{"id":140538,"date":"2020-10-25T00:58:13","date_gmt":"2020-10-24T19:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=140538"},"modified":"2020-10-25T00:58:13","modified_gmt":"2020-10-24T19:28:13","slug":"covid-19-escalated-into-syndemic-for-chronic-disease-patients-says-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2020\/10\/25\/covid-19-escalated-into-syndemic-for-chronic-disease-patients-says-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 escalated into ‘syndemic’ for chronic disease patients, says study"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW DELHI, Oct 24:<\/strong> Scientists have assessed the synergistic impact of Covid-19 on people with non-communicable diseases (NCD) like diabetes in low- and middle-income countries such as India, and found that there has never been a more dangerous time for them than the ongoing pandemic.<\/p>\n

According to the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, people with NCDs are more vulnerable to catching and dying from Covid-19, while their exposure to NCD risk factors – such as substance abuse, social isolation and unhealthy diets – has increased during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The researchers, including Shradha S Parsekar from the Manipal Academy of Higher Education in Karnataka, also found that Covid-19 disrupted essential public health services which people with NCDs rely on to manage their conditions.<\/p>\n

In the study, the scientists reviewed almost 50 studies on the synergistic impact of Covid-19 on people with NCDs in low- and middle-income countries such as Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Nigeria.<\/p>\n

According to the study’s lead author Uday Yadav from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia, the interaction between NCDs and Covid-19 is important to study because global data showed that Covid-19-related deaths are disproportionately high among people with NCDs.<\/p>\n

“This illustrates the negative effect of the Covid-19 ‘syndemic’ – also known as a ‘synergistic epidemic’ – a term coined by medical anthropologist Merrill Singer in the 1990s to describe the relationship between HIV\/AIDS, substance abuse and violence,” Yadav said.<\/p>\n

“People are familiar with Covid-19 as a pandemic, but we analyzed it through a syndemic lens in order to determine the impact of both Covid-19 and future pandemics on people with NCDs,” he added.<\/p>\n

According to Yadav, the Covid-19 syndemic would persist, just as NCDs affected people in the long-term.<\/p>\n

“NCDs are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors and there is no quick fix, such as a vaccine or cure,” he said.<\/p>\n

“So, it’s no surprise we found that NCD patients’ exposure<\/p>\n

\u00a0to NCD risk factors has increased amid the pandemic, and they are more vulnerable to catching Covid-19 because of the syndemic interaction between biological and socio-ecological factors,” Yadav added.<\/p>\n

Based on the findings, the researchers recommended a series of strategies for healthcare stakeholders – such as decision-makers, policymakers and frontline health workers – to better manage people with NCDs amid the syndemic.<\/p>\n

They urged policymakers to develop plans for how to best provide health services to people with NCDs, from the moment they are assessed through to their treatment and palliation.<\/p>\n

The researchers said digital campaigns could be developed to disseminate information on how to make positive behaviour changes and better self-manage NCDs and Covid-19.<\/p>\n

According to the scientists, decentralizing healthcare delivery for people with NCDs is critical to manage the syndemic.<\/p>\n

In this approach, they said policymakers must involve local health districts and invest in community health worker programmes to help mitigate future outbreaks.<\/p>\n

The researchers said governments should ensure effective social and economic support for people with NCDs who are vulnerable to catching Covid-19, particularly indigenous, rural, and refugee communities, as well as people with severe mental illness. (PTI)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW DELHI, Oct 24: Scientists have assessed the synergistic impact of Covid-19 on people with non-communicable diseases (NCD) like diabetes in low- and middle-income countries such as India, and found that there has never been a more dangerous time for them than the ongoing pandemic. According to the study, published in the journal Frontiers in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-140538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}