How Comorbidities Can Help Predict COVID-19 Outcomes
Original Post: Medium
As countries begin to flatten the curve and rollout economic re-opening plans, we’re learning more about how the coronavirus is affecting populations around the world. Dozens of studies are now highlighting an interesting pattern among COVID-19 patients: the prevalence of comorbidities, and how they can predict more severe outcomes.
The most common types of comorbidities in these studies are non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. According to the World Health Organization, non-communicable diseases alone kill 41 million people each year. That works out to 71% of all deaths globally. That means a there’s a significant part of the world’s population who are at risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms.
Source: Upsplash
COVID-19 and Comorbidity
A small study out of China looking at 191 COVID-19 positive patients found 30% were hypertensive, 19% had diabetes, and 8% had heart disease. A meta-analysis of seven studies including 1,576 COVID-19 positive patients, found 21% were hypertensive, 9% had diabetes, and 8% had cardiovascular disease. Moreover, the meta-analysis found that having these underlying diseases was associated with more severe COVID-19 symptoms.
A study out of New York — the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak — with 5,700 COVID-19 patients found 56% were hypertensive, 41% were obese, and 33% suffered from diabetes. An even larger study out of the UK looking at 16,749 COIVD-19 patients found 29% had chronic cardiac disease, 19% had diabetes, 19% had non-asthmatic chronic pulmonary disease, and 14% had asthma. This study showed that increased age and comorbidities, including obesity, were associated with a higher probability of mortality.
Meantime, the World Heart Federation, the World Health Organization, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have also listed non-communicable diseases like pulmonary disease, heart disease, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes as major risk factors for developing severe COVID-19 symptoms.
There’s a clear pattern here.
But it’s also important to note that a significant portion of COVID-19 positive patients in these studies exhibited no comorbidities. For example, in the UK study, 47% of the patients had no documented comorbidity. And despite the majority of patients being elderly, younger patients were also hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms.
So if you’re young and don’t have one of these underlying diseases, it doesn’t mean you’re safe from contracting COVID-19 and being hospitalized. Adhering to social distancing rules, washing your hands with soap frequently, refraining from touching your face often, and staying home are equally important for everyone, no matter your age or health.
Source: Unsplash
COVID-19 Susceptibility and Nutrition
Looking at the top comorbidities that put COVID-19 patients at a higher risk for developing severe outcomes, we see they’re largely diet and lifestyle driven. Hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity can all be improved or worsened by what’s on your plate.
A paper published in the journal “Brain, Behavior, and Immunity” looked at the potential impact of nutrition on coronavirus susceptibility and long-term consequences. While it didn’t consider any current COVID-19 data, the authors hypothesized that the consumption of diets high in saturated fats, sugars, and refined carbohydrates around the world could place certain populations at an increased risk for severe outcomes and mortality.
Researchers found that the Western Diet impaired the body’s immune system, and led to chronic inflammation, blunting the body’s ability to successfully fight viruses.
Source: Association of American Medical Colleges
They also singled out high rates of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes as potential factors for why minority populations may be more vulnerable to COVID-19. One reason may be that these communities face considerable roadblocks when it comes to access to healthy foods and nutritional information. The authors attributed this to increased rates of poverty and decreased access to quality healthcare in the U.S.
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They also singled out high rates of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes as potential factors for why minority populations may be more vulnerable to COVID-19. One reason may be that these communities face considerable roadblocks when it comes to access to healthy foods and nutritional information. The authors attributed this to increased rates of poverty and decreased access to quality healthcare in the U.S.
The Long-term
When it comes to COVID-19 susceptibility and your chances of recovery, researchers say considering a change in diet and lifestyle could be critical. They recommend steering clear of foods high in saturated fat and processed sugar, and focusing on “…fiber, whole grains, unsaturated fats, and antioxidants to boost immune function…”, which describes a whole food plant based diet.
Source: Unsplash
The long-term implications of the coronavirus — and what we can glean from these studies to apply to other viruses — should also be explored. With so many people in the world having one or more of these underlying comorbidities, a change in diet might not only help mitigate the impact of this pandemic… it might help in the fight against the next one, too.