Month: April 2020

Posted on

Too Much and Too Little is Killing Us – reducing comorbidities

I just got “the call” that my mother who lives on the other side of the country, has tested positive for Covid-19. She has all of the major comorbidities, so prognosis is not good. Following the news, most of us know that age, obesity, hypertension and diabetes are known to significantly increase the risk of requiring hospitalization and death from Covid-19 (you can read more about that here, here and here), yet all but one of these comorbidities can be put into remission.  We can’t change our age, but we CAN reduce our weight, lower our blood pressure and normalize our blood sugar. To improve our quality of life outside of the pandemic, and to have the best chance of fighting it off if (or more likely when) we get it, we need to put our energy into achieving a normal body weight (and waist circumference), blood pressure and blood sugar now.

I am from a family of people that always ‘battled with their weight’.

My dad was tall and very fit when he was younger, a boxer and a ski-jumper but as he aged he accumulated excess weight around his middle. He then developed type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart issues and eventually was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which is sometimes referred to as ‘type 3 diabetes’ by some clinicians. I wrote this article about that when he was first diagnosed.

My dad died just a few weeks shy of his 91st birthday, which is a ‘ripe old age’ of course, but for the last 40 years of his life, he was not in good health. He took several medications due to multiple metabolic conditions related to his diet and lifestyle. Except for his age, many of these conditions could have been put into remission — or at very least, been much better controlled with a change in diet and lifestyle.

My mom will be turning 85 this fall, and has been overweight since I was little. She too has type 2 diabetes and takes multiple medications for various conditions, many related to diet and lifestyle; conditions which could have been greatly improved, if not put into remission with a change in diet and lifestyle. It wasn’t for lack of trying “diets”. When I was young, she weighed her food, counted points and went to “groups” and at times she lost weight, only to put it all back, and then some. Eventually, she stopped trying. I can’t say that I blame her, given what I now know about the drivers to hunger.

Shared comorbidities

When I became overweight and then obese, and developed type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, I justified that I was at high risk since both of my parents had the same.  I realize now that the “high risk” was our shared diet and lifestyle, more than genetics. Our shared comorbidities were adopted.

I grew up loving to eat good food and unfortunately considered food as both a reward, and a comfort. When someone was happy, we celebrated with good food. When someone was sad, we consoled with “comfort food”.  Food was “medicine”, but not in a good way. It didn’t heal, but contributed to the underlying hyperinsulinemia that drove the disease process. (I’ve written several articles about this topic, but if you only want to read one, I’d recommend this one.)

Those who have followed me for some time know that 3 years ago I began what I call my “journey”.  It took almost two years to do, but I lost ~60 pounds and a foot off my waist and I put my dangerously high blood pressure and uncontrolled type 2 diabetes into remission, as a result.  I recently posted a summary here, to mark my three year health recovery anniversary; two years of active weight loss and a year of maintenance.

Left: April 2017, Middle: April 2019, Right: April 2020

So why am I writing this post?

Like many people, I am upset by this whole “Covid thing” — not just because of my mom being diagnosed. I’ve been following the news, and realize that the hope for a vaccine any time soon is dim, and effective treatments are still lacking. An article published in the journal The Lancet the other day reported that while ~90% of those who have been hospitalized with severe Covid-19 develop IgG antibodies in the first 2 weeks, in non-hospitalized individuals with milder disease or with no symptoms, under 10% develop specific IgG antibodies to the disease.  That means that except for the sickest people who actually survive being hospitalized for several weeks with Covid-19, more than 90% of people who get Covid-19 and recover outside of hospital don’t develop antibodies to this virus [1]. Since the whole purpose to develop a vaccine is to challenge the body to develop antibodies to the virus — the very fact that most of the time people who don’t get that sick don’t develop antibodies, means that the likelihood of most people developing antibodies to a vaccine may be minimal.  As well, in light of this data herd immunity is also a dim prospect because most people that get this disease don’t produce antibodies, which means they aren’t immune and can probably get this virus again.

