Aging versus youth: Endocrine aspects of vulnerability for COVID-19.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Oguz SH
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8050510 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:COVID-19 infection has tremendously impacted our daily clinical practice as well as our social living organization. Virtually all organs and biological systems suffer from this new coronavirus infection, either because the virus targets directly specific tissues or because of indirect effects. Endocrine diseases are not an exception and some of endocrine organs are at risk of direct or indirect lesion by COVID-19. Although there is still no evidence of higher predisposition to contract the infection in patients with diabetes and/or obesity, the coexistence of these conditions contributes to a worse prognosis because both conditions confer an impaired immunologic system. Cytokines storm can be amplified by these two latter conditions thereby leading to multisystemic failure and death. Glycaemic control has been demonstrated to be crucial to avoiding long hospital stays, ICU requirement and also prevention of excessive mortality. Endocrine treatment modifications as a consequence of COVID-19 infection are required in a proactive manner, in order to avoid decompensation and eventual hospital admission. This is the case of diabetes and adrenal insufficiency in which prompt increase of insulin dosage and substitutive adrenal steroids through adoption of the sick day's rules should be warranted, as well as easy contact with the health care provider through telematic different modalities. New possible endocrinological targets of COVID-19 have been recently described and warrant a full study in the next future.
| S-EPMC7343578 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundAge and disease prevalence are the 2 biggest risk factors for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptom severity and death. We therefore hypothesized that increased biological age, beyond chronological age, may be driving disease-related trends in COVID-19 severity.MethodsUsing the UK Biobank England data, we tested whether a biological age estimate (PhenoAge) measured more than a decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic was predictive of 2 COVID-19 severity outcomes (inpatient test positivity and COVID-19-related mortality with inpatient test-confirmed COVID-19). Logistic regression models were used with adjustment for age at the pandemic, sex, ethnicity, baseline assessment centers, and preexisting diseases/conditions.ResultsSix hundred and thirteen participants tested positive at inpatient settings between March 16 and April 27, 2020, 154 of whom succumbed to COVID-19. PhenoAge was associated with increased risks of inpatient test positivity and COVID-19-related mortality (ORMortality = 1.63 per 5 years, 95% CI: 1.43-1.86, p = 4.7 × 10-13) adjusting for demographics including age at the pandemic. Further adjustment for preexisting diseases/conditions at baseline (ORM = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.30-1.73 per 5 years, p = 3.1 × 10-8) and at the early pandemic (ORM = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.04-1.40 per 5 years, p = .011) decreased the association.ConclusionsPhenoAge measured in 2006-2010 was associated with COVID-19 severity outcomes more than 10 years later. These associations were partly accounted for by prevalent chronic diseases proximate to COVID-19 infection. Overall, our results suggest that aging biomarkers, like PhenoAge may capture long-term vulnerability to diseases like COVID-19, even before the accumulation of age-related comorbid conditions.
| S-EPMC7989601 | biostudies-literature
Project description:COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the WHO and has affected millions of patients around the world. COVID-19 disproportionately affects persons with endocrine conditions, thus putting them at an increased risk for severe disease. We discuss the mechanisms that place persons with endocrine conditions at an additional risk for severe COVID-19 and review the evidence. We also suggest precautions and management of endocrine conditions in the setting of global curfews being imposed and offer practical tips for uninterrupted endocrine care.
| S-EPMC7417289 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted tourism and leisure activities worldwide, especially in the hospitality sector. This paper has a conceptual and empirical motivation based on two objectives. First, it identifies several of the primary factors behind the vulnerability of tourism to COVID-19 (tourism dependency, market structure, the supply of rural accommodation, and health incidence of the pandemic). Second, it constructs a vulnerability index to COVID-19 using Spain and its 50 provinces as case. The main results obtained indicate that tourism to the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, the provinces of the Mediterranean coast, and Madrid, in which the state capital is located, present higher vulnerability to COVID-19, yet with different underlying factors. Our methodology and results are of interest to policymakers in terms of the short- and medium-term strategic policies that can be employed to mitigate current and future shocks.
| S-EPMC8635291 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic represents a so far unknown challenge for the medical community. Autopsies are important for studying this disease, but their safety was challenged at the beginning of the pandemic.ObjectivesTo determine whether COVID-19 autopsies can be performed under existing legal conditions and which safety standards are required.Materials and methodsThe autopsy procedure undertaken in five institutions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland is detailed with respect to legal and safety standards.ResultsIn all institutions the autopsies were performed in technically feasible rooms. The personal equipment consisted of functional clothing including a disposable gown and apron, a surgical cap, eye protection, FFP?3 masks, and two pairs of gloves. In four institutions, complete autopsies were performed; in one institution the ultrasound-guided biopsy within the postmortal imaging and biopsy program. The latter does not allow the appreciation of gross organ pathology; however, it is able to retrieve standardized biopsies for diagnostic and research purposes. Several scientific articles in highly ranked journals resulted from these autopsies and allowed deep insights into organ damage and conclusions to better understand the pathomechanisms. Viral RNA was frequently detectable in the COVID-19 deceased, but the issue of infectivity remains unresolved and it is questionable if Ct values are greater than 30.ConclusionsWith appropriate safeguards, autopsies of people who have died from COVID-19 can be performed safely and are highly relevant to medical research.
