Obesity tied to more severe coronavirus illness, doctors say
Obesity can lend itself to a greater severity of illness from
COVID-19, due to comorbidities like diabetes, high blood pressure and a weaker immune system, doctors say.
“It’s of vital importance that people control weight as a way to prevent heart disease and all the other issues, like those present before, and on top of that prevent them from getting sick from coronavirus," Dr. Bob Posner, an internal medicine doctor in Fairfax County, Va., told Fox News.
The difference could mean getting hooked up to a ventilator versus developing a cough, he said.
Abdominal visceral fat acts as a kind of activator to the cytokine storm,
Dr. Mark Cucuzzella, with the Jefferson Medical Center of West Virginia University, told Fox News. He explained that the inner lining of blood vessels are "very reactive" to the cytokine storm, and obesity creates a higher susceptibility of illness.
Meanwhile,
the U.S. is still "knee-deep" in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, as officials continue to announce
record-breaking surges of new cases in some parts of the country. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
In that sense, Cucuzzella views the ongoing pandemic as a marathon, saying, “We have this window now where you can get your health more restored.”
“Get rid of sugar and processed carbohydrates,” Cucuzzella said, advocating for a balanced low carbohydrate approach, comprised of high-fiber carbohydrates, optimal protein and healthy fats. “Eat a diet rich in quality animal products and fresh, non-starchy vegetables and eggs.”
I do wish they would reconsider opening.