With little immediate hope of an effective vaccine or of herd immunity, what CAN we do to lower our risk?

I think that we first need to realize that many experts believe it is simply a matter of time until we are all exposed to the SARS-CoV2 virus and develop Covid-19, so we must look at lowering our risk of having a poor outcome. We can’t change our age, which is the biggest risk factor but we CAN do something to change the high risk comorbidities such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Too Much and Too Little is Killing Us

For many of us, having both too much and too little is killing us.

We have diets with way too much refined carbohydrate, usually combined with large amounts of refined fat, and our usual diet is full of these in the form of pizza, pastries, take out foods and snack foods.  We now know from a study that was published almost 2 years ago[2] that this combination of both refined carbs and fat results in huge amounts of the neurotransmitter dopamine being released from the reward centre of our brain — way more than when we eat foods with only carbohydrate, or only fat separately. This huge amount of released dopamine results in us wanting to eat these foods, and craving these foods, and being willing to pay more for these foods than foods with only carbs or only fat [2]. Dopamine makes us feel good, and is the same neurotransmitter that is released during sex and that is involved in the addictive ”runner’s high” familiar to athletes. This is one powerful neurotransmitter! It is this dopamine that is driving why so many people on “lock-down” have turned to baking bread and pastries for comfort, and buying snack foods with this same combination once they finally get through a long line to get into a grocery store! 

Too much of these refined “foods” is contributing to 1/3 of Americans and 1/4 of Canadians being obese, and another 1/3 in both countries being overweight. These foods are driving the hyperinsulinemia that underlies many metabolic conditions, including type 2 diabetes and hypertension.  These diseases were killing a great many of us before Covid-19, but knowing that these comorbidities increase our risk of hospitalization and death when we get the virus, why don’t we consider limiting these? I think it is because eating these foods make us feel good and so we self-medicate our stressful lives with something that is socially acceptable. High carbohydrate and fat foods are much more socially acceptable but what will it take for us to see that this for what it is and to consider that we need to change how we eat. If we aren’t willing to admit that our obesity, high blood sugar and high blood pressure are a problem, then maybe we are simply in denial. I certainly was, and wrote about this in “A Dietitian’s Journey”, the account of my own health recovery.

No, I am NOT saying that “all carbs are evil” and I’ve written about this previously, but we need to differentiate between what most of us eat as “carbs” and whole, real food that have carbs in them. I believe we need to eat significantly less of the refined foods that are contributing to our collective weight problem and metabolic health issues, and eat more of the real, whole foods that have gone by the wayside in our diet. I’ve written about the science behind this type of dietary change in many previous articles, and that eating this way is both safe and effective. What I can’t do is motivate people to want to change.

It is my hope that by presenting the evidence, as I have in several recent articles posted on this website that comorbidities such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes are significant risk factors to requiring hospitalization or of dying of Covid-19, that it may motivate some people to consider making some changes. If not now, when — especially given that the hope of a vaccine and/or herd immunity is likely a long way off.

I wish each of you good health and a long life.

If I can help, please let me know.

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything you have read or heard in our content.

Reference

  1. Altmann DM, Douek D, Boyton RJ, What policy makers need to know about COVID-19 protective immunity, The Lancet, April 27, 2020, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30985-5
  2. Di Feliceantonio et al., 2018, Supra-Additive Effects of Combining
    Fat and Carbohydrate on Food Reward, Cell Metabolism 28, 1—12

 

 

Posted on

My Three Year Health Recovery Anniversary — a Dietitian’s Journey

I delayed posting this update to due to the current Covid 19 pandemic, but thought by now we could all use with a little distraction. I hope that this post about my health and weight recovery serves as encouragement as to what is possible simply by eating real, whole food, and sticking with it.

