Complications of Obesity and Covid
The medical community has known for a long time that obesity is one of the most serious health problems in our society. A person’s weight is directly proportional to their risk of catching Covid and developing complications from it. The more you weigh, the more likely you are to develop complications from covid and die as a result of them.
Being Obese puts you at a higher risk for severe illness from covid
Obesity and being overweight increase the chance of developing severe COVID. Studies show that people who are obese have a higher risk of catching the disease, developing complications, and dying from it than those who are not overweight or obese. The increased risk is due to two factors:
- Obese people tend to have lower immunity because of the way their bodies handle certain infections; this makes them more susceptible to contracting covid in general.
- An obese person’s body mass can make it harder for them to fight off infections and other illnesses because there is more flesh for an infection like covid to attack this means that an infection has a greater chance of becoming severe if you’re overweight.
The complications of obesity can lead to death from covid
Obesity is a risk factor for severe illness from covid. Obesity increases the risk of death from covid and hospitalization.
According to a study published in the Journal of American Medical Association Internal Medicine, obesity doubles the chance of dying from COVID.The study examined data from more than 1 million Medicare beneficiaries who had been hospitalized with any cause of pneumonia during a six-year period ending in 2014, comparing it with data about their height, weight, and whether they smoked or not one year before their hospitalization date.
The researchers found that obese patients were more likely to die after being admitted for treatment for pneumonia than non-obese patients were (11% versus 9%), even when controlling for age differences between the two groups (age 65 years or older).
Heart Disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes are all complications that obese people face
Obesity can cause complications that lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, and even death. These conditions are linked to obesity because of the strain it puts on your heart and body. When you have a higher percentage of body fat than normal, it puts more pressure on your joints and circulatory system than someone who is not obese does. This extra strain causes your heart to work harder than normal and wear out faster, which leads to a higher risk of developing heart disease.
The same goes for diabetes: if you are obese, then there is more chance that you will develop diabetes because of all the extra weight putting an excessive amount of pressure on your body’s systems including its insulin production capabilities (or lack thereof).
Conditions increase the risk of severe illness from covid
Obesity and diabetes are two common conditions that can put you at risk for a severe case of covid. Obesity and diabetes increase your likelihood of developing high blood pressure, which causes blocked arteries throughout the body. When an artery becomes blocked, it prevents oxygen from flowing to vital organs like the heart or brain. Stroke and heart attacks are frequently brought on by high blood pressure, both of which, if unchecked, can be fatal.
Obesity also increases your risk for heart disease, a condition where plaque builds up in your arteries due to poor diet choices and stress hormones released by the body when you’re under duress (like during an illness). This buildup restricts blood flow through those arteries and increases their resistance to circulation; this reduces oxygen delivery throughout the body over time. If left untreated long enough or if you’ve already experienced symptoms such as chest pain or shortness of breath. This can result in life-threatening cardiovascular problems like a heart attack or stroke that could lead to death if not treated promptly enough.
Conditions don’t eliminate symptoms of Covid but do decrease how long the symptoms last
These conditions don’t eliminate symptoms of Covid but do decrease how long the symptoms last. If you have any of these conditions, it’s important to take it seriously and get checked out if you have symptoms:
Obesity: Being overweight can cause a lot of health problems, including sleep apnea, which may make your breathing shallow during sleep. This can cause shortness of breath and lead to extra fatigue in the morning. In addition to this, having a high blood pressure and cholesterol level is associated with being overweight, which might raise your chance of developing heart diseases.
Diabetes: Because their bodies are unable to correctly digest glucose, people with diabetes are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (sugar). Over time, abnormal blood sugar levels can harm the small blood arteries all over your body, increasing your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
If you have any of these symptoms, it is critical that you seek medical attention.
- A person may be at an elevated risk for stroke if they are overweight or obese, have high blood pressure, high cholesterol.
- People with sleep apnea who are overweight also have an increased risk for stroke.
- Other health risks include gallbladder disease, heart disease (including angina and heart attack), osteoarthritis of the knees, and certain cancers such as breast cancer in postmenopausal women.
Obesity increases the risk of catching Covid, developing complications, and dying from COVID
Obesity increases the risk of Covid by:
- Increasing your chances of catching COVID in the first place.
- Raising your chances of developing complications if you do get COVID.
- Increasing your chances of dying from COVID.
Conclusion
Obesity is a serious issue and it needs to be addressed. We are seeing more and more people with this disease, and it is putting them at risk for severe illness from covid. Obesity also increases the risk of developing complications like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes which increase your chances of death from COVID as well. So, the increasing prevalence of obesity is a serious public health concern that requires attention. If you need help with obesity please check out our weight loss programs.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/obesity-and-covid-19.html
