"); Skip to main content

Natural Awakenings NYC & Long Island

Chicken Little or Captain Oblivious?

By Michael Biamonte

In his first inaugural address to our nation, Franklin D. Roosevelt stated, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” I’m concerned that this coronavirus situation has stirred up more fear and anxiety than is helpful. Obviously, our government wants us to be concerned, to do our best to protect ourselves and others through sanitary practices and social distancing. It doesn’t want to instill fear in the public—just awareness and caution. 

But the sad truth of the matter is that we still don’t know all the facts, and we are making some decisions for our nation that will likely take decades for us to recover from. And this is the president’s concern, that “the cure isn't greater than the problem itself.”

From one extreme, we hear that this virus is more virulent and contagious than anything we’ve seen in more than 100 years. It’s sweeping through the world at a record pace, taking out the elderly, diabetics, immunosuppressed people, even young people. The potential is a 50 to 80 percent infection rate, with a still-unknown mortality rate. Wow! That’s enough to make anyone panic.

From the other, we have naysayers arguing that this virus is no different than any other flu—that it’s no more deadly or contagious, and that it will run its course just like every other virus. They say there’s been a complete overreaction based on fear tactics, along with some underlying political and economic incentives, which will cost us more in lives and economic problems than the virus will ever come close to. One fact they offer is that a mere 1 percent increase in unemployment equates to more than 30,000 deaths from depression, substance abuse, and suicide resulting from lost wages and insecurity about the future.

The Facts That Matter Now

So what’s the real truth? No one knows for sure, but as new facts and details emerge, it appears to lie somewhere in the middle. Even with all the numbers and statistics coming in, we should be careful not to be led astray by false conclusions. For example, we can’t compare the effects of coronavirus on Italy, which has had an abnormally high incidence of deaths, to the effects on New York or California, where people tend to be healthier and smokeless, and where there are better healthcare facilities.

My point is, statistics can be manipulated to distort the facts. Hold on to your common sense. When numbers don’t make sense, or you see remarkably different numbers from different countries, keep in mind that there are other factors at work. We need to look at the whole picture. 

Perhaps people are right when they say that Chinese officials weren’t completely honest with us and this virus is much more difficult to contain than they were letting on. Perhaps this is a manmade virus or even a mutated virus that was activated through 5G (China is the leader in this EMF technology). Or perhaps this is just a normal mutated virus—something that happens in nature fairly regularly, and that we will adapt to and overcome. 

Perhaps for the future, knowing the facts behind the virus’s origins will be important. But for now, what does it matter? The virus is here. It’s real, and we have to deal with it.

Let me offer some facts that are useful to us right now. Research has shown that the people most vulnerable to coronavirus so far have tended to fit into one or more of the following categories:

  • They were overweight.

  • They were prediabetic or diabetic.

  • They had a cardiovascular condition.

  • They had a lung condition.

  • They had a compromised immune system.

  • They were elderly.

Our health is our biggest asset, and only we are responsible for it. Don’t wait until it’s too late to make the lifestyle and dietary changes to get your health and youth back.

At The Biamonte Center for Clinical Nutrition, a multidisciplinary clinic with an M.D. and a clinical nutritionist, we have more than 60 years of combined expertise treating all types of chronic health conditions. We offer phone and online appointments—no physical contact is needed.

Michael Biamonte is the founder of The Biamonte Center for Clinical Nutrition, in Astoria. For appointments or more information, visit Health-Truth.com.


Join Our Community Newsletter
 
Your Wellness Dream Team

 

 

Special Offers & Savings

 

 Click on Globe

Holistic Local Directory

 

 

 

Follow us on Facebook
Distribution Map

 

NA Long Island
Natural Awakenings Videos