Me – April 2017, 2019 and 2020

Three years ago, on March 5th, 2017 I was sitting at my desk in my office and I didn’t feel well. I didn’t even know what kind of ”unwell” I felt.  I decided to take my blood pressure to see if that would give me a clue.  I was alarmed with the results and decided to lie down and take it again. That didn’t help. Not only was my blood pressure high, it dangerously high.  I was having what is known as a “hypertensive emergency”.  While I hadn’t done so in way too long, I also decided to take my blood sugar. The result was 13.2 mmol/L (238 mg/dl) only a half an hour after I ate, which was way too high — even for someone who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes five years earlier.  Here I was, an obese Dietitian with a body mass index (BMI) well over 30, dangerously high blood pressure and blood sugar that clearly showed my type 2 diabetes was not well controlled and I knew that all of these factors put me at significant risk of having a stroke or heart attack. I was scared. Actually I was terrified.

As I’ve said on every podcast I’ve been a guest on, and have written about many times, what I should have done at that point was to have gone straight to my doctor’s office;  even knowing that he would have sent me directly to the hospital by ambulance or taxi due to my dangerously high blood pressure.  I should have gone, let them treat me to get my blood pressure down, including taking the medications they prescribed. Then, with my doctor’s oversight I could have begun a well-designed therapeutic diet to lower all of these significant metabolic markers and in time had my doctor gradually de-prescribed the various medications I would have been given, as my weight, blood pressure and blood sugars normalized.

I didn’t. It was foolish. What I did instead was to immediately change my diet and lifestyle and while I fully acknowledge that this was not a wise choice, that’s what I did.

I was so scared.

In the preceding 6 months, I had two girlfriends die within 3 months of each other; one of a massive heart attack, and the other of a stroke. Both worked in healthcare their entire lives and both had become overweight and had developed some of the same metabolic issues I had. I was terrified because I realized that if I didn’t change, I could be next.

April 2017

That day, I printed off my last set of blood test results, and took all my body measurements as if I were a client. I then designed a Meal Plan for myself as I do for others and from that day on, implemented it ”as if my life depended on it”, because quite literally, it did.

There’s been no looking back! March 5, 2017 was the beginning of my health and weight recovery journey; A Dietitian’s Journey.

In the first year, I lost 32 pounds and 8 inches off my waist, and my glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) no longer met the criteria for Type 2 Diabetes (i.e. was ≤ 6.0 %), and my blood pressure ranged between normal and pre-hypertension. Updated lab work indicated that my triglycerides and cholesterol levels were optimal, however my updated measurements showed that my waist circumference was still not half my height, which is what it needed to be (you can read more about the reason for that here). In addition, my fasting blood sugar remained higher than it should be. I still had work to do. I was in recovery, but not recovered yet.

After consulting with two physician colleagues, I made the decision to lower my carbohydrate intake, and continued to monitor my blood pressure daily and blood sugar several times per day.  I also began doing some resistance training exercises with equipment I had on hand (and that had been collecting dust for years).

April 2017 & April 2019 (same outfit)

After 2 years on my recovery journey, I had lost a total of 55 pounds and 12 inches off my waist but since my blood pressure remained between the pre-hypertensive and hypertensive range, and in discussion with my doctor’s colleague, I decided to go on a ”baby dose” of Ramipril to protect my kidney function. Even though my blood sugar was good and my HbA1C was below the cut-off for type 2 diabetes, my endocrinologist started me on Metformin as a result of my father’s recent diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

I didn’t look at starting on either of those medications as “failure”, as I probably would have been prescribed those at much higher doses from the beginning had I gone to see my doctor March 5, 2017. It was part of my recovery process. My goal however was to make changes so that blood pressure medication would no longer be necessary, but I didn’t know what other changes I could make to have it to come down to a normal level, and for my fasting blood glucose to continue improve as well. After much reading in the scientific literature about circadian rhythms , I realized that to be successful I needed to change when I ate (and didn’t eat) as well as when I was exposed to bright light in order to get my body working according to its natural circadian (24-hour) cycles. I made the changes documented in the literature and began to sleep much better (falling asleep and staying asleep, when I had previously had poor sleep for years). A few months of home monitoring indicated my blood pressure was normal or slightly below and I was getting fasting blood glucose numbers I hadn’t seen before (4.7mmol/L – 5-2 mmol/L). I hadn’t “arrived” but my recovery phase was definitely approaching the end.

