60% of Americans have conditions that increase the risk of COVID-19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Medical condition Increases the risk of developing severe COVID-19.

Many of these are very common among Americans:

• cancer. Ah Estimated 1.8 million Americans Diagnosed with cancer this year, with breast and lung cancer being the most common types. 2017 estimated 15.7 million Americans I was alive with cancer.
• Chronic kidney disease. Around 37 million US adults Although suffering from chronic kidney disease, 9 out of 10 adults do not know what is known.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). about 16 million Americans If you have emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or another COPD lung disease. These are more common among adults with low income, public insurance and smoking history.
• Heart disease. Estimation 30.3 million US adults Diagnosed heart disease. There may be millions of undiagnosed heart conditions.
• obesity. is more than 42% of American adults — About 108 million people — Obesity. Obesity occurs in 40% of young people aged 20 to 39 years. “The high obesity rate in the US may be one explanatory factor behind the high mortality rates associated with COVID,” Popkin said. He recently paper Look at the relationship between obesity and COVID-19.
• Sickle cell disease. This genetic disease affects about 100,000 Americans, Including 1 in 365 Black Americans.
• Type 2 diabetes. is more than 32 million Americans It has type 2 diabetes and more than 7 million cases have not been diagnosed. In 2015, an additional 88 million American adults had pre-diabetes, an early stage in this condition.
• Weakness of the immune system due to organ transplantation. Almost 40,000 organ transplant Done in 2019, 750,000 or more It has been held since 1988.

Other conditions and factors can also increase human risk, according to the CDC, but we don’t have enough data yet to know for sure. These include:

• asthma
• Cerebrovascular disease affecting blood supply to blood vessels and brain
• Cystic fibrosis
• Damaged or scarred lung tissue (pulmonary fibrosis)
• High blood pressure, Or high blood pressure
• Liver disease
• Neurological condition such as dementia
• pregnancy
• smoking
• Thalassemia, a type of blood disease
• Type 1 diabetes
• Weakness due to blood or bone marrow transplantation, immunodeficiency, HIV, or use of corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive drugs

There are many more things scientists don’t know about COVID-19, including why it is and why some people get more serious illnesses.

Older people and the underlying illness increase the risk of COVID-19 becoming more severe, but some healthy people are strongly affected by coronaviruses.

The CDC data is 6% Out of more than 180,000 deaths from COVID-19, none of the other causes listed on the death certificate.

Some people had other conditions that contributed to their death, but this does not mean they did not die in COVID-19.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, interview “Good morning America”.

“It doesn’t mean that people with high blood pressure or diabetes who died of COVID didn’t die of COVID-19. They did,” he added.

In addition, many of the other factors listed in the CDC report are conditions caused by SARS-CoV-2, such as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, heart failure, and renal failure.

When COVID-19 causes pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome, the leading cause of death is COVID-19.

Coronaviruses are not just respiratory viruses that affect the lungs. It Can also influence Stomach, intestines, heart, blood vessels, liver, kidneys, immune system.

Part of the damage is caused by an overreaction of the immune system to the virus. this is”Cytokine storm.. “

In addition to obesity, diabetes is another COVID-19 risk factor of particular concern to millions of Americans, especially those with undiagnosed and uncontrolled hyperglycemia.

Dr. Roman Jean ChandaniCOVID-19 is associated with an increased risk of serious illness, says diabetics who are professors of internal medicine in the Department of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Diabetes at the University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine.

“Diabetics are increasing the severity of COVID-19,” she said. “Some of this is due to other conditions like coexisting heart disease [with diabetes], In addition to diabetes complications. “

There is also an interaction between Diabetes and COVID-19 May worsen patient outcomes.

“Diabetics have baseline levels of inflammation that are exacerbated by infections,” said Gianchandani, which can be exacerbated in patients with poorly controlled blood glucose levels.

People with diabetes often have high blood pressure or heart and kidney disorders, all of which increase a person’s risk of severe COVID-19.

Gianchandani said COVID-19 can also cause inflammation and increase blood sugar levels in diabetic patients. If the inflammation is severe, it can even raise the blood sugar in people without diabetes.

She and her colleagues are working on better ways to monitor and manage high blood glucose levels in COVID-19 patients. They recently published their preliminary results in a journal Diabetes..

Their tools are designed for diabetics in hospitals, but Gianchandani says the concept applies to others as well.

“A well-being and healthy diabetic at home needs to absolutely monitor and track blood sugar levels and work with the doctor’s office to maintain a good diabetes management regimen,” she said.

“It’s also important to take all COVID-19 precautions to prevent the disease from developing,” she added.

These are good tips for anyone with an underlying disorder. On that website, CDC list Actions that people with chronic illnesses can take to reduce the risk of severe COVID-19.