Cardiometabolic disease and COVID-19: A new narrative

Cardiometabolic disease represents a cluster of metabolic abnormalities associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, including insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity, and hypertension as well as environmental risk factors such as smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and poor dietary habits. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic evolved, various components of cardiometabolic disease were associated with increased morbidity and mortality in these patients. Numerous studies have delved into this relationship between COVID-19 and cardiometabolic disease. Cardiometabolic disease is associated with greater susceptibility to COVID-19 and worse clinical outcomes, including intensive care, mechanical ventilation, and death. On the other hand, COVID-19 itself appears to have multiple deleterious effects on cardiometabolic health. As the pandemic slowly evolved into a more endemic disease, lessons learned during the early tumultuous months must be translated into sustainable and innovative policies to mitigate its long-term impact. In this chapter, we analyze both sides of this equation: the impact of cardiometabolic disease on COVID-19 outcomes as well as the impact of the pandemic as a whole on facets of cardiometabolic health.