A new study of hospitalized covid-19 patients in New York City has revealed that the overwhelming majority suffer from underlying illnesses. The study, published by jama (Journal of the American Medical Association), looked at data from 5,700 people hospitalized with the highly infectious disease. It found that 94 percent had at least one underlying illness.

The most common disease was hypertension, or high blood pressure. It affected about 53 percent of all patients. Next was obesity, affecting 42 percent of all patients, and diabetes, affecting 32 percent. Also, 88 percent of the patients suffered from more than one of these underlying illnesses.

These are not novel illnesses in America. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 108 million American adults suffer from hypertension. That is approximately half of all American adults, and a third of the total population.

In 2017, high blood pressure resulted in the death of more than 472,000 people. That translates to about 1,300 deaths a day.

About 26 percent of the world’s population suffers from hypertension. That is just shy of 1 billion people on the entire planet. This number is expected to increase as countries continue to develop, reaching about 2.2 billion in four years.

According to Medscape, hypertension was the number one preventable reason for death worldwide in 2013.

Hypertension increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, the two leading causes of deaths for Americans. Recently, covid-19 overtook both to become the leading killer in America. But the evidence shows that the underlying cause of heart disease, stroke and covid-19 is the same.

In his April 18 Trumpet Daily Radio Show, host Stephen Flurry said that covid-19 is significant—not because it is more deadly than any other pandemic (it’s not)—but because “it’s exposing the real problems with all of us and how susceptible we are to infectious disease because of the so-called underlying diseases.”

Hypertension, obesity, diabetes, heart disease and covid-19 all have the same underlying cause. Dr. Robert Lustig a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California–San Francisco concluded that sugar, more than any other substance, is to blame. In a 2013 interview with cnn, he said that obesity, type-2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease are all linked to sugar.

“The American lifestyle is killing us,” he said, “and 75 percent of it is preventable.”

The world today is clamoring for a vaccine, a pill or scientifically derived solution to this pandemic. “Big government” has mobilized unconstitutional solutions in an effort to fight this disease. Trillions of dollars have been poured into trying to counteract its effects. And even more are being poured into medical science to find a cure.

But covid-19 is not of itself especially unique or harmful. And so, these efforts will ultimately prove futile in effectively solving the problem. Rather, as the jama study shows, it will continue growing and spreading as rapidly as it is because the American lifestyle and diet have created a fertile base for it to mushroom.

The main driving agent behind rising levels of hypertension, obesity and heart disease is the total amount of added sugar intake by young and old. Foods such as soda, cookies, cakes, energy drinks, ice cream and cereal are the biggest sources of added sugar in the average American diet. And according to the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, over 80 percent of toddlers and infants consume added sugars in their diets every day, as opposed to the recommended amount of zero. This is creating an unhealthy lifestyle in people from a very young age.

There needs to be a change. Mr. Flurry continued: “A proper response to this covid-19 crisis should be, What can we do? What can I personally do to improve my underlying health condition? What can I do to strengthen my immune system so that I’m not as susceptible to disease, whether it’s covid-19 or the annual flu?”

Herbert W. Armstrong wrote that the main reason our overall physical health is deteriorating is because “[w]e seem to assume sickness is natural and necessary.” Rather, he says, “[a] cold or fever is merely a sudden violent elimination of toxins and poisons that you have injected into your body by wrong diet, which has broken God’s physical laws.”

In Luke 5:17-26, Jesus Christ healed a man sick of the palsy, saying, “[T]he Son of man hath power upon the earth to forgive sins, … I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.”

Mr Armstrong explained, “This incident, reported in all three books of Matthew, Mark and Luke, confirms, in the words of Jesus Christ Himself, that physical healing is indeed ‘the forgiveness of sin.’ Sin is defined as the ‘transgression of law’ (1 John 3:4). … Physical sin is the transgression of physical law operating in the human body.”

The underlying cause of sickness is breaking physical laws. Today’s society habitually breaks these laws through its inordinate intake of unhealthy and sugary foods. And the penalty for breaking those laws is sickness.

The government and health-care systems in place focus only on the effect of sickness. But the cause is often ignored! In the Bible, God emphasizes cause and effect: blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience to His law (Deuteronomy 28:15). But in the world, it is all about the effect, the band-aid, the drug, the vaccine. We continue to pour more and more money into nullifying the effect.

Instead of plugging up the hole in the bucket, we decide to pour more water in, expecting it to stop leaking.

But the real solution lies in repentance, which leads to the forgiveness of our sins. God promises to heal upon our repentance. Psalm 103:2-3 state, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.”

Just as the man with palsy was healed, we too can be healed today. God wants us to live healthy, abundant lives (John 10:10). We must repent and ask God for forgiveness of our sins. In today’s society, so conditioned to a sugar-packed diet that leaves us susceptible to disease, this can be extremely difficult.

But as Mr. Flurry wrote, “God’s will is for us to lead a life of quality in every respect—including that of physical health. This is why He has outlined definite laws of health within the pages of His inspired Word—the Holy Bible. Start obeying these practical laws today and reap the wonderful benefits of a robust and healthy physical life!”

To learn more about physical sickness and the real cause behind it, request your free copy of The Plain Truth About Healing, by Herbert. W. Armstrong.