scholarly journals Metabolic syndrome increases COVID-19-related mortality in the UK Biobank sample

Author(s):  
Filip Morys ◽  
Alain Dagher

AbstractPrevious studies link obesity and individual components of metabolic syndrome to increased hospitalisations and death rates of patients with COVID-19. Here, in two overlapping samples of over 1,000 individuals from the UK Biobank we investigate whether metabolic syndrome, and its constituent components, increased waist circumference, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, diabetes, and systemic inflammation, are related to increased COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. Using logistic regression and controlling for confounding variables such as socioeconomic status, age, sex or ethnicity, we find that individuals with pre-existing metabolic syndrome (measured on average eleven years prior to 2020) have an increased risk for COVID-19-related death (odds ratio 1.67). We also find that specific factors contributing to increased mortality are serum glucose levels, systolic blood pressure and waist circumference.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Morys ◽  
Alain Dagher

Previous studies link obesity and components of metabolic health, such as hypertension or inflammation, to increased hospitalizations and mortality of patients with COVID-19. Here, in two overlapping samples of over 1,000 individuals from the UK Biobank we investigate whether metabolic health as measured by waist circumference, dyslipidemia, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and systemic inflammation is related to increased COVID-19 infection and mortality rate. Using logistic regression and controlling for confounding variables such as socioeconomic status, age, sex or ethnicity, we find that individuals with worse metabolic health (measured on average eleven years prior to 2020) have an increased risk for COVID-19-related death (adjusted odds ratio: 1.75). We also find that specific factors contributing to increased mortality are increased serum glucose levels, systolic blood pressure and waist circumference.


Author(s):  
Catherine Lovegrove

Catherine E Lovegrove1,2 – [email protected] Littlejohns3- [email protected] Allen3- [email protected] A Howles1,4- [email protected] W Turney 1,2- [email protected] 1 Department of Urology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK2 University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK3 University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Public Health, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK4 Academic Endocrine Unit, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK   Objectives To investigate the relationship between measures of adiposity and risk of incident kidney stone disease. Patients and methods The UK Biobank is a prospective cohort study of ~500,000 participants whose height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist:hip ratio (WHR), total fat mass, fat-free mass, body-fat percentage and percentage truncal fat were measured at enrolment with linkage to medical records. ICD-10 and OPCS codes were used to identify individuals with a new diagnosis of nephrolithiasis from 2006-2010. Individuals with a history of kidney stones or incomplete data were excluded. Multivariate Cox-proportional hazard models were used to assess associations between anthropometric measures and incident kidney stones. Results From the UK Biobank, 493,410 individuals were identified for inclusion; 3,466 developed a kidney stone during the study period. Increasing weight, BMI, waist and hip circumferences, WHR, and body and truncal fat were associated with increased risk of incident kidney stone disease. However, after adjustment for BMI, only waist circumference and WHR remained significantly associated with risk of nephrolithiasis. In overweight patients, high (men 94-102cm, women 80-88cm) waist circumference or WHR (men >0.9, women >0.85) conferred >40% increased risk of stone formation. Conclusion This study indicates that android fat distribution is independently associated with increased risk of developing nephrolithiasis. Kidney stone disease is known to be associated with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, all of which are linked to android body shape. Our findings provide insight into anthropometric risk factors for stone disease, will facilitate identification of patients at greatest risk of stone recurrence, and will inform prevention strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_6) ◽  
Author(s):  
C Lovegrove ◽  
T Littlejohns ◽  
N Allen ◽  
S Howles ◽  
B Turney

