Obesity and Covid 19 have some relation and researchers claim that overweight is a risk factor for Covid 19 people. Well, a new study found that obese men are at a higher risk than obese women are.
The Researchers at Montefiore Medical Center, New York City concluded the findings after analysing more than 3,500 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital between early March and May, 2020.
GENDER MATTERS
The researchers found that gender mattered in the high rate of Covid deaths with obese people. They saw that need for a ventilator, severe pneumonia, and death rate all rose for men who were either moderately or severely obese. However, they said that the risk in women rose only for the severely obese.
The European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases published the study. Several theories are doing the rounds about the link between obesity and Covid 19. One theory puts that obesity linked uptick in systemic inflammation throughout the body. As such the researchers looked at if systemic inflammation — assessed by measuring blood levels of the cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6) — was associated with obesity and higher risks of poor outcomes in COVID-19 persons.
INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE
Lead Author Arcelia Guerson Gil said that a major cause of disease severity and death is an excessive inflammatory response to the virus, which is associated with high levels of circulating cytokines like IL-6. Obesity was a state of enhanced chronic inflammation, she added.
She also noted men had higher average levels of IL-6 than women did. An average IL-6 levels increased with age, the researchers said in the study.
They also said that obesity might reduce lung function and increase the effort to breathe. The researchers also said that obesity increases higher expression in fat tissue of the ACE2 receptor, which allows SARS-CoV-2 to enter cells.
The study said that different patterns of fat distribution in men and women accounted for the increased rick in men. Obese men have more fat deposits in their abdominal region, which has detrimental effect on lung function.
