What Exactly Are "Comorbidities"?

What Exactly Are "Comorbidities"?

If a person has numerous COVIDs, they are more likely to have problems.

The CDC's director, Rochelle Walensky, recently stated that the majority of COVID-19 deaths had several comorbidities, which she called "encouraging news." While I disagree with the "encouraging" aspect, I believe it is critical to understand what comorbidities are.

What exactly is comorbidity?

Morbidity is a term used to describe diseases and health issues. It is the inverse of mortality, which denotes death.

Why don't we simply say it? These are typical terms used by statisticians and public health professionals when examining big amounts of data. (Fun fact: the CDC's public health periodical is named the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which stands for Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.)

Comorbidity, on the other hand, refers to having various morbidities, or health disorders, at the same time. If a person died of COVID and had "four comorbidities," it indicates they had four additional health issues in addition to COVID.

Which comorbidities increase the chance of death from COVID?

So, what is a comorbidity? It depends on who you ask. Walensky was referring to this study when she made her famed comment (from, yes, the MMWR). So let's have a look at how that article categorizes the comorbidities.

For starters, they weren't considering every conceivable comorbidity. Instead, they had a list of eight conditions that they thought were risk factors:

Age 65 years, being immunocompromised, and six additional underlying diseases were all risk factors for catastrophic outcomes. Everyone who had a bad result had at least one risk factor, and 78% of those who died had at least four.

Because being 65 years old is not a sickness, the phrase "risk factors" is more appropriate than "comorbidities." The following are among the risk factors mentioned in the paper:
  • Over the age of 65
  • Immunosuppressed
  • Chronic pulmonary illness (lung disease)
  • Chronic hepatitis
  • Kidney illness that is chronic
  • Neurologic (brain) disorder that is chronic
  • Diabetes
  • Cardiovascular (heart) illness that is chronic
The CDC offers a more comprehensive list of health disorders that enhance your risk of death or serious illness from COVID. They classify Alzheimer's and dementia, for example, as neurologic diseases.

These risk factors are quite widespread, and they frequently coexist. For example, 17% of persons over the age of 65 have a cardiac problem, and 27% have diabetes. We all know at least a few neighbors and family members who have four or more of the risk indicators listed.

That's why, as Walensky stated, "the overwhelming number of deaths, over 75 percent, occurred in people who had at least four comorbidities." Sure, it would be worse if COVID targeted healthy people at the same rate as those with comorbidities, but you're probably forgetting that many Americans have these conditions, including some of your loved ones.

#Comorbidities #Covid19 #CoronaVirus
#SarcasticGamer #SarcasticReview

SOURCE: lifehacker

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