Originally published in Hideaway Lake News on August 28, 2020
You’re doing everything you can to not get the virus – washing your hands, staying six feet away from people and covering your face. But what if you do get it anyway, what can you do to reduce your risk of severe COVID-19 disease? If you are overweight or obese, you can lose weight. If you’re at a healthy weight, you can maintain your weight. It has become clear that obesity is a major risk factor for developing severe illness from the virus, leading to a greater risk of hospitalization and being placed on a ventilator or breathing machine.
Obesity is a risk factor independent of other health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. This is especially true in younger patients in whom these diseases may not have yet developed. So even if you have no medical problems other than obesity, you should consider yourself high risk and behave like someone with diabetes or heart disease, when it comes to COVID-19. One study found that morbidly obese COVID-19 patients were 60% more likely to die or require a ventilator, compared with people of normal weight. This is because increased fat tissue compromises lung function, leading to greater need for pulmonary support. Fat tissue also promotes inflammation and blood clots, two things that have been closely associated with severe COVID-19 disease.
Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the UK, was hospitalized for more than 2 weeks, including 3 days in the ICU with COVID-19. He acknowledged that his weight was a significant factor in the severity of his illness. Since his release from the hospital, he has lost more than 14 pounds. He also started an anti-obesity campaign for severe coronavrius disease prevention, encouraging Brits to lose weight.
This risk is particularly relevant for us because about 40% of Americans suffer from obesity, compared to 6% of people in China and 20% in Italy. The pandemic, with its stay at home orders, means that many of us are eating more, eating less healthily, spending endless hours in virtual meetings and not exercising much. Most of us have stopped going to the gym and playing group sports. Many of us are drinking more alcohol, often forgetting about the extra calories that adds to our daily intake! Before we know it, we have packed on the pounds.
If you are already at borderline weight, those few pounds may be just enough to push you into the high risk category. It has been several months since the first case in China and it is likely that the virus will be around for at least a couple more years in the best case scenario, possibly longer if vaccines are not terribly effective or if many people refuse to get them. So we’re in this for the long haul. There’s enough time for us to actually lose weight, reducing risks of complications and death, if we do become infected despite all precautions. Those that don’t need to lose weight can still get back to a healthy regimen of smaller portion sizes, nutritious meals and regular exercise to maintain a healthy weight.
Best of health – physical, mental and emotional – to us all!