The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant public health crisis as the coronavirus continues to rapidly spread with long-term socioeconomic consequences. Another malady, although non-transmissible, also a significant health hazard is the metabolic syndrome, which has widespread globally, being classified as an epidemic as the western lifestyle expands worldwide. The SARS-CoV-2 causes systemic inflammation similar to obesity; nevertheless, the coronavirus causes an unregulated rise in cytokine secretion, resulting in multiple organ failures and death. Increasing evidence demonstrates that obesity aggravates the COVID-19 disease and its mortality, the four most prevalent comorbidities of COVID-19 being hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular, and respiratory disease, all of them tightly associated with obesity. This paper reviews the physiopathological processes that constitute the metabolic syndrome and the molecular mechanisms through which the coexistence of MetS can contribute to the pathogenicity of COVID-19 and an unfavorable outcome of the disease.

Telemedicine ensures remote medical services through technologies that facilitate the interaction between a health professional and patients and offers the possibility of a interdiciplinary consultation between specialists, in order to obtain a diagnosis and treatment plan. It involves secure transmission of medical data and information, through text, sound, images or other forms needed for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients. With the help of telemedicine, people from rural areas, with dificult access to primary care, and those with reduced mobility can benefit from healthcare services. This paper is a review of the latest data available in the literature regarding telemedicine and the future prespectives in this field in Europe.

Breast milk is recommended as an optimal and exclusive source of early nutrition for all infants from birth to at least 6 months of age. Despite all the benefits of breastfeeding, there are situations where breastfeeding is contraindicated. There are differences of opinion regarding the contraindications of breastfeeding, the current research bringing more knowledge in this area. It is important to know the differences of opinion for the correct approach of the breastfeeding patient.