Extra Pounds May Raise Risk of Severe Covid-19
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for aristarchus:
Extra Pounds May Raise Risk of Severe Covid-19:
Obese Americans are more likely to become dangerously ill if they are infected with the new coronavirus. Now public health officials are warning that a much broader segment of the population also may be at risk: even moderately excess weight may increase the odds of severe disease.
The warning, reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week, may have serious implications for Americans. While about 40 percent of U.S. adults are obese, another 32 percent are simply overweight, among the highest rates of obesity and overweight in the world.
By the new calculus, nearly three-quarters of Americans may be at increased risk of severe Covid-19 if infected with the coronavirus.
[...] Overweight and obesity are defined by a person's body mass index, a ratio of an individual's weight and height. People with a B.M.I. between 18.5 and 24.9 are considered to be of healthy weight; the overweight zone ranges from a B.M.I. of 25 through 29, and obesity starts at a B.M.I. of 30.
[...] Someone who is 5 feet 9 inches and weighs 125 to 168 pounds is in the healthy range, for example; above that, the individual is overweight, and at 203 pounds or higher, is obese.
[...] In addition, abdominal obesity - which is more common in men - may cause compression of the diaphragm, lungs and chest cavity, restricting breathing and making it more difficult to clear pneumonia and other respiratory infections.
But while obesity increased the risk of death for men, it did not do so for women, they noted. (Other studies have also reported this disparity.)
Journal Reference:
Barry M. Popkin, Shufa Du, William D. Green, et al. Individuals with obesity and COVID19: A global perspective on the epidemiology and biological relationships [open], Obesity Reviews (DOI: 10.1111/obr.13128)
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