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The ISARIC study noted that patients who were hospitalized had certain preexisting conditions, including obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Such conditions are often associated with the “metabolic syndrome” that afflicts one-third of adult Americans.

In fact, metabolic syndrome conditions skyrocket your risk of COVID-19 complications significantly more than if each condition was added singly. People with metabolic syndrome have two or more of the following conditions: obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, high triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol, the “good” cholesterol.

The ISARIC study found that of those hospitalized for the virus, 29 percent suffered from chronic heart disease, 19 percent had diabetes, 19 percent had pulmonary disease (not including asthma), and 14 percent had asthma.

Researchers who did a meta-analysis on studies in China involving 46,246 patients noted that, historically, they have fared worse in the viral pandemics preceding this one, mainly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

And COVID-19 is not shaping up to be an exception according to a study done in India, which found a death rate of nearly 50 percent for patients that had high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.

Metabolic syndrome is seen as a disease largely caused by lifestyle, particularly eating too much and exercising too little. The good news is that you can take steps to reduce the severity of metabolic syndrome in your life, thereby reducing the risk due to exposure to the virus.

It is also important to remember that most of the conditions included in metabolic syndrome will weaken your immune system, so boosting your immune system is critically important to put you in the best position to fight back against COVID-19.

Now let’s take a closer look at the risk factors that are more likely to make COVID-19 worse and also what steps to take to reduce these risks.