coronavirus is impacting daily lives in

many ways people over 60 with chronic

medical conditions are most at risk and

now with a virus spreading more we're

hearing more numbers in Georgia and

throughout the world it's paramount we

take the measures we each can to stay

healthy

joining us is 11alive medical

correspondent dr. Sujatha reddy our

immune systems are such a key people who

have low immune systems are more at risk

is there anything each person could do

to try to boost our immune systems to

help protect us in ways that we can yeah

I think that's a really important topic

to discuss one thing with your immune

system though is these are not things

that are gonna work overnight but you

know this may last for a few weeks and

hopefully not more than that but it's

quite possible it's gonna last for a

month or so and in that case I think

it's not too late to try to help your

immune system so the things that we

recommend are the things all of us

should be doing all the time anyway

these are common New Year's resolutions

so some specific things people people

can do to help their immune system

you're gonna want to eat plenty of

fruits and vegetables like a healthy

diet get enough sleep that's probably

the most important things we can all do

you know at least 7 hours as an adult

maybe even more you want to keep active

be exercised be physically fit have some

energy endurance that's gonna help you

if you're a smoker absolutely quit

smoking because that has all the

negatives and absolutely nothing

positive limit your alcohol make sure

you're also controlling other conditions

if you have high blood pressure you have

diabetes keep those in check that's very

important because all that does affect

your overall health and then we've heard

it before but on the state again

preventing the infection is going to be

key slowing it down as we've heard so

wash hands keep a distance if you're

sick stay home

and try to avoid touching eyes nose and

mouth and all those things should help

us through it this prices you know

really preparation is a way that it can

it can settle us if we know we are

prepared in some ways and there are

specific guidelines about what we can do

to be ready if it does come to our

doorstep if our loved ones or we get

sick yeah you're exactly right I think

that will make us feel somewhat

empowered because to some degree I think

a lot of us are feeling like a little

bit helpless out of control yeah it is

it's just happening around us so you're

right being

what do we mean by that we've been told

by the authorities be ready in case you

can't leave your house you're

quarantined or a store shut down be

prepared in your home for two to four

weeks the most important advice there I

think is make sure you have a minimum 30

maybe even 90 day supply of prescription

medication that's going to be key

beyond that you also want to make sure

you have medications at home for the

common over-the-counter complaints that

a lot of us sometimes get things like

headaches if you get it in your tail and

all or Advil

you know cough medicine if you have

bowel issues diarrhea medicine those

kind of things keep those on hand

because you may not be able to run out

and get them you also want to make sure

you have if you have high blood pressure

a blood pressure cuff so you can monitor

at home you may not be able to go to the

fire station and get your blood pressure

checked if you have diabetes a glucose

monitor things like that they think a

little bit ahead about what you might

need and you may not be able to run out

and I think that'll keep people

empowered and safe if they're in their

homes all right important to reiterate

80% of people have mild symptoms but we

must be prepared absolutely doctor ready

appreciate it and we have all of the

coronavirus updates in one place so it's

easy for you to find and understand and

put it all in perspective you can look

for the article in the coronavirus

section of our 11:00 live app