TY - JOUR AU - Malhotra, Aseem AU - Kamepalli, Ravi Kumar AU - Bamrah, J.S. PY - 2020/07/08 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Perspective: Poor metabolic health is a major issue for increased COVID-19 mortality in BAME groups JF - The Physician JA - phy VL - 6 IS - 2 SE - DO - 10.38192/1.6.2.4 UR - https://physicianjnl.net/index.php/phy/article/view/38 SP - AB - <p><strong>Editorial Note</strong></p><p>Type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension are the most common comorbidities in patients with coronavirus infections. Emerging evidence demonstrates an important direct metabolic and endocrine mechanistic link to the viral disease process. Metabolic syndrome (METS) is a common denominator to these comorbidities and includes insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia, central obesity and hypertension, which are risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. In 2017, it was estimated that METS affected 20% of the North American population, 25% of the European population and approximately 15% of the Chinese population. In this scenario, the relationship between METS and its comorbidities that aggravate the COVID-19 prognosis cannot be ignored. Also, its presence in different ethnicities and continents places METS as an important risk factor for COVID-19. The authors offer their scientific and epidemiological perspective on this emerging association and urge an international awareness of its devastating consequences among certain populations. This article welcomes debate among scientists, policymakers and wider community leaders. The authors urge clinicians to encourage thorough metabolic control for all patients at risk of COVID-19. (a,b) The Physician welcomes contributions from interested scientists, policymakers and patient representative organisations to continue this discourse.</p> ER -