Abstract Aim To investigate the relationship between measures of adiposity and risk of incident kidney stone disease. Method The UK Biobank is a prospective cohort study of ∼500,000 participants whose height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist:hip ratio (WHR), total fat mass, fat-free mass, body-fat percentage, and percentage truncal fat were measured at enrolment with linkage to medical records. ICD-10 and OPCS codes identified individuals with a new diagnosis of nephrolithiasis from 2006-2010. Individuals with a history of kidney stones or incomplete data were excluded. Multivariate Cox-proportional hazard models were used to assess associations between anthropometric measures and incident kidney stones. Results From the UK Biobank, 493,410 individuals were identified for inclusion; 3,466 developed a kidney stone during the study period. Increasing weight, BMI, waist, and hip circumferences, WHR, and body and truncal fat were all associated with increased risk of incident kidney stone disease. However, after adjustment for BMI, only waist circumference and WHR remained significantly associated with risk of nephrolithiasis. In overweight patients, high (men 94-102cm, women 80-88cm) waist circumference or WHR (men >0.9, women >0.85) conferred >40% increased risk of stone formation. Conclusions This study indicates that android fat distribution is independently associated with increased risk of developing nephrolithiasis. Kidney stone disease is known to be associated with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, all of which have been linked to android body shape. Our findings provide insight into anthropometric risk factors for stone disease, will facilitate identification of patients at greatest risk of stone recurrence, and will inform prevention strategies.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1514
Author(s):  
Shing Fung Lee ◽  
Maja Nikšić ◽  
Bernard Rachet ◽  
Maria-Jose Sanchez ◽  
Miguel Angel Luque-Fernandez

We explored the role of socioeconomic inequalities in COVID-19 incidence among cancer patients during the first wave of the pandemic. We conducted a case-control study within the UK Biobank cohort linked to the COVID-19 tests results available from 16 March 2020 until 23 August 2020. The main exposure variable was socioeconomic status, assessed using the Townsend Deprivation Index. Among 18,917 participants with an incident malignancy in the UK Biobank cohort, 89 tested positive for COVID-19. The overall COVID-19 incidence was 4.7 cases per 1000 incident cancer patients (95%CI 3.8–5.8). Compared with the least deprived cancer patients, those living in the most deprived areas had an almost three times higher risk of testing positive (RR 2.6, 95%CI 1.1–5.8). Other independent risk factors were ethnic minority background, obesity, unemployment, smoking, and being diagnosed with a haematological cancer for less than five years. A consistent pattern of socioeconomic inequalities in COVID-19 among incident cancer patients in the UK highlights the need to prioritise the cancer patients living in the most deprived areas in vaccination planning. This socio-demographic profiling of vulnerable cancer patients at increased risk of infection can inform prevention strategies and policy improvements for the coming pandemic waves.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Farhadnejad ◽  
Karim Parastouei ◽  
Hosein Rostami ◽  
Parvin Mirmiran ◽  
Fereidoun Azizi

