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COVID-19 DEATHS BY ANY OTHER NAME
The data in my table above for Australia could be explained by the conclusions below.
Holt, Jim. Study: Autopsies Prove EVERY CV-19 Death Had Co-Morbidity, May 11, 2020, https://principia-scientific.org/
‘New study from Germany finds that every COVID-19 death was someone who had cancer, lung disease, was a heavy smoker or morbidly obese.
Professor Klaus Püschel, head of Hamburg forensic medicine, autopsied the corona dead in Hamburg and he reports:
“This virus affects our lives in a completely exaggerated way. This bears no relation to the danger posed by the virus. And the astronomical economic damage now arising is not commensurate with the danger posed by the virus. I am convinced that corona mortality will not even make itself felt as a peak in annual mortality … “’
HELPLESS PATIENTS MORE LIKELY TO DIE
Seligman in 1991 published ‘Learned Optimism’ and reported results of an earlier experiment that measured psychological effects on physical health.
Groups of rats in 3 cages had a few cancerous cells injected under their skins. Cage 1 received no shocks. Two of the groups, Cages 2 and 3, then received electric shocks at random. Cage 2 could escape from the shocks by together pressing a switch, which they quickly learned to do when they rushed to the end of the cage and pressed on a bar that turned the shock off for a time. Cage 3 could not escape from the shocks.
After a time, the rats that were still alive were checked for presence of cancer tumours. Rats with tumours that had grown to more than 6mm were euthanized and recorded as ‘died’.
RESULTS
| CAGE | GROUP | REJECTED TUMOR % | DIED % |
| 1 | no shock (control) | 50 | 50 |
| 2 | switch off shock | 70 | 30 |
| 3 | shocked | 27 | 73 |
The results were dramatic and surprising. Most surprising was that the rats who mastered the shock and switched it off did better than the rats that had no shock at all.
DISCUSSION
The rats in Cage 2 had control over unpleasantness, seeming to strengthen their resistance to cancer with lower mortality. The experiment demonstrated a phenomenon ‘Learned Helplessness.’ When an inescapable unpleasantness has to be experienced, the individual’s resistance is lowered generally. Conversely, through overcoming the unpleasantness, the individual’s resistance is strengthened.
Helplessness is a default reaction to bad events which when it turns on the dorsal raphe nucleus in the limbic system, turns off the hope circuit activated by mastery and anticipation of control. Regardless of the outside world, it produces all the symptoms of learned helplessness: the panic, the passivity, the sadness. If the dorsal raphe was anaesthetised and turned off they didn’t become helpless and their immune system increased activity.
Being in control of even a stressful environment is better for health than being helpless.
CONCLUSION
It is hypothesised that individuals able to exercise control over unpleasant aspects of restrictions and treatment would be more likely to recover from COVID-19. Individuals could have control over their access to care, personalisation of the testing and treatment environment, diet choice, exercise opportunities, limited isolation and social interaction opportunities. Nurturing of control by patients over their treatments and environments would improve their effectiveness.
COULD COVID19 EFFECT ON AGE AT DEATH BE SMALL IN AUSTRALIA?
I have been concerned, as an elderly Australian, that I could be at more risk from COVID19 than other age groups. If the data and analysis in the table I have prepared below is correct, any age effect relative to normal mortality is likely to be small.
| AGE | Deaths
Pre-Covid19 30 March 2018 |
Death rate
2018 |
WORLD
COVID-19 Fatality Ratefor 37578 cases March 30, 2020 % |
Death Rate
2020 World % |
| 0-9 | 1042 | 0.70 | 0 | 0 |
| 10-19 | 524 | 0.36 | 0.2 | 0.70 |
| 20-29 | 1310 | 0.89 | 0.2 | 0.70 |
| 30-39 | 2244 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.70 |
| 40-49 | 4186 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| 50-59 | 9101 | 6.2 | 1.3 | 5 |
| 60-69 | 17459 | 11.8 | 3.6 | 13 |
| 70-79 | 30296 | 20.6 | 8.0 | 28 |
| 80+ | 81196 | 55.1 | 14.8 | 51 |
| All ages | 147358 | 100 | 28.7 | 100 |
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/
ABShttp://stat.data.abs.gov.au/Index.aspx?datasetcode=deaths_agespecific_occurenceyear
Deaths in Australia, as in other developed countries, are normally higher among older people. The increase in the number of deaths with COVID19 is not available.
The data indicates that the ages of people worldwide who died from COVID19 were similar to the ages Australians died at in 2018. If world mortality rates occur here, COVID19 would hit older Australians in proportion similar to other ways of dying.
55% of deaths are normally Australians over 80 and this number decreases to 51% for those who die from COVID19 worldwide. However, the proportion of 70-79 years old Australians who would die from COVID19 would increased to 28% from 20.6% worldwide. Australia would have proportionally fewer deaths over 80 than in 2018, but more at 70-79 and 60-69 with fewer 59 and under.
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