The Link between Covid-19 and Underlying Health Conditions

Covid-19 is causing serious health issues in patients of all ages, even those who are young and healthy. However, numerous health and lifestyle factors can exacerbate a covid-19 diagnosis. Below are some of the most common underlying health conditions that affect covid-19.

Cancer

A cancer diagnosis makes it more likely that a covid-19 infection will develop into a severe illness. We don’t yet know whether having had cancer in the past increases the risk of severe covid symptoms, but studies are continuing.

If you have a current cancer diagnosis, you should speak to your doctor about any extra precautions you need to take against covid.

Diabetes

We now know that having either type 1 or type 2 diabetes can significantly increase your chances of becoming severely ill with covid-19. To fight off viruses like the coronavirus, the body releases stored sugar into the bloodstream. For people with diabetes, a lack of insulin makes this extra sugar difficult to deal with. As blood sugar levels rise, it can lead to conditions like diabetic ketoacidosis, which occurs when insulin supplies in the body are depleted.

The covid crisis has caused many people to consider taking out life insurance to provide their families with some financial cover. For people with underlying health conditions like diabetes, this is a sensible thing to do. Many people assume that an underlying health condition will disqualify them from taking out life insurance, but this isn’t the case. As this article about Diabetes Life Insurance from I’m Insured explains, there are plenty of insurers out there who will cover you even if you are diabetic.

Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic kidney disease affects the functioning of the kidneys, reducing their ability to filter blood properly and remove waste products. Covid-19 is one of many illnesses that can hit chronic kidney disease sufferers harder than most people.

Patients with advanced long-term kidney disease have a markedly increased risk of severe coronavirus symptoms. The longer a patient has had the disease, the more likely they are to suffer negative outcomes from a covid-19 infection.

Obesity

Obesity is a growing public health concern in the UK. There are numerous negative health impacts of being obese, and it also makes people more susceptible to poor outcomes from other diseases. One of the most significant risk factors with covid-19 is weight. The more a patient weighs, the more likely they are to suffer severe symptoms and long-term damage from covid-19.

Covid-19 is still a new disease; we have a lot to learn about how it works and how to combat it effectively. However, we have learned a great deal in a short time, and we now have a much deeper understanding of the disease and its interaction with other conditions. The underlying conditions we have outlined above are just some of those that can exacerbate a covid-19 diagnosis. Anyone with any of the above conditions needs to be extra careful.