The Role of Sugar in COVID Pandemic

Abstract

By the middle of August 2020, COVID-19 had infected over 20 million people worldwide
and caused more than 700,000 deaths. The elderly and patients with comorbidities are the
most affected group since they have a higher fatality rate because of COVID-19. For patients
younger than fifty, the risk of death is just under one percent, but in the elderly, especially
those over 65, the risk of death jumps 2 to 8 times 1,2 .

The presence of comorbidities also significantly increases the risk of COVID-19 death.
People with diabetes and obesity can increase their risk of death by 1.5 times, while
hypertension and heart disease raise the mortality up to 1.6 to 3 higher 3,4,5 . This situation
should make us aware; we are not only facing the COVID-19 pandemic but also a pandemic
of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

There are so many people who are now suffering from obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and
heart disease, they are the leading causes of worldwide deaths. Four main NCDs, i.e.
cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic pulmonary diseases are responsible for
82% of mortality 6 . One of the reasons that causes those diseases to have rapid growth, is
because obesity, as the primary basis of almost all NCDs, is socially contagious 7 . Christakis
explained that people who have closeness with obese people, over time, will also be obese.
Vice versa, obese people can cause people in their social circles to be obese for a certain
period 8 .