Doctors are seeing a surge in eating disorders across the country as people try to cope with the stress and anxiety induced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jennifer Wildes, an associate psychiatry professor and director of outpatient eating disorders program at the University of Chicago Medicine says she’s “absolutely seeing massive increases”.

Patients are waiting four to five months for treatment when the wait for treatment prior to the pandemic was usually only a few weeks. Wildes’ program is treating about 100 patients currently, nearly double from before the pandemic.

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Other programs are experiencing a similar problem. Jillian Lampert with The Emily Program has reported that her daily calls have nearly doubled since 2019.

The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness, which started offering virtual therapist-led support groups for adults during the pandemic, has also seen a surge. Since January more than 7,000 people from every state and 32 countries have attended their support groups, said alliance CEO Johanna Kandel.

Pandemic Has Fueled Eating Disorder Surge in Teens, Adults

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Doctors are seeing an increase in cases across the board, meaning all races and ages. Eating disorders are more common among women than men. Stress and anxiety are common catalysts for eating disorders. Many people have experienced more stress and anxiety in the last year.

Lockdown has had many consequences on the health of the population since it’s beginning, ranging from weight gain, to an increase in mental health problems.

A recent survey conducted in the U.K examines the effects of lockdown on people’s sex life. Researchers surveyed 565 people between ages 18-32 at the end of peak lockdown in May. Those surveyed were part of a convenience sample and thus were not necessarily representative of the whole population.

Participants were asked if they engaged in intercourse, solo masturbation, and watching pornography, and were then asked to rate their health and wellbeing.

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A quarter (25.5%) of respondents who engaged in intercourse prior to lock down stopped having intercourse. There was a decrease in all activities across the board.

Within those participants who continued to engage in sexual activities a quarter of people reported masturbating more regularly, and 20% reported more intercourse with their partners. That being said, a third of participants reported having less sex with partners, and a quarter reported masturbating less.

Men who did not identify as heterosexual, and were in a serious relationship, were the most likely to report an increase in sexual activity. Women, on the other hand, were more likely to report lower sexual desire than men.

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Our findings, which are published in the Journal of Sex Research, support other reports into the effects of lockdown restrictions. Lockdown measures have disproportionately affected some groups more than others. The reported increase in domestic chores and stress for women during the lockdown may explain the decrease in sexual desire and the negative effect on wellbeing.

How lockdown changed the sex lives of young adults – new research

The effects of the lockdowns also disproportionately affected younger adults, those less likely to be in a serious relationship and more likely to be exploring their sexuality.

The effectiveness of lockdowns and strict covid-19 regulations has been questioned many times by many people, but effectiveness aside, an even bigger debate is rather or not lockdowns are constitutional. With the fear of moving into an authoritarian state, many people around the world have protested strict lockdowns measures. More often than not lockdown measures benefit corporations and the government, while they jeopardize the lives of the average citizen.

Recently a Belgian court rules that the current Covid-19 restrictions being put in place do not have a sound legal basis. The Belgian state will face fines if they do not lift the restrictions within 30 days, or provide proof of what law they are abiding by with the current restrictions. Currently, the state is acting based on the Civil Safety Act of 2007 which allows the government to move quickly during “exceptional circumstances”, but the judge ruled that the government “cannot act from ministerial decrees while using these laws.”

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Shortly after this ruling the Finnish government withdrew its proposal for lockdown measures. Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced the news last week after a statement from a constitutional committee deemed the lockdown “vague and not in compliance with the constitution”.

“The committee said the wide-ranging proposal should be changed to targeted restrictions for where the risk of contracting the virus was significant, such as private gatherings and crowded places such as shops. The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has recorded 77,452 coronavirus infections and 844 deaths. It has been praised for its handling of the pandemic and has been among the least-affected countries in Europe. It has 295 people in hospital with COVID-19.”

Finland Withdraws COVID Measures After Law Committee Deems Them Unconstitutional

A new study published in the peer-reviewed JAMA Network Open suggests that Americans may have gained 20 pounds over the course of the last year.

Notably, the study was very small and not extremely diverse. Only about 300 people participated in the study with the majority of the participants being white. The average age of the study was 51 and was almost evenly split between men and women.

Researchers analyzed data from participants in 37 states, and the District of Columbia taken over the course of February 1st, 2020 to June 1st, 2020. Data was collected from Bluetooth connected smart scales and researchers collected 7,444 weight measurements over the course of the study, around 28 measurements per person.

We know that weight gain is a public health problem in the U.S. already, so anything making it worse is definitely concerning, and shelter-in-place orders are so ubiquitous that the sheer number of people affected by this makes it extremely relevant.

