Obesity Can Make COVID Symptoms Worse, Even If It’s Moderate

Over 500 individuals who confirmed positive with COVID yet did not need hospitalization were studied. Overweight or obese teenagers and grownups exhibited higher signs, such as coughing and difficulty breathing than either normal body weight.

There are many reasons linked to obesity. As per the experts, the sedentary lifestyle of an individual to a high-fat diet and lack of exercise can lead to accumulated fat in the body, which proves detrimental to health in general as it can invite many more ailments.

Obesity Can Make COVID Symptoms Worse, Even If It’s Moderate

Obese individuals, especially when they possess a mild type of COVID-19, have a harder difficulty battling it, according to a study conducted.

“Even when infected with similar amounts of virus, overweight and obesity are risk factors for greater severity of COVID-19 symptoms,” stated lead researcher Dr. Pia Pannaraj, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Obesity Can Make COVID Symptoms Worse, Even If It's Moderate

Weight loss will assist you to avoid COVID-19, also making it fewer life-threatening if you do acquire it, according to Pannaraj. “There are numerous benefits to maintaining a healthy lifestyle that includes a healthy diet and exercise,” she said. “The ability to battle illnesses like COVID-19 is yet another factor.”

The researchers highlighted that over two-thirds of individuals in this latest analysis are obese or overweight, which is comparable to statistics in the United States and around the globe.

These obese or overweight individuals experienced greater signs (three vs. two) than the normal-weight participants, notably coughing as breathlessness. Extra weight does not affect the intensity of COVID in kids below the age of 12. They discovered a distinct tale for young adults. The scientists discovered that obese or overweight teenagers are greater prone than normal-weight teens to develop signs (67 percent vs. 34 percent) and that their pulmonary problems lasted longer (median seven days vs. four days) than normal-weight teenagers.

Pannaraj’s group found that the results support the benefits of COVID-19 vaccinations for obese & overweight teenagers and adults.

Dr. Nicholas Kman, a non-participant in the investigation, reminded noted that even immunized individuals could have a minor case of COVID-19.

“We also know that when the immune system is compromised, like in severe obesity, we don’t mount as good a response to the vaccine,” said Kman.

“This is why it is important for patients with risk factors, like elderly age and obesity, to get the booster vaccine when it is their turn,” he said. “The best thing an unvaccinated patient, with or without risk factors, can do is get the vaccine and then work on those healthy lifestyle changes.”

Dr. David Katz is the founder and chairman of True Initiative, a non-profit organization that advocates a healthy lifestyle as the greatest approach to avoid illness. COVID-19 has focused on specific populations during the epidemic, according to him.

“Even before a pandemic was declared, data from China and South Korea indicated that SARS-CoV-2 was not a one-size-fits-all threat,” said Katz, who was not involved in the study.

Katz noted that old aging and persistent diseases such as cardiovascular illness, hypertension, and overweight are linked to an increased risk of serious illness. As COVID-19 expanded over the world, this trend remained, resulting in significant disparities in hospitalization & death rates across communities.

“It also reminds that the slow-motion pandemics of obesity and chronic illness have made the acute COVID pandemic far worse than it needed to be, both among those hospitalized, and even among those with milder disease,” Katz said.

“These findings add to the already compelling case for defending against the threat of acute pandemics by doing far more to promote general good health, including healthy weight, for the population at large,” Katz said.

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