Global pandemics interconnected — obesity, impaired metabolic health and COVID-19

Abstract

more than 75 million people have been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and more than 1.6 million deaths worldwide were attributed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) 1 . On the basis of the infection to fatality ratio, the mortality of individuals with COVID-19 is ~2% 1 . However, this widely used ratio is not the ideal measure of overall mortality as it only relates to confirmed infections and confirmed deaths. The infection to fatality ratio might be inaccurate owing to a delay of several weeks between symptom onset and death, and because surveillance-based case reports underestimate the total number of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, as testing focuses on individuals with symptoms. In most instances, the symptomatic infection to fatality ratio and infection to fatality ratio show largely different numbers 2 .After infection with SARS-CoV-2, individuals can remain asymptomatic. By contrast, in symptomatic individuals the disease course can follow various stages: for example, mild symptoms in the initial 2 weeks after infection that can then progress to more complicated disease, defined by the severity of clinical symptoms and the potential for recovery. Patients who require hospital treatment have a considerably increased risk of death due to COVID-19. For example, the mortality of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 ranges from 10% to 26% in the USA, the UK, Italy and Germany [3][4][5][6][7] . Mortality increases further to 22-48% in patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) [3][4][5][6][7] . Therefore, for risk stratification purposes it is crucial to understand the parameters that predispose patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection to a severe course of COVID-19.Older age and male sex are well established as risk factors for severe COVID-19. The median age of hospitalized patients varies between 47 and 73 years, and in most cohort studies the percentage of men was ~60% 8 . Furthermore, although only ~25% of all patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 have comorbidities, 60-90% of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 have comorbidities 8 . The first studies reporting characteristics of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 showed that the most common comorbidities were hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease (CVD), chronic pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, cancer and chronic liver disease 8,9 . Only since mid-April 2020 has obesity been recognized as an important comorbidity 10,11 . In addition, hyperglycaemia in the non-diabetic range (that is,

Bebidas azucaradas: la batalla contra el sobrepeso y la obesidad en México

“…Finalmente, aunque aún es muy temprano para observar los resultados del impuesto de las bebidas azucaradas sobre los índices de sobrepeso u obesidad directamente, diferentes predicciones, basadas en modelos matemáticos, estiman que los impuestos a las bebidas azucaradas podrían reducir su consumo de 34 a 47 calorías por día en adultos y de 40 a 51 en niños, lo cual, como consecuencia, resulta en una disminución de 1.7 kg hasta 2 kg por año (Lin et al, 2011). Asimismo, se pronostica que se podrían prevenir de 40 a 78 nuevos casos de obesidad cada año (Smith et al, 2010;Goiana-da-Silva et al, 2020).…”

Machine learning approach to dynamic risk modeling of mortality in COVID-19: a UK Biobank study

“…The results show that by using easily accessible patient characteristics, brief medical history, symptoms, and vital signs we can predict mortality in patients with COVID-19 with excellent performance (AUC: 0.91). The features selected in the presented model mirror much of the current clinical understanding regarding risk factors associated with COVID-19 mortality, highlighting age 19 and obesity 20 as significant contributors.…”

“…The features selected in the presented model mirror much of the current clinical understanding regarding factors associated with severe COVID-19 outcomes. While research on COVID-19 is rapidly evolving, it is well established that age 23 and obesity 24 are significant variables. In the data-driven model, we found that age was the most critical factor in determining outcome, in line with meta-analyses on outcomes in COVID-19 patients 10,23 .…”

COVID-19 in People With Schizophrenia: Potential Mechanisms Linking Schizophrenia to Poor Prognosis

“…Obesity, especially abdominal obesity, is a well-acknowledged comorbidity among patients with chronic schizophrenia (7,73), and is a strong risk factor for susceptibility, transmission and severity of COVID-19 (74,75). In a recent meta-analysis of COVID-19 studies, obesity was associated with high morbidity and mortality rates, and increased ICU admission rates (76).…”