"In early 2020, we saw the beginning of the COVID-19 ‘pandemic’.
The world went into lockdown and even after lockdowns in various countries had been lifted, restrictions continued.
Data now shows that lockdowns seemingly had limited if any positive impacts on the trajectory of COVID-19 and in 2022 the world
– especially the poor
– is paying an immense price not least in terms of
loss of income,
loss of livelihoods,
the deterioration of mental
and physical health,
the eradication of civil liberties,
disrupted supply chains and shortages.
Before proceeding, the distinction should be made between dying from COVID and dying with COVID.
Those classified as dying with COVID include people entering hospital and testing positive while there,
but they died due to other reasons,
or they had chronic underlying conditions which possibly caused their death and COVID may or may not have been a complicating factor.
In the US, the Center for Disease Control provides a list of comorbid conditions in COVID-19 patients, which includes cancer, chronic kidney disease, heart disease, Down syndrome, obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Research conducted in a German hospital shows that for those who died after SARS-CoV-2 infection the median number of chronic comorbidities was four and ranged from three to eight.
Arterial hypertension was the most prevalent
chronic condition (65.4%),
followed by obesity (38.5%),
chronic ischemic heart disease (34.6%),
atrial fibrillation (26.9%) and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (23.1%).
Of all patients, 15.4% had diabetes type II and chronic renal failure was noticed in 11.5%.
The data suggests severe chronic comorbidities and health conditions in the majority of patients that had died after COVID-19.
The meta-analysis Prevalence of comorbidities in patients and mortality cases affected by SARS-CoV2: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2020) found that hypertension was the most prevalent comorbidity (affecting 32% of patients).
Other common comorbidities included diabetes (22%)
and heart disease (13%).
The odds ratio of death for a patient with a comorbidity compared to one with no comorbidity was 2.4.
The higher the prevalence of comorbidities the higher the odds that a COVID-19 patient will need intensive care or will die, especially if the pre-existing disease is hypertension, heart disease or diabetes.
In 2020, just 1,557 people aged 1-64 with no underlying co-morbidities were listed as having died from COVID in England and Wales out of a population of about 59 million.
For the tens of thousands who were categorised as dying with COVID, co-morbidities were prevalent.
UK data for 2020 shows that for ages 1-64 years, those who died with COVID had on average 1.71 co-morbidities.
For those aged 65 and over, the figure is 2.02.
Patients with rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases have a 54% increased risk for COVID-19 infection and more than twice the risk for COVID-19 death, versus the general population, according to data published in the journal Rheumatology (2021).
In the paper ‘COVID-19 in patients with autoimmune diseases: characteristics and outcomes in a multinational network of cohorts across three countries’ (2021), which also appeared in Rheumatology, researchers compared influenza with COVID-19 and concluded that the latter is a more severe disease for people with these conditions, leading to added complications and higher mortality.
Of deaths in England and Wales where COVID-19 is listed, official government data shows the most common pre-existing condition recorded on the death certificate is diabetes (July to September 2021).
This was identified in almost a quarter (22.5%) of ‘COVID deaths’.
Emerging data also suggests that obesity is a big risk factor for the progression of major complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), cytokine storm and coagulopathy in COVID-19.
A paper posted on the US Center for Disease Control website provides an overview of factors associated with COVID-19 deaths for a 12-month period.
The study, Underlying Medical Conditions and Severe Illness Among 540,667 Adults Hospitalized with COVID-19, March 2020–March 2021, looked at records of hospitalised adults and found that 94.9% had at least one underlying medical condition.
The authors conclude that certain underlying conditions and the number of conditions were associated with severe COVID-19 illness.
Hypertension and disorders of lipid metabolism were the most frequent, whereas obesity, diabetes with complication and anxiety disorders were the strongest risk factors for severe COVID-19.
Based on the findings, Dr Peregrino Brimahdata (a molecular biologist, medical doctor, college professor and a published researcher)
notes that obesity by itself gave a 30% increased death risk,
anxiety disorders gave a 29% increased risk of death and
diabetes led to a 26% increased risk of death.
Brimahdata concludes that about two-thirds of ‘COVID deaths’ were patients who may be regarded as grossly unhealthy.
From the data presented above, it is clear that the vast majority of ‘COVID deaths’ (dying with COVID) are people who have serious, ongoing health conditions, the prevalence of which among the population has been rising year on year for decades and accelerating.
Food system
Although hereditary factors are involved, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute in London believe the growing popularity of Western-style diets is a major reason why autoimmune diseases are rising across the world by around 3% to 9% a year.
Professor James Lee from the institute recently told The Observer newspaper that human genetics has not altered over the past few decades, so something is changing in our environment that is increasing predisposition to autoimmune disease.
His research team found that Western-style diets based on processed ingredients and with a lack of fresh vegetables can trigger autoimmune diseases.
Lee says that numbers of autoimmune cases began to increase about 40 years ago in the Western countries but are now also emerging in countries that never had such diseases before.
These diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis.
It is estimated that approximately four million people in the UK have an autoimmune disease.
A Western-style diet is characterised by highly processed and refined foods with high contents of sugars, salt, and fat and protein from red meat.
It is a major contributor to metabolic disturbances and the development of obesity-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease – the top comorbidities where ‘COVID deaths’ are concerned. ..."
Saturday, January 22, 2022
FROM THE UK: Comorbidities & COVID-19, by Kit Knightly
Source:
NOTE:
Many paragraphs on health effects
of pesticides were deleted
The conclusions were ny
supported with data.
Ye Editor
