When fighting COVID-19, extra weight can be a fatal complication. life

Fort Lauderdale, FL — Dr. Craig Malak’s work at the morgue tracking COVID-19’s death in Brogue County surprised him, so he didn’t even have to lose too much pounds.

“Obesity is often a factor,” Malak, Broward’s chief doctor, said in an email. “I was motivated to lose £18 in June, and I’m not overweight from the start.”

The main message to date in the pandemic is that older people are at the most risk. That’s true, but doctors at the forefront of South Florida outbreaks have also discovered obesity, making it difficult for people of all ages to fight the virus.

This could have a significant impact on the United States, one of the highest obesity rates in the world, says Dr. Kate Barney, a bariatrician at the University of Virginia Health System.

“My colleague asked me, “Do you think it’s going to be as bad as Italy?”, recalled Barney. “I said, “No, it’s going to get worse because of the higher prevalence of obesity.” This is a phrase that calls for clear action. We can start now, but at the end of this pandemic we need to be prepared to take obesity more seriously. “

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, it’s not just some additional pandemic pounds that provoke worries.

In particular, people with a BMI above 30 are at increased risk, said Dr. Sunilkumar, Medical Director of Intensive Care Unit at Broward Health Medical Center. Body mass index depends on height and weight. A person who loses about 40 pounds from normal weight can be considered obese. This is a category that contains about 30% of Floridian.

According to the BMI calculator, men of average height (5 feet 9 inches) are considered obese at 203 pounds and women of average height (5 feet 4 inches) meet that criterion at 175 pounds.

Studies show that younger patients with COVID-19 who are hospitalized are more likely to become obese as an underlying factor. This is supported by Kumar’s own observations at the ICU.

“The prevalence of this disease has changed significantly from the first wave,” Kumar said. “I’m looking at a younger patient. ICU has a 19 year old patient and I’m really sick.”

Obesity expert Varney said that there are some possible explanations for why overweight COVID-19 patients tend to have worse results. Research is still being done and scientists have no clear explanation yet.

One theory is that obese people have more Ace2 receptors in their cells. The virus uses these receptors to infect cells and then make a copy of itself.

“In the case of obesity, more Ace2 receptors are present, so the virus load is higher and it takes longer for the virus to get out of the body,” Varney said.

Obese people are also susceptible to mild chronic inflammation associated with worse outcomes.

Another factor can be overweight, which compresses the lungs and reduces lung capacity.

Obesity is associated with other high-risk chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.

“This is what I’m telling my obese patients:’This isn’t about vanity,'” Barney said. “This is not to make clothes look good. What the virus needs to show, take and recognize seriously for us is the effect that obesity has on your health and your life. It can be the difference between premature death.””

Obesity and other chronic illnesses appear in medical records in South Florida. According to the Sun Sentinel of South Florida, the most basic condition in Broward County is arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease (accumulation of plaque in the arteries), which causes diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Subsequent analysis.

Governor Ron DeSantis argued that weight was associated with COVID-19 hospitalization as a reason to keep the gym in Florida open. He expressed concern that Floridian did not exercise enough during the closure.

But Bernie said that instructing people to eat less and gain more exercise was an oversimplification of a complex state that was often blamed, misunderstood, and misused by the public. Obesity has environmental, social, and genetic components that make treatment difficult, she said.

According to the Florida Department of Health, about 30% of Florida people are obese. South Florida is better than the statewide average, but it still puts hundreds of thousands of people at risk. Miami Dade and Broward have an obesity rate of approximately 25%, and Palm Beach County has an obesity rate of 20%.

Mr. Shebrin Jones, State Director of Broward County, believes the weight loss made a difference in recovery from COVID-19. Jones had mild symptoms of the virus.

Jones said he weighed 461 pounds during his college year. Jones, 36, is now down to £211. He said he exercises five days a week and has a healthy diet.

“Health is very important to me,” Jones said. “My doctor taught me how much exercise I believed I saved because of a strong immune system.”

Kumar, an ICU doctor, is good advice for exercising and eating healthy, but it’s not a substitute for wearing a mask, washing your hands, or physically keeping yourself away from others. ..

He said that young people of normal weight should not be wary. Kumar has seen an otherwise healthy young patient at the ICU.

“It really offends you all this illness and death you see in people who don’t take it seriously,” he said. “The best thing for people is to protect themselves and others.”