Proposed Mechanisms and Associations of COVID-19 with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors

Koushik R Reddy; Kamil F Faridi; Monica Aggarwal; Adithi A Tirumalai; Tamanna Singh; Kristen S Tejtel; Kim Williams; Sheldon E Litwin; Lily Nedda Dastmalchi; Beth Ann White; Neal Barnard; Dean Ornish; Travis Batts; George Ajene; Karen Aspry; Penny Kris Etherton; Sarah C Hull; Andrew M Freeman

doi:10.1177/15598276241269532

Proposed Mechanisms and Associations of COVID-19 with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors

Am J Lifestyle Med. 2024 Sep 2:15598276241269532. doi: 10.1177/15598276241269532. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Koushik R Reddy¹, Kamil F Faridi², Monica Aggarwal³, Adithi A Tirumalai⁴, Tamanna Singh⁵, Kristen S Tejtel⁶, Kim Williams⁷, Sheldon E Litwin⁸, Lily Nedda Dastmalchi⁹, Beth Ann White¹⁰, Neal Barnard¹¹, Dean Ornish¹², Travis Batts¹³, George Ajene¹⁴, Karen Aspry¹⁵, Penny Kris Etherton¹⁶, Sarah C Hull^{2

17}, Andrew M Freeman¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, James A. Haley VA Medical Center, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA (KRR).
² Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA (KFF).
³ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA (MA).
⁴ College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA (AAT).
⁵ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA (TS).
⁶ Division of Cardiology, Texas Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor School of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA (KST).
⁷ Department of Internal Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA (KW).
⁸ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA (SEL).
⁹ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA (LND).
¹⁰ Marshall Health, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Huntington, WV, USA (BAW).
¹¹ Adjunct Faculty, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Washington, DC, USA (NB).
¹² Division of Cardiology and Department of Medicine, Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, Uniform Services University, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹³ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, San Antonio, TX, USA (TB).
¹⁴ Division of Cardiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA (GA).
¹⁵ Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA (KA).
¹⁶ Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA (PKE).
¹⁷ Program for Biomedical Ethics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA (SCH).
¹⁸ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, USA (AMF).

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cardiometabolic risk (CMR) are highly prevalent globally. The interplay between CVD/CMR and COVID-19 morbidity and mortality has been intensely studied over the last three years and has yielded some important discoveries and warnings for public health. Despite many advances in cardiovascular medicine, CVD continues to be the global leading cause of death. Much of this disease burden results from high CMR imposed by behaviors centered around poor nutrition related to lifestyle choices and systemic constraints. Increased CVD/CMR contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic's unprecedented wave of disability and death, and the current state of cardiovascular health been equated to a "Population Code Blue." There is an urgent and unmet need to reorient our priorities towards health promotion and disease prevention. This manuscript will review how nutrition and lifestyle affect outcomes in COVID-19 and how some interventions and healthy lifestyle choices can markedly reduce disease burden, morbidity, and mortality.

Keywords: COVID-19; cardiovascular disease; lifestyle; nutrition.

Publication types

Review