A visit to my doctor’s office just before Covid 19 began indicated I had blood pressure that was just below the normal cutoff of 120/70 for someone who is not diabetic, so my doctor de-prescribed the blood pressure medication and recent lab test results indicated that I have completely normal fasting blood sugar [5.2 mmol/L (94 mg/dl)]. Over the past year without trying, I lost another 5 pounds and a little less than an inch off my waist and I am guessing this was probably the result of continued loss of fat balanced by increased weight from added muscle I gained as a result of the intermittent resistance training I was doing.

April 2020

I am now a normal body weight. I have an optimal waist circumference (slightly less than half my height). I am in remission of type two diabetes; both as assessed by fasting blood glucose and HbA1C, and my high blood pressure is in remission. I went from taking 12 different medications three years ago, to leaving my doctor’s office a few weeks ago with one prescription for something non-metabolically related, and a prescription for glucose test strips.

I feel good about myself, about my health and how I look — so much so that in September of this past year I decided to stop straightening my hair and now wear it the way it grows out of my head.  I am “comfortable in my own skin” (and hair) for the first time in almost 3 decades. I didn’t lose weight quickly but it took me many years to become THAT metabolically unhealthy that I gave myself the time I needed to get well and am staying well, without any added effort. The process wasn’t at all difficult to accomplish, or difficult to maintain. All it took was eating real, whole food and reducing the amount of carbohydrate-based foods I ate.  What is nice is that after 3 years on a therapeutic diet, I am now able to add in small amounts of higher carbohydrate-based whole foods into my diet, and tolerate them very well.

While there are many studies showing many others have accomplished similar clinical results as I have eating the same way, doing it myself enables me to encourage my clients because I have “been” there, and I came back!

More Info?

If you would like more information about how I can help you lose weight and keep it off or improve blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol please reach out to me. All my services are now provided via Distance Consultation but I already have more than a decade of experience providing virtual nutrition support, so this is nothing new for me. I am licensed as a Dietitian in every province in Canada except PEI and can also provide nutrition education services to those in the US and elsewhere.

You can find more about the details of the different packages I offer by looking under the Services tab or in the Shop. If you have any service-related questions please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything you have read or heard in our content.

 

Posted on

Obesity Most Significant Risk Factor to Covid-19 Hospitalization after Age

A new large-scale preliminary US study[1] looking at data from more than 4000 Covid-19 patients who sought medical care at Langone Health Hospital in New York City found that outside of older age (> 75 years of age), obesity was the single most significant risk factor that contributed to requiring hospitalization and critical care, such as requiring being on a ventilator. This is a different study than the one that I wrote about yesterday [2] which found that in people under the age of 60, obesity poses a significant risk factor of hospitalization, especially with respect to requiring Acute Care or Intensive Care (click here to read that article).

We Need to “Get” This

Taken together, these two large-sample US studies find that being obese (which is having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more) puts those under 60 years of age at significantly greater risk of being hospitalized and requiring critical care than any other factor, including high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) [2], and having a BMI of 40 is the most significant risk factor after older age[1]. Old or young, being obese is a significant risk factor to requiring medical intervention in Covid-19. What many don’t realize is that 2/3 people in the US and Canada are either overweight or obese. 

How Big an Issue is Obesity?

One in three adults in the US are obese and one in four adults in Canada are obese. Not just overweight, but obese.

We have become used to this being common place, so much so that many of us consider “average weight” what is actually overweight (BMI between 25 and 30) and consider someone to be “overweight” when they are actually obese.

