Four diseases, common in America, could explain 2 out of every 3 hospitalizations for COVID. Imagine if we could have lowered those diseases. Many hospitalizations and many lives could have been saved. Obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure rose to the top of a computer model which took epidemiologic data and COVID mortality data to estimate which risk factors most contributed to COVID disease prevalence.
We should always take mathematical models with a grain of digital salt. While the statisticians and the epidemiologists work hard to design their models, the product is still just a model. No study can offer a definite answer to which deaths could be blamed on a given risk factor, but we can make decent estimates.
The study estimated the following:
3 in 10 hospitalizations related to obesity
1 in 4 hospitalizations related to hypertension
1 in 5 hospitalizations related to diabetes
1 in 8 hospitalizations related to heart failure.
The total effect for these conditions came out at possibly explaining 2 out of 3 hospitalizations since many patients had more than 1 of these conditions.
Functional medicine already recognized that these chronic lifestyle related illnesses contributed to health decline beyond heart attacks and strokes. The chronic inflammation which arises from these conditions both opens the door for easier infections and when infections occur, they are often more severe. We are constantly working to monitor inflammation and lower it through dietary changes and supplements.
We will continue to help patients live healthier more abundant lives as before, but are also moving towards new programs at Sanctuary which target metabolic inflammation . Stayed tuned for their release.
Other Metabolic articles by Dr. Potter:
Mind Blowing Connections Between Autoimmune disease and Metabolic Disease
Low Fat, High Fat? Show Me the Truth
Original Article:
Meghan O’Hearn, Junxiu Liu, Frederick Cudhea, Renata Micha, Dariush Mozaffarian. Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalizations Attributable to Cardiometabolic Conditions in the United States: A Comparative Risk Assessment Analysis. Journal of the American Heart Association, 2021; DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.120.019259
Thanks to Science Daily:
Tufts University, Health Sciences Campus. “Study estimates two-thirds of COVID-19 hospitalizations due to four conditions: Model suggests higher risk based on race and age, offers insights to reduce disease impact.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 February 2021. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210225143635.htm>.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
