A new study by Tufts University has revealed that four factors – obesity, hypertension, diabetes and heart failure, in that order – are the pre-existing conditions most prevalent in COVID-19 patients that are hospitalized or die. The study used a mathematical model to estimate how many hospitalizations were attributable to these health problems, concluding that 64 percent would not have occurred in their absence.
Addressing the factors that lead to diabetes and heart disease could reduce hospitalizations, deaths and strains on the health care system not only for COVID-19 but for “future pandemics to come,” said the study’s lead author, Dariush Mozaffarian, in a release announcing the study.
“We know that changes in diet quality alone, even without weight loss, rapidly improve metabolic health within just six to eight weeks,” he said.
The detrimental impact of obesity was consistent among all age groups, but diabetics 65 and older were more likely to be hospitalized than younger patients with the disease. Black adults were hospitalized at higher rates due to all four conditions, and Hispanic adults were hospitalized more often due to diabetes and obesity.
Public health discussions must include policies that can reduce the prevalence of these conditions in minority populations, says Mozaffarian.
