Covid-19 patients with metabolic syndrome (a combination of high blood sugar, high cholesterol, hypertension and obesity) are at higher risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death, according to a major new international scientific study. The chance of ARDS, which threateningly lowers oxygen in the blood, increases the more severe a patient’s metabolic syndrome is.
Researchers from Tulane University, the Mayo Clinic and the American Society of Intensive Care, who published the study in the American Medical Journal “JAMA Network Open”, compared data from 181 hospitals in 26 countries for 5,069 patients (17.5%) with metabolic syndrome and 23,971 (82.5%) without metabolic syndrome, all of whom had been hospitalized for coronavirus infection.
Those with metabolic syndrome were found to be 36% more likely to have ARDS, 30% more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), 45% more likely to be intubated and 20% more likely to die in hospital. Overall, just over 20% of patients with metabolic syndrome died, 20% developed ARDS, and almost half were admitted to the ICU. Respectively, among Covid-19 patients without metabolic syndrome 16% died, 12% developed ARDS and 36% required ICU admission. The increased risk of metabolic syndrome has been found to apply regardless of gender, age and other underlying diseases.
“Our study found that if someone has high cholesterol, high blood pressure, mild obesity and prediabetes or diabetes and is being treated with Covid-19, then one in four has a chance of developing acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is important. We also found that at each level of respiratory support, patients with metabolic syndrome have a worse outcome. “Patients with metabolic syndrome are more likely to have intubation, non-invasive ventilation or high-flow oxygen than those without metabolic syndrome,” said Joshua Denson, a professor of pulmonology and intensive care at the University of Medicine .
Severe cases of Covid-19 are characterized by an over-inflammatory immune response in several patients to coronavirus infection. Scientists suspect that chronic low-grade inflammation caused by metabolic syndrome, especially when many of the syndrome coexist in the same person (someone who is both diabetic, obese and hypertensive), makes these patients more vulnerable to Covid-19. . The researchers estimate that the more widespread the metabolic syndrome in a country, the more severe cases of Covid-19 will be in that country (which is believed to be the case, for example, in the case of the USA).
Link to the scientific publication:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787394
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