| S-EPMC7903213 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-BSST563 | biostudies-other
Project description:The global pandemic has an inherently urban character. The UN-Habitat's publication of a Response Plan for mollification of the SARS-CoV-2 based externalities in the cities of the world testifies to that. This article takes the UN-Habitat report as the premise to carry out an empirical investigation in the four major metro cities of India. The report's concern with the urban character of the pandemic has underlined the role of cities in disease transmission. In that wake, the study demarcates factors at the sub-city level that tend to jeopardize the two mandatory precautionary measures during COVID-19 - Social Distancing and Lockdown. It investigates those factors through a Covid Vulnerability Index. The Index devised with the help of Analytic Hierarchy Process demarcates the low, moderate, high, and very high vulnerable city sub-units. Secondly, UN-Habitat's one of the major action areas is evidence-based knowledge creation through mapping and its analysis. In our study, we do it at a granular scale for arriving at a more nuanced understanding. Thus, in harmony with the UN-habitat's we take the urban seriously and identify the gaps that need to be plugged for the pandemic cities of now and of the future.
| S-EPMC7434393 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to map vulnerability of Asian countries to the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodAccording to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 framework for natural hazards, vulnerability is a function of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. From an extensive literature review, we identified 16 socioeconomic, meteorological, environmental, and health factors that influence coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and deaths. The underlying factors of vulnerability were identified using principal component analysis.ResultsOur findings indicate that the percentage of the urban population, obesity rate, air connectivity, and the population aged 65 and over, diabetes prevalence, and PM2.5 levels all contributed significantly to COVID-19 sensitivity. Subsequently, governance effectiveness, human development index (HDI), vaccination rate, and life expectancy at birth, and gross domestic product (GDP) all had a positive effect on adaptive capacity. The estimated vulnerability was corroborated by a Pearson correlation of 0.615 between death per million population and vulnerability.ConclusionThis study demonstrates the application of universal indicators for assessing pandemic vulnerability for informed policy interventions such as the COVAX vaccine roll-out priority. Despite data limitations and a lack of spatiotemporal analysis, this study's methodological framework allows for ample data incorporation and replication.
| S-EPMC9273770 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In the absence of therapeutic interventions, and a possible vaccine candidate, the spread of COVID-19 disease and associated fatalities are on the rise. The high mutation frequency in the genomic material of these viruses supports their ability to adapt to new environments, resulting in an efficient alteration in tissue tropism and host range. Therefore, the coronavirus' health threats could be relevant for the long-term. The epidemiological data indicate that age, sex, and cardio-metabolic disease have a significant impact on the spread and severity of COVID-19. In this review, we highlight recent updates on the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 among men and women, including children. We also discuss the role of the cellular receptors and coreceptors used by the virus to enter host cells on differential infection among men, women, and cardio-metabolic patients.
| S-EPMC7400297 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The aim of this article is to explain the clinical benefits of the growing knowledge about severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In addition to the lungs, SARS-CoV?2 can invade multiple cell types in other organs, such as the kidneys and replicate there. Important damaging pathways of the virus, such as vascular endotheliitis, thrombotic events and systemic cytokine release are still incompletely understood. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a systemic disease that necessitates intensive medical care and in particular, internal medicine involvement and represents a major challenge for all disciplines of internal medicine. Among these, nephrology in particular is involved in the fight against COVID-19 in a variety of ways: urine investigations can provide indications of multiple organ involvement, endotheliitis, microthrombi and microcirculation damage, etc. Experience with low serum albumin levels and antithrombin III activity in nephrotic patients helps to point out the decreasing effects of loop diuretics and heparin to other specialist disciplines. Nephrological knowledge of the complications of hypoalbuminemia and "resistance" to diuretics must lead to an early implementation of renal replacement procedures in order to be able to prevent mechanical ventilation in COVID-19 intensive care patients with increased extracellular lung fluid. The kidneys can be used as a seismograph for severe courses of COVID-19 and nephrological knowledge can be brought to use to optimize the intensive medical care for critically ill patients. Both together have the potential to considerably reduce morbidity and mortality further.
| S-EPMC7731728 | biostudies-literature