As mentioned in an article from earlier this week, recent US data found that 90% of patients hospitalized due to Covid-19 had underlying medical conditions including hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease and as noted in that article, only 12% adults are considered metabolically healthy as defined as having a healthy waist circumference and normal systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose and HbA1C and cholesterol such as HDL, as well as triglycerides.

Looking at this information together, we need to understand that something as straight-forward as losing weight, particularly the weight that we carry around our middles can significantly improve our outcome should we become infected with Covid-19. 

With many experts suggesting that it is only a matter of time until we are all exposed to Covid-19, it would seem that it ‘s not a matter of “if”, but “when” and while we can’t change our age, but if we are overweight or obese, we can lose weight. If we are carrying excess fat around our abdomen (the risk of having an increased waist circumference) — even at normal body weight, we can lower that. It takes being willing to make dietary and lifestyle changes and it take some time, but in a matter of weeks, someone who is currently in the class I obesity category can be re-categorized as overweight and with persistence can achieve a healthy body weight and waist circumference.  Previous studies indicate that significant risk factors such as high blood pressure and abnormal blood sugar can be normalized in as little as 10 weeks with a well-designed diet of whole, real food and by making these changes now we can significantly lower our risk in a fairly short amount of time. Why would we not want to do so now given there is currently no vaccine for Covid-19 and no consistently effective medication yet?

[Note: If I hadn’t already gone from being obese to a normal body weight a few years ago, I certainly would be very motivated to do it now.]

For the past 5 years I have spent about half my clinical time helping others do just that, while helping them considerably improve their lab markers for several different metabolic conditions. Since we are already eating most of our meals at home, now is an ideal time to make the dietary changes needed to lower our risks of requiring hospitalization should we get Covid-19.

More Info?

If you would like more information about how I can help you lose weight and then keep it off, please reach out to me. All my services are now provided via Distance Consultation but I already have more than a decade of experience providing virtual nutrition support, so this is nothing new for me and I am licensed as a Dietitian in every province in Canada except PEI. I can also provide nutrition education services to those in the US and elsewhere.

You can find more about the details of the different packages I offer by looking under the Services tab or in the Shop. If you have any service-related questions please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. Christopher M. Petrilli, Simon A. Jones, Jie Yang, Harish Rajagopalan, Luke F. O’Donnell, Yelena Chernyak, Katie Tobin, Robert J. Cerfolio, Fritz Francois, Leora I. Horwitz,  medRxiv 2020.04.08.20057794; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.08.20057794
  2. Lighter J, Phillips M, Hochman S et al, Obesity in patients younger than 60 years is a risk factor for Covid-19 hospital admission, accepted manuscript, Clinical Infectious Diseases. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa415,  https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa415/5818333
  3. Araíºjo J, Cai J, Stevens J. Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009—2016. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders Vol 20, No. 20, pg 1-7, DOI: 10.1089/met.2018.0105
Posted on

Obesity Poses Significant Risk to People under Sixty with COVID

Introduction

As covered in the preceding article, we now know from US data between March 1-30, 2020, that older adults and those with hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity, diabetes, and CVD are at an increased risk of requiring hospitalization should they contract Covid-19, but a new study finds that so are young people with obesity.

New Study on COVID and Obesity

A study released ahead of publication found that of the more than 3600 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in a large academic hospital in New York City, more than 20% had a BMI of 30-34 (Class I obesity) and more than 15% had a BMI > 35 (Class II obesity or higher). When stratified by age, researchers found significantly higher rates of hospital admission and the requirement for ICU care in patients <60 years of age with obesity.

Compared with patients with a BMI of < 30 (i.e., overweight but not obese), patients under 60 years of age with Class I obesity were;

  • 2.0 times more likely to be admitted to Acute Care
  • 1.8 times more likely to be admitted to intensive care

Compared with patients under the age of 60 years old with a BMI <30 (not obese), patients with a BMI of 35 and above (Class II obesity and higher) were;

  • 2.2 times more likely to be admitted to Acute Care
  • 3.6 times more likely to be admitted to intensive care

Among the 3600 patients who were subjects in this study, there was no significant difference in hospitalization rates and intensive care needs by BMI among people 60 years of age and older, which is consistent with findings reported in the preceding article, which found that obesity was a significantly higher risk factor of hospitalization in those 18-49 years of age [1].

