Goodbye 59

When the clock strikes midnight, I will reach the milestone of 60 years old. While many see this as a sign of aging or life getting shorter, I don’t think that way. Rather, I am glad God has let me walk this planet for 60 years. I am happy to be in love with the most caring and wonderful woman on Earth; belong to a close-knit, loving family; enjoying coaching young men and women; and mostly just happy to be where I am and with those with I love and care for.

All that said, as the clock strikes midnight, my chances of dying from the coronavirus double. Sure it is just a statistic, a probability. But is is based upon fact. As someone 50-59 years of age, I have a 2% chance of dying from the Covid-19. But once I reach 60, my chances of succumbing to the disease climb to 4%, effectively doubling the odds. Those 70-79 have a mortality rate of 6% and those 80 and up close to 9%.

They aren’t just numbers. They are the reality of what is happening across the world. Currently, the mortality rate for Covid-19 is 4.5% worldwide. The US numbers are lower, though likely due to the infancy of the outbreaks in may states. The mortality rate in Louisiana currently is running at 3.6%. It trails places like Washington and New York because they are a week or two ahead of us in the outbreak, while leading those states whose outbreaks are a week or two behind ours. The scariest numbers come out of Italy, where the outbreak is about three weeks ahead of the US and the mortality rate stands at 10.1%.

Covid-19 is a killer and it is far from the selective killer once thought. Those in much younger demographics are dying as the outbreak spools up in America. They are dying in much lower numbers than those say 60 and older, but dying nonetheless. Covid-19 virus has one driving imperative, to reproduce. And it will kill whatever cells or organisms that gets in its way if it can.

We are now seeing growing evidence why the 60+ age groups are more often in the cross hairs. It has to do with the prime receptor the virus binds to in the human body, the ACE2 receptor. As I have noted before, ACE2 stands for the “angiotensin converting enzyme” which works with a process known as the renin-angiotensin system to regulate blood pressure, blood volume and the natural elimination of bodily fluids.

Because of the strong correlation between high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, many of those 60 and older are on drugs known as ACE2 inhibitors. There is some evidence, though it is not yet conclusive, that ACE2 inhibitors might increase the number of ACE2 receptors open to the SARS CoV 2 virus. If this is true, it would mean that many in this demographic have bodies more easily attacked by the virus.

However, many doctors are cautioning that this is likely only a minor contributing factor. Rather, it is the damage caused by heart disease, lung disease, and kidney disease, along with what these disease processes do to the immune system, that is largely responsible for the higher mortality rates. And no one should stop taking prescribed ACE2 inhibitor medications. If these drugs are controlling your disease well and allowing for a healthier lifestyle, that is surely more important than what the meds might do.

Regardless, less than 10 hours from now my mortality rate from Covid-19 will double. I will spend much more time tomorrow thanking God for the wonderful life he has given me and spending time talking with family and friends locally than I will worrying about the jump. Things like case growth rates and mortality rates are just another part of our new normal.

Life does go on and for that I am thankful. Stay safe and Stay Home!