It has recently been read more frequently that obesity could complicate the course of COVID-19 disease. Current studies from the USA, Great Britain and France confirm exactly that. FITBOOK explains how the body mass index (BMI) could negatively influence an infection with the corona virus.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the risk patients for an infection with the coronavirus include older people from around 65 and people with previous illnesses due to, for example, cancer and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and diseases of the respiratory system. The American health authority now lists another – and apparently very important – factor for serious and sometimes fatal COVID-19 courses: obesity.
Obesity complicates the course of COVID-19
A team of researchers (including from NYU Grossman School of Medicine) examined the data of 4,103 COVID-19 patients who had to be treated in New York hospitals due to the severity of their illness. Most of them are said to have been severely overweight.
According to the study documentation (available on the preprint server “MedRxiv”), people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 to 40 were four times as likely to be hospitalized as patients with a lower body weight. An even higher BMI increased the probability sixfold. For classification: a normal weight is between 18.5 and 24.9.
European studies also show a connection
French researchers from the University of Lille have also observed a more severe course in overweight COVID-19 patients. Of the 124 people who needed ventilation in the hospital, more than half had a BMI above 35. Some of them appeared to be obese. You can find the abstract on the specialist portal “PubMed”. «Obesity is a risk factor for the severity of SARS-CoV-2,» the authors of the study summarize – with the advice that this form of predisposition should be taken more into account in future treatment.
Scientists from Great Britain would certainly confirm something similar. Your evaluation of even 17,000 patient data showed that the risk of a fatal course of COVID-19 depended on age to the same extent as on any overweight.
How exactly does obesity influence the course of the disease?
There are various explanations and possible evidence for a connection between obesity and a more serious illness with COVID-19. A research team from Beijing General Hospital claims to have discovered that there are sometimes more ACE2 receptors in adipose tissue than in lung tissue. The corona virus uses these ACE2 receptors to dock. Details can be found under «Preprints».
Too much body fat is never healthy
In general, obesity threatens health. Among other things, it is associated with an increased cancer risk by the World Health Organization (WHO), as FITBOOK already reported. In addition, obesity favors the development of various cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, which (already alone, but not least) in connection with a coronavirus infection bring an increased risk of death.
Researchers assume that the immune system also depends on the body fat percentage and that a high BMI can increase the risk of pneumonia. In particular, doctors warn of the dangerous inner abdominal fat, which can trigger so-called «silent inflammation» in the body.
Also interesting: Does Covid-19 inflame all vessels in the body?
Increased inflammation levels from abdominal fat
As internist and nutritionist Dr. medical Matthias Riedl explained in an interview with FITBOOK that excessive subcutaneous tissue on the abdomen is «a large gland that produces harmful messenger substances and thereby triggers inflammatory reactions in the body». According to the expert, a lot of inner abdominal fat and the resulting increased inflammation values represent an extreme burden for the cardiovascular system, among other things.