Project Ask the Doctor of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation: Expert Opinion on the Coronavirus

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation continues its series of live broadcasts within the framework of the online project Ask the Doctor where leading healthcare experts talk about overcoming COVID-19 and its consequences. The project Ask the Doctor consists of weekly online meetings with leading immunologists, anaesthesiologists, infectious disease specialists who tell the audience, in a reliable and comprehensible manner, about the symptoms of the coronavirus, medications prescribed to patients with confirmed COVID-19, about the nutritional peculiarities for such patients, the latest global trends in the disease treatment and many other topics.

‘The epidemic continues and people's worries about themselves and their family members are only growing. How to protect your life and health? Project Ask the Doctor gives comprehensible answers to difficult questions. During live broadcasts on the Foundation's digital platforms, anyone can ask about various aspects of the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, and get a clear, well-reasoned answer that can be trusted,’ said Yuliia Yershova, Chief Communications Officer of the Foundation.

This time the expert of the project was Maksym Pylypenko, the head of the Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Department at the Romodanov Neurosurgery Institute of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, an Associate Professor of the Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Department of the National Healthcare University of Ukraine. He explained how nutrition plays a special role for people who have problems with blood pressure.

‘There are some traditional recommendations when it is advised to consume less salt, but it depends on the human body. Therefore, the main thing is calories. The most dangerous "poison" is fructose, which is added to lots of food items. This is something artificial and cheaper than natural glucose,' the expert explained.

Maksym Pylypenko also talked about how the coronavirus affects the time of blood clotting, which can harm the work of the human heart.

‘The body most often determines itself how much liquid a person needs to drink. If you are thirsty, then even with the coronavirus, you can drink as much tea, for example, as your body requires. However, you should not drink a lot of sugary drinks that make you thirsty. The main thing is to find a balance between the desire of the body and its correct restoration process,’ clarified the doctor.

Ask the Doctor initiative is being implemented within the framework of the project Fighting COVID-19 in Ukraine. It is the largest, most systematic and widest scale private initiative aimed at helping public healthcare facilities. The Foundation donated more than 200,000 units of personal protective equipment and consumables, 337,000 rapid COVID-19 tests and more than 200 ultra-modern lung ventilators to hospitals in various regions of the country.