. In addition, they also have to cope with the challenges in the public health sector. “There is a massive shortage of staff, and a lack of motivated midwives… There are things like the lack of resources, especially in rural areas. They battle with bad roads, ambulances that come too late, blood products that are not arriving. They’ve really got the worst end (of the bargain). Moms are dying unnecessarily under their hands.”
Very traumatising
Losing a patient, whether it is the mother or the baby, can haunt a midwife long after the death occurred. According to Frost, the patients that she remembers most are the ones who lost their babies. “I can still see some of their faces,” she says lowering her voice. “When they lose their babies in the form of a stillbirth, they still have to go through the normal birth process. There’s no joy in that. That I remember quite vividly.” Frost explains: “We then have to wrap that (stillborn) baby for the undertaker to collect the body… It’s very traumatizing.”
According to Maccallum, conditions in the public health sector are horrific, and have led to traumatised and drained midwives. “These midwives are exhausted and in need of emotional support themselves. They are heroes,” she adds.
This article was produced by Spotlight – health journalism in the public interest.
The coronavirus should have everyone’s attention by now, health experts say. And people with heart disease have extra reasons to be alert.
Covid-19, which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, has sickened tens of thousands of people and killed hundreds around the globe.
On Tuesday, Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said its spread in the United States seemed certain.
“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” she told reporters during a news conference.
For people with underlying heart issues, the concerns are serious enough that the American College of Cardiology issued a bulletin this month to warn patients about the potential increased risk and to encourage “additional, reasonable precautions.”
Based on early reports, 40% of hospitalised Covid-19 patients had cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease (which refers to blood flow in the brain, such as stroke), according to the bulletin.
“That statistic doesn’t mean people with heart disease are more likely to contract the coronavirus,” said Orly Vardeny, associate professor of medicine at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System and University of Minnesota. “It just means that those folks are more likely to have complications once they do get it.”
Vardeny, an adviser on the ACC bulletin, said the virus could affect heart disease patients in several ways.
The virus’s main target is the lungs. But that could affect the heart, especially a diseased heart, which has to work harder to get oxygenated blood throughout the body, she said. “In general, you can think of it as something that is taxing the system as a whole.”
That could exacerbate problems for someone with heart failure, where the heart is already having problems pumping efficiently.
Someone with an underlying heart issue also might have a less robust immune system. People’s immune systems weaken as they age, Vardeny said. And “in those with chronic medical conditions, the body’s immune response is not as strong a response when exposed to viruses”
If such a person catches a virus, she said it’s likely to stick around and cause complications.
A virus also may pose a special risk for people who have the fatty buildup known as plaque in their arteries, Vardeny said. Evidence indicates similar viral illnesses can destabilize these plaques, potentially resulting in the blockage of an artery feeding blood to the heart, putting patients at risk of heart attack.
Stay at home if you’re sick
Vardeny emphasised that information about Covid-19 is changing almost hourly. But previous coronaviruses, such as SARS and MERS, offer insight. They were linked to problems such as inflammation of the heart muscle, heart attack and rapid-onset heart failure, the ACC bulletin said.
Covid-19 also has similarities to influenza, Vardeny said. At the moment, she said, “We don’t think the actual risk is any higher per se. It’s just that the spread is quicker.” And unlike the flu, there’s no vaccine.
Covid-19 numbers change rapidly. The World Health Organization reported the fatality rate from the illness was between 2% and 4% in Wuhan, and 0.7% outside Wuhan.
By comparison, as of mid-February, the CDC estimated there had been at least 29 million flu illnesses, 280 000 hospitalisations and 16 000 deaths from it in the United States this season.
Many of the same precautions that work against the flu should be helpful against Covid-19, Vardeny said, because it appears to spread the same way – through droplets in the air when someone coughs or sneezes.
For now, she suggests people defend themselves by hand-washing, keeping surfaces clean and avoiding travel to areas with outbreaks.