How Much Weight Did We Gain During Lockdowns? 2 Pounds a Month, Study Hints

Obesity has been linked to a greater risk of Covid-19. Forty-two percent of Americans over the age of 20 have obesity, and an additional 32% of Americans are overweight.

A recent study by four medical professors at Stanford has found no evidence that “Non-Pharmaceutical interventions” work to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Non-Pharmaceutical interventions are lockdowns, social distancing, business closures, and stay at home orders. The authors of the study used data from England, France, Germany, Iran. Italy, Netherlands, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, and the United States.

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This study is not the first of its kind. Numerous studies have been published showing that lockdowns do not prevent the spread of the virus.

“Lockdowns and Closures vs COVID – 19: COVID Wins by Surjit S Bhalla, executive director for India of the International Monetary Fund. ‘For the first time in human history, lockdowns were used as a strategy to counter the virus. While conventional wisdom, to date, has been that lockdowns were successful (ranging from mild to spectacular) we find not one piece of evidence supporting this claim.’”

New Stanford Study Claims Lockdowns Are Not Effective To Stop Spread of COVID

Additionally, many studies have shown that the downsides to lockdowns far outweigh any benefits that there may be. The lockdowns have taken a tremendous toll on mental health in both children and adults, causing an increase in suicides, overdoses, bankruptcies, and divorces.

Lockdowns cannot eradicate the disease or protect the public…They lead to only economic meltdown, social despair and direct harms to health from other causes…Scientifically, medically and morally lockdowns have no justification in dealing with Covid.

Dr. John Lee, a former Professor of Pathology and NHS consultant pathologist

California health officials have called for a temporary halt of a specific lot of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine after severe allergic reactions took place.

One clinic reported 10 allergic reactions within 24 hours, where state officials were only expecting to see 1 allergic reaction per 100,000 people.

More than 330,000 doses of vaccines from this particular lot have been distributed to 287 health care providers throughout California.

“Out of an extreme abundance of caution and also recognizing the extremely limited supply of vaccine, we are recommending that providers use other available vaccine inventory and pause the administration of vaccines from Moderna Lot 041L20A until the investigation by the CDC, FDA, Moderna and the state is complete. We will provide an update as we learn more.”

CA calls for pausing distribution on one lot of Moderna vaccine after allergic reactions reported

Despite stringent lockdown and mask policies, California is quickly approaching three million coronavirus cases.

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Many Americans are awaiting what they consider a return to normal as other countries around the world slowly begin to open back up.

David L. Ryan/Boston Globe via Getty Images

Unfortunately for us, it doesn’t look like that will be happening here anytime soon. With the initial poor handling of the pandemic, many states are having to reimpose restrictions due to a spike in cases, meaning we’re actually moving backward instead of forward.

The CDC said we could get COVID-19 under control if everyone just wore masks for 6-8 weeks. The problem is, we did that… and it didn’t work. The government essentially said, “…stay home! We’ll take care of you!…” and they didn’t do that either.

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So now, here we are, desperately wanting to return to normal but being seemingly unable to get things under control. America is a bit of a unique case. The CDC lied to American citizens initially, saying they did not need masks because they were in low supply. The CDC later came out and said that we did need masks to slow the spread. It’s a little difficult to instill trust in the government after they lie to their people, and of course, no one wants to listen to the government when they know the government won’t take care of them.

It seems many are relying on a vaccine to be available before returning to normal. Unfortunately, it’ll probably be awhile on that as well. A vaccine generally takes 10 years to develop, and millions of dollars. Between the research, and the funding as well as the testing, it’s a pretty lengthy process.

Producing enough vaccine for only, say, the 100 million most vulnerable Americans would itself take a few months. You also have the obstacle of distributing it and actually vaccinating people, as well as dealing with anti-vaxxer sentiments, so add another few months. That brings us into the start of 2022 on a highly optimistic timeline.

Bad News about the Pandemic: We’re Not Getting Back to Normal Any Time Soon

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All that aside, COVID-19 is a Sars virus similar to the common cold that can be particularly difficult to vaccinate against. It’s likely we’ll end up with a flu vaccine like scenario where the vaccine is not nearly as effective as others. Some health officials have reported that they could have a vaccine available as early as 2021. This, however, is an extremely optimistic guess and is highly unlikely, and of course, vaccines are toxic under the best of circumstances. Who knows what kind of problems could be caused by a vaccine that is produced as quickly as health officials are hoping.

If you’re worried about COVID-19 we recommend making sure you have a healthy diet and a healthy gut. A healthy gut is the best way to build a strong immune system and prevent diseases.