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

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been required to follow preventive measures such as government policy including the closure of exercise facilities and movement restriction, can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. We investigated the effect of these preventive measures on metabolic parameters in individuals with cardiometabolic disorders.Methods: In the current retrospective observational study of patients who visited the hospital at least twice a year for the past 4 years, changes in cardiometabolic factors from the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2020) were compared with changes in the same cohort at the same annual time points during the previous seasons of 2016–2019.Results: A total of 1,485 individuals with a mean age of 61.8 ± 11.7 years were included in the analysis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of patients whose metabolic syndrome worsened increased significantly by 21% compared with the 2018–2019 season. The body mass index increased by 0.09 ± 1.16 kg/m2 in the 2019–2020 pandemic period, whereas it decreased 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). Systolic blood pressure increased by 2.6 ± 18.2 mmHg in the COVID-19 pandemic period, while it decreased in the three antecedent seasons (all p < 0.05). The lipid profiles worsened in the pandemic period compared with the previous years. The Framingham coronary heart disease risk score also increased significantly.Conclusions: With preventive procedures during the contagious disease pandemic, nationwide strategies to maintain cardiometabolic health are necessary.

Use of Calcium Channel Blockers and Risk of Active Tuberculosis Disease

Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are known to reduce the availability of iron—an important mineral for intracellular pathogens. Nonetheless, whether the use of CCBs modifies the risk of active tuberculosis in the clinical setting remains unclear. To determine whether CCBs may modify the risk of active tuberculosis disease, we conducted a nested case-control study using the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan between January 1999 and December 2011. Conditional logistic regression and disease risk score adjustment were used to calculate the risk of active tuberculosis disease associated with CCB use. Subgroup analyses investigated the effect of different types of CCBs and potential effect modification in different subpopulations. A total of 8164 new active tuberculosis cases and 816 400 controls were examined. Use of CCBs was associated with a 32% decrease in the risk of active tuberculosis (relative risk [RR], 0.68 [95% CI, 0.58–0.78]) after adjustment with disease risk score. Compared with nonuse of CCBs, the use of dihydropyridine CCBs was associated with a lower risk of tuberculosis (RR, 0.63 [95% CI, 0.53–0.79]) than nondihydropyridine CCBs (RR, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.57–0.94]). In contrast, use of β-blockers (RR, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.83–1.12]) or loop diuretics (RR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.62–1.26]) was not associated with lower risk of tuberculosis. In subgroup analyses, the risk of tuberculosis associated with the use of CCBs was similar among patients with heart failure or cerebrovascular diseases. Our study confirms that use of dihydropyridine CCBs decreases the risk of active tuberculosis.