The ACC bulletin recommends people with cardiovascular disease stay up to date with vaccinations, including for pneumonia. The ACC also supports getting a flu shot to prevent another source of fever, which could potentially be confused with the coronavirus infection.
In the news conference, Messonnier summed up her advice as, “Stay home if you’re sick; cover your cough; wash your hands.”
She also warned that people need to prepare for the possibility of closures of work, school and more.
“I understand this whole situation may seem overwhelming and that disruption to everyday life may be severe,” she said. “But these are things that people need to start thinking about now.”
Typical conditions on board cruise ships – how air conditioning systems mix outside air with the inside air to save energy – probably contributed to passengers aboard the Diamond Princess contracting the new coronavirus, an expert says.
Typical conditions on board cruise ships – how air conditioning systems mix outside air with the inside air to save energy – probably contributed to passengers aboard the Diamond Princess contracting the new coronavirus, an expert says.
It’s an act of love, but sometimes it entails exhaustion, frustration, anxiety and depression. Caregiver stress, the physical and emotional strain of caring for a loved one with a disability or health problem, can endanger your own health and place the person you care for at risk too.
According to a recent study by the American Psychological Association, many caregivers neglect their own health, particularly by not having health insurance, or putting off important health services due to cost.
“Caregivers provide tremendous benefits for their loved ones, yet they may themselves be at risk for lacking access to needed services which puts their health in jeopardy,” said Jacob Bentley, PhD, of Seattle Pacific University, co-author of the study.
In the study, published in the journal Rehabilitation Psychology, Bentley explains that they found that caregivers were more likely not to have health care coverage or forgo needed medical appointments and services. Even more concerning is that they were also increased risk for experiencing depression in their lifetime.
Coping without support services
The study excluded professional caregivers, and took a close look solely at those who provide care to family and friends instead. It used data from more than 24 000 people who participated in the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System annual phone survey conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Up to eight hours per week went into providing care, which included typical household tasks such as cleaning and cooking. However, the majority of the participants felt that they did not need support services, such as support groups or individual counselling. This indicates that additional research into alternative support services that are prioritised by caregivers is needed, said Bentley.
Neglected healthcare
Caregivers were reported to have:
A 26% higher risk of not having health care coverage, compared with non-caregivers.
A significantly higher risk for not going to the doctor or accessing a necessary health service due to cost.
One-fourth of the caregivers reported that they had been diagnosed with a depressive disorder by a health care provider at some point during their lives, further representing a 36% increased risk over non-caregivers.
The disparities could be due to financial constraints that caregivers face, said Bentley and his colleagues, as caregivers’ duties often means sacrificing their financial security in the process as seeking employment outside the home, or advancing their careers is unlikely.
The discovery should serve as evidence for policymakers to focus on public health agendas, said the researchers, “because they have the power to develop policies aimed at reducing financial burdens and health care service gaps among caregivers who are vital not only to those in our communities who need care, but also to our overall health care economy”.
A 2017 study that looked at the experiences of South African family caregivers caring for cancer patients found that participants were overwhelmed with their care responsibilities, which were particularly aggravated by poverty.
Some reported feeling “emotionally broken and alone” in their journey of caregiving, and felt like their lives had been put on hold in that they often ended up neglecting normal activities and relationships with their partners or children in order to take care of the sick person.
Managing caregiver burnout
If you think your health may be taking a toll on your caregiving, Caregiver Stress has the following tips to help you identify whether it’s time you sought help:
Do you easily feel irritable or angry?
Do you often cry unexpectedly, or have dramatic mood swings?
Do you have trouble falling and staying asleep?
Have you recently gained or lost weight?
Is it hard to concentrate when performing mental tasks?
Have you developed high blood pressure?
Do you feel socially isolated, like nobody understands?
If you answered “yes” to the majority of these questions, it could be a signal that you shouldn’t put your own health on hold. Eating healthily, being active, and joining a caregiver support group, either in your own community or online are some of the things you can do to ease your frustration and stress.