Abstract Background In the current study, we aimed to investigate the association of dietary inflammation scores (DIS) and lifestyle inflammation scores (LIS) with the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a prospective population-based study. Methods A total of 1625 participants without MetS were recruited from among participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study(2006–2008) and followed a mean of 6.1 years. Dietary data of subjects were collected using a food frequency questionnaire at baseline to determine LIS and DIS. Multivariable logistic regression models, were used to calculate the odds ratio (ORs) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) of MetS across tertiles of DIS and LIS. Results Mean ± SD age of individuals (45.8 % men) was 37.5 ± 13.4 years. Median (25–75 interquartile range) DIS and LIS for all participants was 0.80 (− 2.94, 3.64) and 0.48 (− 0.18, − 0.89), respectively. During the study follow-up, 291 (17.9 %) new cases of MetS were identified. Based on the age and sex-adjusted model, a positive association was found between LIS (OR = 7.56; 95% CI 5.10–11.22, P for trend < 0.001) and risk of MetS, however, the association of DIS and risk of MetS development was not statistically significant (OR = 1.30;95% CI 0.93–1.80, P for trend = 0.127). In the multivariable model, after adjustment for confounding variables, including age, sex, body mass index, physical activity, smoking, and energy intake, the risk of MetS is increased across tertiles of DIS (OR = 1.59; 95% CI 1.09–2.33, P for trend = 0.015) and LIS(OR = 8.38; 95% CI 5.51–12.7, P for trend < 0.001). Conclusions The findings of the current study showed that greater adherence to LIS and DIS, determined to indicate the inflammatory potential of diet and lifestyle, are associated with increased the risk of MetS.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e046931
Author(s):  
Junren Wang ◽  
Jianwei Zhu ◽  
Huazhen Yang ◽  
Yao Hu ◽  
Yajing Sun ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on cardiovascular disease (CVD) related mortality and hospitalisation.DesignCommunity-based prospective cohort study.SettingThe UK Biobank.Participants421 372 UK Biobank participants who were registered in England and alive as of 1 January 2020.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe primary outcome of interest was CVD-related death, which was defined as death with CVD as a cause in the death register. We retrieved information on hospitalisations with CVD as the primary diagnosis from the UK Biobank hospital inpatient data. The study period was 1 January 2020 to June 30 2020, and we used the same calendar period of the three preceding years as the reference period. In order to control for seasonal variations and ageing of the study population, standardised mortality/incidence ratios (SMRs/SIRs) with 95% CIs were used to estimate the relative risk of CVD outcomes during the study period, compared with the reference period.ResultsWe observed a distinct increase in CVD-related deaths in March and April 2020, compared with the corresponding months of the three preceding years. The observed number of CVD-related deaths (n=218) was almost double in April, compared with the expected number (n=120) (SMR=1.82, 95% CI 1.58 to 2.07). In addition, we observed a significant decline in CVD-related hospitalisations from March onwards, with the lowest SIR observed in April (0.45, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.49).ConclusionsThere was a distinct increase in the number of CVD-related deaths in the UK Biobank population at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. The shortage of medical resources for hospital care and stress reactions to the pandemic might have partially contributed to the excess CVD-related mortality, underscoring the need of sufficient healthcare resources and improved instructions to the public about seeking healthcare in a timely way.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (15) ◽  
pp. 2499-2504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Escott-Price ◽  
Daniel J. Smith ◽  
Kimberley Kendall ◽  
Joey Ward ◽  
George Kirov ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundThere is strong evidence that people born in winter and in spring have a small increased risk of schizophrenia. As this ‘season of birth’ effect underpins some of the most influential hypotheses concerning potentially modifiable risk exposures, it is important to exclude other possible explanations for the phenomenon.MethodsHere we sought to determine whether the season of birth effect reflects gene-environment confounding rather than a pathogenic process indexing environmental exposure. We directly measured, in 136 538 participants from the UK Biobank (UKBB), the burdens of common schizophrenia risk alleles and of copy number variants known to increase the risk for the disorder, and tested whether these were correlated with a season of birth.ResultsNeither genetic measure was associated with season or month of birth within the UKBB sample.ConclusionsAs our study was highly powered to detect small effects, we conclude that the season of birth effect in schizophrenia reflects a true pathogenic effect of environmental exposure.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Gray ◽  
Matthew Thompson ◽  
Chelsie Benca-Bachman ◽  
Max Michael Owens ◽  
Mikela Murphy ◽  
...  

