The Importance of a Healthy Lifestyle in the Era of COVID-19 – March 2021

International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention, 3(1), 10 pp. https://doi.org/10.22230/ijdrp.2021v3n1a215

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Kristina S. Petersen -Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
Andrew M. Freeman - Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO
Penny M. Kris-Etherton - Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Kim Allan Williams Sr. - Division of Cardiology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
Koushik R. Reddy - College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Monica Aggarwal - Division of Cardiology, University of Florida/Shands Hospital, Gainesville, FL
Neal D. Barnard - Adjunct Faculty, George Washington University School of Medicine, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Washington, DC
Dean Ornish - Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Sausalito, California, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. - The Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, Cleveland, OH
Kathleen Allen - Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH
Karen Aspry - Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute, and Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brown University, Alpert Medical School, Providence, RI.

Existing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its modifiable risk factors are associated with increased mortality from coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Clinical attention has focused on acute interventions for COVID-19, but reducing upstream risks associated with poor outcomes must occur in parallel. This is particularly urgent because risk factors for COVID-19 death are prevalent, and the pandemic has negatively impacted lifestyle and socioeconomic factors that augment these risks. Evidence-based lifestyle interventions have a generally short time-to-benefit, and lower risk of CVD and improve markers of immune function. Wider promotion of healthy lifestyle practices will improve the CVD health of the population and could favorably impact COVID-19 outcomes. Research examining how lifestyle modification affects COVID-19 susceptibility and severity is urgently needed.