Note: As covered in the previous article, hypertension (i.e., high blood pressure) is a significant underlying condition in adults 65 years of age hospitalized with COVID-19.

Patients with a BMI of ⩾30 in the current study represented 36% of all patients, which is fairly representative of the US population as a whole, which is estimated to have an obesity rate of BMI >30 of 40% [3,4]. Given that the obesity rates of BMI >30 in Canada [5] are ~ 33%, the need for hospitalization and acute or intensive care may be somewhat lower here (i.e., more reflective of the slightly lower obesity rates in Canada).

With a vaccine for COVID-19 a year or longer away, current efforts to reduce the risk of contracting the virus necessarily focus on physical and social distancing, personal hygiene, including proper hand-washing technique,s and avoiding touching one’s face, as well as wearing face coverings in public places. These are all very important; however, those under the age of 60 years can reduce the risk of getting serious complications or dying from complications from the virus by achieving, then maintaining a healthy body weight.

Weight Loss – easier said than done?

Most people know that achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight is important to lower the risk of getting type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Since we are already eating most of our meals at home and with a COVID-19 vaccine a year or more away, now is an ideal time to make the dietary changes needed to achieve a healthy body weight and lower our risks of requiring hospitalization should we get COVID-19. In fact, most people in the class I obesity (BMI > 30) category can make the dietary changes necessary to achieve a normal body weight within a few months. 

More Info?

If you would like more information about how I can help you lose weight and then keep it off, please reach out to me. All my services are now provided via Distance Consultation, but I already have more than a decade of experience providing virtual nutrition support, so this is nothing new for me.  I have both the experience and expertise to help.

You can find information about the different packages I offer under the Services tab. If you have any service-related questions, please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. Garg S, Kim L, Whitaker M, et al. Hospitalization Rates and Characteristics of Patients Hospitalized with Laboratory-Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 — COVID-NET, 14 States, March 1—30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 8 April 2, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32298251/
  2. Lighter J, Phillips M, Hochman S et al, Obesity in patients younger than 60 years is a risk factor for Covid-19 hospital admission, accepted manuscript, Clinical Infectious Diseases. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa415,  https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa415/5818333
  3. Ogden, C.L., et al., Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults, by Household Income and Education – United States, 2011-2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2017. 66(50):p. 1369-1373, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6650a1.htm
  4. State of Obesity, Adult Obesity in the United States, https://stateofobesity.org/adult-obesity/
  5. Statistics Canada, Health at a Glance, Adjusting the scales: Obesity in the Canadian population after correcting for respondent bias,  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-624-x/2014001/article/11922-eng.htm

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything you have read or heard in our content.

Posted on

Why Underlying or Comorbid Conditions are Very Important in COVID-19

It is well-known that older adults are at greater risk of getting serious complications from COVID-19, but few people realize that the majority of people that require hospitalization in the US [1] (and presumably the data is similar in Canada) have very common underlying medical conditions (known as “comorbid” conditions), including high blood pressure (hypertension), obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease and chronic lung disease [1]. With a vaccine for COVID-19 coronovirus more than a year a way, current efforts to reduce the risk of contracting the virus focus on physical and social distancing measures, personal hygiene including proper hand-washing techniques and avoiding touching one’s face, as well as wearing face coverings in public places but there is more we can do to reduce the risk of getting serious complications or dying from complications from the virus — and that is addressing dietary and lifestyle changes that are documented to put comorbid conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and obesity into remission.