Chronic cigarette smoking is associated with increased risk for myriad health consequences including cognitive decline and dementia, but research on the link between smoking and brain structure is nascent. We assessed the relationship of cigarette smoking (ever smoked, cigarettes per day, and duration) with gray and white matter using the UK Biobank cohort (gray matter N = 19,615; white matter N = 17,760), adjusting for numerous demographic and health confounders. Ever smoked and duration were associated with smaller total gray matter volume. Ever smoked was associated with reduced volume of the right VIIIa cerebellum, as well as elevated white matter hyperintensity volumes. Smoking duration was associated with reduced total white matter volume. With regard to specific tracts, ever smoked was associated with reduced fractional anisotropy in the left cingulate gyrus part of the cingulum, left posterior thalamic radiation, and bilateral superior thalamic radiation and increased mean diffusivity in the middle cerebellar peduncle, right medial lemniscus, bilateral posterior thalamic radiation, and bilateral superior thalamic radiation. Overall, we found significant associations of cigarette exposure with global measures of gray and white matter. Furthermore, we found select associations of ever smoked, but not cigarettes per day or duration, with specific gray and white matter regions. These findings inform our understanding of the connections between smoking and variation in brain structure and clarify potential mechanisms of risk for common neurological sequelae.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marit de Jong ◽  
Mark Woodward ◽  
Sanne A.E Peters

<b>Objective:</b> Diabetes has shown to be a stronger risk factor for myocardial infarction (MI) in women than men. Whether sex differences exist across the glycaemic spectrum is unknown. We investigated sex differences in the associations of diabetes status and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) with the risk of MI. <br> <b>Research Design and Methods:</b> Data were used from 471,399 (56% women) individuals without cardiovascular disease (CVD) included in the UK Biobank. Sex-specific incidence rates were calculated by diabetes status and across levels of HbA1c, using Poisson regression. Cox proportional hazards analyses estimated sex-specific hazard ratios (HR) and women-to-men ratios by diabetes status and HbA1c for MI during a mean follow-up of 9 years. <br> <b>Results:</b> Women had lower incidence rates of MI than men, regardless of diabetes status or HbA1c level. Compared with individuals without diabetes, prediabetes, undiagnosed diabetes, and previously diagnosed diabetes were associated with increased risk of MI in both sexes. Previously diagnosed diabetes was more strongly associated with MI in women (HR 2∙33 [95%CI 1∙96;2∙78]) than men (1∙81 [1∙63;2∙02]), with a women-to-men ratio of HRs of 1∙29 (1∙05;1∙58). Each 1% higher HbA1c, independent of diabetes status, was associated with an 18% greater risk of MI in both women and men.<br> <b>Conclusions:</b> Although the incidence of MI was higher in men than women, the presence of diabetes is associated with a greater excess relative risk of MI in women. However, each 1% higher HbA1c was associated with an 18% greater risk of MI in both women and men.<br> <br>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marit de Jong ◽  
Mark Woodward ◽  
Sanne A.E Peters

<b>Objective:</b> Diabetes has shown to be a stronger risk factor for myocardial infarction (MI) in women than men. Whether sex differences exist across the glycaemic spectrum is unknown. We investigated sex differences in the associations of diabetes status and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) with the risk of MI. <br> <b>Research Design and Methods:</b> Data were used from 471,399 (56% women) individuals without cardiovascular disease (CVD) included in the UK Biobank. Sex-specific incidence rates were calculated by diabetes status and across levels of HbA1c, using Poisson regression. Cox proportional hazards analyses estimated sex-specific hazard ratios (HR) and women-to-men ratios by diabetes status and HbA1c for MI during a mean follow-up of 9 years. <br> <b>Results:</b> Women had lower incidence rates of MI than men, regardless of diabetes status or HbA1c level. Compared with individuals without diabetes, prediabetes, undiagnosed diabetes, and previously diagnosed diabetes were associated with increased risk of MI in both sexes. Previously diagnosed diabetes was more strongly associated with MI in women (HR 2∙33 [95%CI 1∙96;2∙78]) than men (1∙81 [1∙63;2∙02]), with a women-to-men ratio of HRs of 1∙29 (1∙05;1∙58). Each 1% higher HbA1c, independent of diabetes status, was associated with an 18% greater risk of MI in both women and men.<br> <b>Conclusions:</b> Although the incidence of MI was higher in men than women, the presence of diabetes is associated with a greater excess relative risk of MI in women. However, each 1% higher HbA1c was associated with an 18% greater risk of MI in both women and men.<br> <br>


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