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The coronavirus has added a brutal exclamation point to America’s pervasive ill health. Americans with obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other diet-related diseases are about three times more likely to suffer worsened outcomes from Covid-19, including death. Had we flattened the still-rising curves of these conditions, it’s quite possible that our fight against the virus would today look very different. To combat this and future pandemics, we need to talk about not only the masks that go over our mouths but the food that goes into them.

More than a quarter of all NHS patients who have died after being infected with Covid-19 had diabetes, according to new statistics from NHS England. Between 31 March and 12 May, a total of 5,873 patients with diabetes died in hospital from Covid-19, 26 per cent of all coronavirus deaths.

A recent report from New York shows more than two in every five people requiring a breathing tube were obese. A report from one intensive care unit in France found almost 90% of morbidly obese patients admitted required mechanical ventilation compared to less than half of those with lower body weight.

Dr. Mozaffarian explained that poor metabolic health was the immunity-impairing factor underlying cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity-related cancers that left so many nutritionally compromised Americans especially vulnerable to the lethal coronavirus now all but paralyzing the country. Note: Some links may lead to subscription based services which may not allow you to open the full article.

As federal officials remove many of the regulatory and reimbursement barriers that have hindered more widespread telehealth adoption in the past, providers nationwide are using new technologies to deliver care amid social-distancing efforts to prevent coronavirus spread. Some vendors are even giving away products and services free. Here’s a selection of just some of the many telehealth vendors out there, along with descriptions of their offerings, for healthcare organizations who might want to make use of the technology during this unprecedented time. Check back for additions in the days and weeks ahead.

Doctors at NYU Langone Health center conducted the largest study so far of US hospital admissions for COVID-19, focused on New York City. They found obesity, along with age, was the biggest deciding factor in hospital admissions, which may suggest the role of hyper-inflammatory reactions that can happen in those with the disease.

Type-2 Diabetes is a condition of hyperinsulinaemia (high blood glucose levels with chronically elevated insulin), high blood pressure (symptom of hyperinsulinaemia) which occurs in those with diabetes (pre diabetes - aka stage 1 Type - 2 diabetes), these are MAJOR RISK factors for complication and fatality from Coronavirus COVID19.

People living with diabetes are at higher risk for serious complications related to COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC is recommending that people with diabetes, as well as other vulnerable populations, take extra precautions to reduce their risk. What should people living with diabetes do to reduce their risk? What does the scientific literature say about health risks related to COVID-19 and diabetes? What can employers, health plans, and health systems do right now to support vulnerable populations? And what are we still hoping to learn? Webinar is Wednesday, April 1st.

A study using neuroimaging led by Stony Brook University professor and lead author Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi, PhD, and published in PNAS, reveals that neurobiological changes associated with aging can be seen at a much younger age than would be expected, in the late 40s. However, the study also suggests that this process may be prevented or reversed based on dietary changes that involve minimizing the consumption of simple carbohydrates.

A keto diet holds promise as a way to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce visceral body fat, potentially helping to manage symptoms of PCOS, according to a small study published February 27th in the Journal of Translational Medicine.