Impact of COVID-19 and Associated Preventive Measures on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in South Korea

Abstract Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been required to follow preventive measures such as social distancing or staying at home, which can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. We investigated the effect of these preventive measures on metabolic parameters in individuals with cardiometabolic risk factors.Methods: Using data for patients who visited a tertiary hospital in South Korea at least twice a year for the past 4 years, changes in clinical and biochemical data from the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2020) were compared with changes in the same data at the same annual time points during the three previous seasons of 2016–2019.Results: Among 7,094 patients, data for 1,485 were included. Systolic blood pressure increased by 2.6 ± 18.2 mmHg in the COVID-19 pandemic period compared with the 2018–2019, 2017–2018, and 2016–2017 seasons: –1.4 ± 16.5 mmHg, –2.8 ± 14.3 mmHg, and –0.7 ± 14.3 mmHg, respectively; all p < 0.05. The body mass index increased by 0.09 ± 1.16 kg/m2 in the 2019–2020 pandemic season whereas it changed by –0.39 ± 3.03 kg/m2 in 2018–2019 and by –0.34 ± 2.18 kg/m2 in 2017–2018 (both p <0.05). Total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels worsened in the pandemic season compared with the previous three. Fasting glucose and glycated hemoglobin levels also showed increasing tendencies during the pandemic, but without significance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of patients whose metabolic syndrome worsened increased significantly by 21% compared with the 2018–2019 season. The 10-year coronary heart disease risk calculated using the Framingham risk score also increased significantly.Conclusions: Comorbidity and mortality arising from cardiometabolic disorders as collateral damage during COVID-19 infections and preventive procedures could have major impacts on human health in the future. Nationwide strategies to reverse the aggravation of cardiometabolic health during a pandemic should be implemented in countries attempting to cope with it.

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Increased monocyte to HDL cholesterol ratio in vitamin B12 deficiency: is it related to cardiometabolic risk?

International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research ◽

10.1024/0300-9831/a000668 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Sanem Kayhan ◽

Nazli Gulsoy Kirnap ◽

Mercan Tastemur

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Blood Pressure ◽

Uric Acid ◽

Vitamin B12 ◽

Cardiometabolic Risk ◽

Vitamin B12 Deficiency ◽

Left Ventricular ◽

Cardiometabolic Risk Factors ◽

B12 Deficiency ◽

Deficiency Group

Abstract. Vitamin B12 deficiency may have indirect cardiovascular effects in addition to hematological and neuropsychiatric symptoms. It was shown that the monocyte count-to-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio (MHR) is a novel cardiovascular marker. In this study, the aim was to evaluate whether MHR was high in patients with vitamin B12 deficiency and its relationship with cardiometabolic risk factors. The study included 128 patients diagnosed with vitamin B12 deficiency and 93 healthy controls. Patients with vitamin B12 deficiency had significantly higher systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), MHR, C-reactive protein (CRP) and uric acid levels compared with the controls (median 139 vs 115 mmHg, p < 0.001; 80 vs 70 mmHg, p < 0.001; 14.2 vs 9.5, p < 0.001; 10.2 vs 4 mg/dl p < 0.001; 6.68 vs 4.8 mg/dl, p < 0.001 respectively). The prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy was higher in vitamin B12 deficiency group (43.8%) than the control group (8.6%) (p < 0.001). In vitamin B12 deficiency group, a positive correlation was detected between MHR and SBP, CRP and uric acid (p < 0.001 r:0.34, p < 0.001 r:0.30, p < 0.001 r:0.5, respectively) and a significant negative correlation was detected between MHR and T-CHOL, LDL, HDL and B12 (p < 0.001 r: −0.39, p < 0.001 r: −0.34, p < 0.001 r: −0.57, p < 0.04 r: −0.17, respectively). MHR was high in vitamin B12 deficiency group, and correlated with the cardiometabolic risk factors in this group, which were SBP, CRP, uric acid and HDL. In conclusion, MRH, which can be easily calculated in clinical practice, can be a useful marker to assess cardiovascular risk in patients with vitamin B12 deficiency.

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