New study confirms obesity worsens covid

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

 

Obesity is closely related to various diseases such as hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, diabetes, etc., which can lead to an increase in the prevalence of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

At present, the most commonly used method for judging obesity in the world is the body mass index (BMI), which is the square of weight (kg)/height (m). BMI≥25kg/m2 is considered overweight; people with BMI>30kg/m2 are usually considered It's obesity.

Covid is infectious disease, and the high risk of death of severely ill patients has attracted much attention. Some foreign researchers have suggested that obesity may be one of the risk factors for the aggravation of the disease.

Recently, Barry Popkin, a nutritionist at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina (UNC) in the United States, published a paper in Obesity Review, confirming that obesity is closely related to the occurrence and prognosis of covid, and proposed that attention should be paid to covid patients with obesity Prevention and intervention.

The study evaluated 20 studies on the association between obesity and covid and compared the positive rates of covid among obese and non-obese people. Collective data analysis showed that compared with non-obese people, the positive rate of covid in obese people increased by 46.0%.

At the same time, studies have shown that among the confirmed covid patients, the hospitalization rate of obese patients is much higher than that of non-obese patients. The article conducted a statistical analysis of 5700 COVID-19 patients in New York City, and the results showed that obese covid patients have a 113% higher risk of hospitalization.

In addition, patients with a BMI ≥35kg/m2 have a significantly increased risk of being transferred to the ICU. The aggregate data shows that the risk is 74% higher than that of normal patients. In terms of prognosis, the study also yielded consistent results, that is, among covid patients, the risk of death for obese patients increased by 48%.

Therefore, the probability of obese people suffering from covid is higher than that of other people, and compared with other covid patients, obese people are more likely to be infected with COVID-19 and have a worse prognosis effect.

In addition, Popkin pointed out in the study that because obese people can increase the risk of primary infection or persistent inflammation, it is likely to reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine, that is, a stronger vaccine may be needed. Studies have also confirmed that the risk of chronic immune inflammatory damage in obese patients may be consistent with the risk of infection with infectious diseases. This means that on a global scale, a considerable number of people may face a greater risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Researchers believe that in view of the increasing number of obese people and their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, scientists must take into account the relevant immune response of such people when developing and preparing vaccines to ensure that the covi vaccine is effective for obese people. 

Related paper information: https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13128