Metabolic Syndrome and COVID-19
In light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, metabolic health is even more important now than ever before. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that often occur together and increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. You can be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome if you have at least three out of the following five symptoms:
Abdominal/visceral fat. This means a waist size of more than 40 inches for a man and more than 35 inches for a woman. See how to measure your own waist here.
Fasting blood glucose levels of 100mg/dL or above.
Blood triglyceride levels of 150mg/dL or higher
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level of 40mg/dL or less for men and 50mg/dL or less for women.
Blood pressure of 130/85mmHg or above
In a recent meta-analysis from China, including 46,248 patients, it showed that the most prevalent co-morbidities in people infected by COVID-19 were:
-Hypertension at 14-22%
-Diabetes at 6-11%
-Cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease at 1-3% (surprisingly much lower than expected)
The patients who had the most severe disease and required extensive hospitalizations, were on average 2.75 times more likely to have had an underlying condition such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or respiratory disease. It is clear, that having one or more co-morbid condition puts you at a greater risk of serious illness if infected with COVID-19, with hypertension and diabetes being the two most serious conditions.
There is good news though! We can drastically improve all five symptoms of metabolic syndrome with dietary and lifestyle interventions. The first step is finding out what your personal numbers are. Do you know your fasting blood glucose and triglyceride level? Have you had a recent lab draw? Getting a basic lab panel, accurate blood pressure reading, and accurate waist circumference can be done quickly by a provider. We can start right away with recommendations to improve your health. Since most of us are sheltering in place for the next couple weeks, now is a great time to learn how to cook, start a work out routine, focus on sleep quality, and try out daily meditation. We cannot sit and be idle during the next few weeks. Now is the time to really take care of ourselves. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our office and schedule a visit to get your metabolic health in check.
