Metabolic syndrome linked to worse outcomes for COVID-19 patients
Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were over three times more likely to
die if they had metabolic syndrome

Date:
August 25, 2020
Source:
Tulane University
Summary:
Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who had a combination of high
blood pressure, obesity and diabetes were over three times more
likely to die from the disease, according to a new study.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who had a combination of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes were over three times more likely to die
from the disease, according to a new Tulane University study.


==========================================================================
The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, is the first to
look at the impact of metabolic syndrome on outcomes for COVID-19
patients. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of at least three of five
conditions -- hypertension, high blood sugar, obesity, high triglycerides
and low HDL cholesterol -- that increases risk for cardiovascular disease.

"Together, obesity, diabetes and pre-diabetes, high blood pressure and
abnormal cholesterol levels are all predictive of higher incidents of
death in these patients. The more of these diagnoses that you have,
the worse the outcomes," said lead author Dr. Joshua Denson, assistant professor of medicine and pulmonary and critical care medicine physician
at Tulane University School of Medicine. "The underlying inflammation
that is seen with metabolic syndrome may be the driver that is leading to
these more severe cases." Researchers followed outcomes for 287 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 at Tulane Medical Center and University Medical Center New Orleans from March 30 to April 5, which was at the peak of
the pandemic in New Orleans. More than 85 percent of patients in the
study identified as non-Hispanic Black. The mean age was 61 years old
and almost 57 percent were women.

The most common conditions were hypertension (80%), obesity (65%),
diabetes (54%), and low HDL (39%).

Researchers looked at two groups -- those diagnosed with metabolic
syndrome and those who weren't. They tracked outcomes including if
patients were admitted to an intensive care unit, placed on a ventilator, developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or died from the
disease.



========================================================================== Almost 66% of the patients in the study had metabolic syndrome. When
these cases were compared with patients without the condition, 56%
vs 24% required the ICU, 48% vs 18% required a ventilator, 37% vs 11%
developed ARDS, and 26% vs 10% died.

Importantly, after accounting for age, sex, race, hospital location,
and other conditions, the patients with metabolic syndrome were 3.4
times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those who didn't have the condition. These patients were also nearly five times more likely to be admitted to an ICU, need a ventilator, or develop ARDS.

The study didn't find an increase in mortality for patients when only
one of the conditions clustered with metabolic syndrome were examined
alone. However, being obese or having diabetes was associated with
increased odds of ICU admission and being put on a ventilator.

"Metabolic syndrome should be considered a composite predictor of COVID-19 lethal outcome, increasing the odds of mortality by the combined effects
of its individual components," Denson said.

He would advise anyone who meets the criteria for metabolic syndrome to be vigilant in taking measures to reduce risk or exposure to the coronavirus.

"It doesn't matter if you're young or old -- we took that into account,"
he said. "You really should be extra careful. I would say it should
impact both preventing your exposures and, if you end up getting sick,
you should probably see your doctor sooner." Co-authors of the study
from Tulane include Dr. John Xie, Yuanhao Zu, Dr. Ala Alkhatib, Thaidan
T Pham, Frances Gill, Dr. Albert Jang, Dr. Stella Radosta, Dr. Gerard
Chaaya, Leann Myers, Dr. Jerry S. Zifodya, Dr. Christine M.

Bojanowski, Dr. Nassir F. Marrouche and Dr. Franck Mauvais-Jarvis.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Tulane_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. John Xie, Yuanhao Zu, Ala Alkhatib, Thaidan T. Pham, Frances
Gill, Albert
Jang, Stella Radosta, Gerard Chaaya, Leann Myers, Jerry S. Zifodya,
Christine M. Bojanowski, Nassir F. Marrouche, Franck Mauvais-Jarvis,
Joshua L. Denson. Metabolic Syndrome and COVID-19 Mortality Among
Adult Black Patients in New Orleans. Diabetes Care, August 2020;
DOI: 10.2337/ dc20-1714 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200825110754.htm

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