Early release of a research study on April 8, 2020 [1] reported that between March 1-30, 2020, hospitalization rate in 99 counties of 14 US states was 4.6 people per 100,000 population, and rates were highest amongst those who were ≥65 years of age and those with underlying medical conditions. Among almost 1500 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19—associated hospitalizations, almost 25% were between the ages of 5—17 years, almost 25% were aged 18—49 years, ~30% were aged 50—64 years and 43% were aged ≥65 years. Among those patients with data on underlying medical conditions, almost 90% had one or more comorbid conditions — with almost 50% of patients having hypertension (high blood pressure) or obesity and almost 30% having diabetes or cardiovascular disease. This is huge.

“These findings suggest that older adults have elevated rates of COVID-19—associated hospitalization and the majority of persons hospitalized with COVID-19 have underlying medical conditions.”[1]

Underlying comorbid conditions among US adults with COVID-19

Changing What’s in Our Control to Change

Many of us feel somewhat powerless during this COVID-19 outbreak and while the internet is full of recommendations for dietary supplements, many overlook the most obvious way to lower risk of serious complications by lowering any known comorbid conditions we may have. We can achieve and maintain a normal body weight and waist circumference, normalize blood pressure and blood sugar, and lipid markers such as improving HDL cholesterol and lowering triglycerides.

As covered in an earlier article, a study published in November 2018 reported that 88% of Americans are already metabolically unhealthy[2]; that is, only 12% have metabolic health defined as [2];

  1. Waist Circumference: < 102 cm (40 inches) for men and 88 cm (34.5 inches) in women
  2. Systolic Blood Pressure: < 120 mmHG
  3. Diastolic Blood Pressure: < 80 mmHG
  4. Glucose: < 5.5 mmol/L (100 mg/dL)
  5. HbA1c: < 5.7%
  6. Triglycerides: < 1.7 mmol/l (< 150 mg/dL)
  7. HDL cholesterol: ≥ 1.00 mmol/L (≥40 mg/dL) in men and ≥ 1.30 mmol/L (50 mg/dl) in women

When considering only waist circumference, blood glucose levels and blood pressure levels, ~50% of Americans were considered metabolically unhealthy [3].  Given the slightly lower rates of obesity in Canada as in the United States, there is likely a slightly lower percentage of Canadians who are metabolically unhealthy, but the similarity of our diets may make that difference insignificant.

While we obviously can’t reduce our age or the presence of chronic lung conditions such as asthma or COPD, we can lower our risk of having severe outcomes should we contract the virus;

  • If we are overweight, we can lose weight.
  • If we have high blood pressure we can make safe and effective dietary changes to lower that, and by adding other lifestyle changes, achieving normal blood pressure without the need for medication is possible.
  • If we have higher than normal blood sugar, we can normalize that through dietary and lifestyle changes. Type 2 diabetes need not be a “chronic progressive disease”! It can be put into remission.
  • If we have abnormal lipid panel (cholesterol), we can change the way we eat to lower triglyceride levels, as well as increase HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels.

Final Thoughts…

There is much about the current situation we can’t change. Physical (social) distancing measures will likely be in place for some time. The need for consistent hand hygiene and avoiding touching our face will likely be come second nature for most of us, as may be the wearing of face coverings in public for many.

But with all of us eating at home almost all of time, now is an ideal time to find out how to eat in such a way to improve our metabolic health and lower our risk of serious outcomes should we contract the virus.

More Info?

If you would like more information about how I can help you and your family eat better, or how I can help you lose weight, lower blood pressure or blood sugar or lower cardiovascular risk, please reach out to me. While all my services are now provided via Distance Consultation, I have more than a decade of experience providing virtual nutrition support.

You can find more about the details of the different packages I offer by looking under the Services tab, or in the Shop and if you have any service-related questions, please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. Garg S, Kim L, Whitaker M, et al. Hospitalization Rates and Characteristics of Patients Hospitalized with Laboratory-Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 — COVID-NET, 14 States, March 1—30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 8 April 2020. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6915e3
  2. Araíºjo J, Cai J, Stevens J. Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009—2016. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders Vol 20, No. 20, pg 1-7, DOI: 10.1089/met.2018.0105

 

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.