Exploring diet associations with Covid-19 and other diseases: a Network Analysis–based approach

Abstract

The current global pandemic, Covid-19, is a severe threat to human health and existence especially when it is mutating very frequently. Being a novel disease, Covid-19 is impacting the patients with comorbidities and is predicted to have long-term consequences, even for those who have recovered from it. To clearly recognize its impact, it is important to comprehend the complex relationship between Covid-19 and other diseases. It is also being observed that people with good immune system are less susceptible to the disease. It is perceived that if a correlation between Covid-19, other diseases, and diet is realized, then caregivers would be able to enhance their further course of medical action and recommendations. Network Analysis is one such technique that can bring forth such complex interdependencies and associations. In this paper, a Network Analysis-based approach has been proposed for analyzing the interplay of diets/foods along with Covid-19 and other diseases. Relationships between Covid-19, diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and diets have been curated, visualized, and further analyzed in this study so as to predict unknown associations. Network algorithms including Louvain graph algorithm (LA), K nearest neighbors (KNN), and Page rank algorithms (PR) have been employed for predicting a total of 60 disease-diet associations, out of which 46 have been found to be either significant in disease risk prevention/mitigation or in its progression as validated using PubMed literature. A precision of 76.7% has been achieved which is significant considering the involvement of a novel disease like Covid-19. The generated interdependencies can be further explored by medical professionals and caregivers in order to plan healthy eating patterns for Covid-19 patients. The proposed approach can also be utilized for finding beneficial diets for different combinations of comorbidities with Covid-19 as per the underlying health conditions of a patient.

Lessons from the self-terminating COVID-19 pandemic: Vaccination, vitamin A deficiency and a brief epidemiological view

“…It is known that unhealthy nutrition reduces our resistance to infections and causes chronic inflammatory diseases (74,75). The main reason why COVID-19 is deadly and destructive in western societies is the chronic diseases caused by this diet with high-calorie, over-processed, packaged foods that have no nutritional value (76,77,78). As it is known, the western-style diet and obesity and diabetes that develop due to it are beginning the diseases that cause comorbidity for COVID-19 (78,79,80).…”

“…Although the relationship between chronic diseases and COVID-19 has been extensively researched during the pandemic process (77), no epidemiological studies have been conducted at population scales to elucidate the relationship of COVID-19 with nutritional status and vitamin A deficiency (80). Western-style eating habits are the main cause of chronic diseases that pave the way for serious illness in COVID-19.…”

“…These chronic diseases, which are becoming increasingly widespread, have become a serious health problem and an important socio-economic problem, especially for western societies (76,80,81). These chronic diseases that cause comorbidity for COVID-19 and the westernstyle eating habits that cause them are the main reason behind the devastating course of COVID-19 in western societies (77,78,79,80). WHO, in its call for a healthy recovery manifesto from COVID-19, points out chronic diseases as the biggest threat to global health and high-calorie unhealthy diet as the biggest cause of them (80).…”

“…Vitamin A deficiency is the main reason behind chronic diseases, which is seen as the most important reason why COVID-19 hits big metropolises more than rural areas. The relationship between vitamin A deficiency and inflammation and chronic disease has been shown in many studies (100,101,102,103) The main reason behind obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and many other chronic inflammatory diseases that cause comorbidity for COVID-19 is nutrition with low nutritional value, western style, high calorie packaged foods (104,105,106). Healthy-eating adults have a lower risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, and they live longer (107).…”

“…Healthy-eating adults have a lower risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, and they live longer (107). With this aspect, the fast-food style has played a role in the pandemic as the most important factor increasing mortality and morbidity in COVID-19 due to wrong/malnutrition causing comorbid diseases (106,107). This eating habit and the policies that encourage it, and the resulting increase in obesity and other chronic diseases, pose a serious threat to the health of future generations.…”