How best to stay healthy in your own home – Dr Nick Summerton

I was planning to talk about medicine and health care in Roman Britain, including demonstrating how to make – and use – various ancient medicines in addition to performing some Roman surgical techniques.

Over the years I have grown to appreciate how much we can all re-learn from the ancient Greeks and Romans about how to look after our health and wellbeing. I have also done research into Roman eye medicines, Greco-Roman doctors’ approaches to making diagnoses in addition to exploring many ancient healing sites across Europe.

As we all struggle to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, it is salutary to remind ourselves that the world has been through such crises before. Three great plagues ravaged the ancient world at different times – the Athenian, the Justinian and the Antonine. The latter led to around five million deaths across the Roman empire. In some areas it killed as many as one-third of the population and devastated the Roman army for a generation.

One of the greatest doctors of the ancient world – Galen – lived through the Antonine Plague. He was also the personal physician to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Both individuals have left a written legacy that has extraordinary relevance today for all of us struggling to cope with the coronavirus outbreak.

Galen wrote several books on hygiene in which he outlined the importance of balance in maintaining good health with an emphasis on fresh air, enough sleep and exercise in addition to carefully considering what we eat and drink. Keeping healthy is always important, but even more so when our bodies might be asked to fight off a new illness such as coronavirus.

Fresh air: Getting outside every day for some fresh air matters. Even if we are forced to stay at home because we have symptoms or an underlying illness, don’t forget to open a window. Also, if you smoke, this is an extremely good time to stop – both for you and for anyone living with you. If you do catch coronavirus you are likely to get sicker if you are a smoker – or breathing in second-hand smoke from someone else.

Food and drink: We should all try to maintain a balanced diet and avoid 
eating too much sugar or drinking more alcohol. Cut down on processed foods and aim to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Above all, we don’t want to put on weight as – if 
your BMI is under 25 – you will fare 
much better should you pick up coronavirus.

Exercise: If possible, all of us must aim to walk or cycle every day as recommended by the Government. Not only will this help to keep us physically fit, it will benefit our mental wellbeing, too. There are a wealth of exercise programmes available via the internet that we can do at home – tailored to each of us. Set a plan and try to slightly increase your exercise each day.

Sleep: Many of us will have found that our sleep has become disturbed over recent weeks. But it is important to go to bed and to get up at similar times each day to maintain a sense of normality. Also, try to limit your consumption of coronavirus news within the hour before going to sleep.

Both Galen and Marcus Aurelius attached particular importance to focusing on our mental wellbeing. At this time we all must try to distinguish between those things that we can change from those that we cannot.

None of us will gain anything by yelling at the television, making racist remarks or believing everything we hear. What will help us most in coping with the pandemic is to realise that, although we might not have control over many things, we can all control our responses, our reactions and our behaviours.

So, to help us to get through the next few months – mentally – I would make the following suggestions:

Continue to keep up to date – and follow – all the Government advice on hand washing, social distancing and self-isolation/shielding.

Keep in touch with friends and relatives.

Think about volunteering – even from home – to help others.

Be wary of fake news and misinformation. There is no evidence that drinking hot water, liquid silver or cow urine will protect you against coronavirus – and might even do harm.

Maintain a sense of perspective. Remember that most people who catch coronavirus (around 80 per cent) will have a mild illness and recover.

As Marcus Aurelius wrote is his Meditations: “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realise this and you will find strength.”

Dr Nick Summerton is a GP in East Yorkshire and public health specialist.