According to a recent audit report issued by the British National Health Service (NHS), more than 60% of COVID-19 patients receiving treatment in the UK Intensive Care Unit are overweight or morbidly obese. Available data indicate that people with poor resistance are more susceptible to infection with the COVID-19 virus. According to previous research, obese people tend to be more susceptible to flu, because long-term obesity is reducing the body’s immunity and gradually weakening the ability to resist viruses.
More susceptible to infection
Obesity induces inflammation in the body, immunity is “stressed”
The study was conducted by the National Audit and Research Centre for Intensive Care in the United Kingdom. The study investigated the situation of critically ill patients who entered the ICU for treatment for a period of time. During this period, a total of 194 critically ill patients entered the ICU, most of them male, accounting for 71%. However, among these 194 critically ill patients, up to 64% of patients are overweight and body mass index (BMI) exceeds 25; among them, 7% of patients with BMI exceeding 40 are defined as obese. And among these overweight and severe patients, 37% of patients are under 60 years old. This means that young obese people are also at high risk.
Previously, according to a global study by McMaster University in Canada, obesity has become a new risk factor for people susceptible to flu. Mayo Clinic professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in the United States also concluded based on past research that he believes that obesity weakens the immune response. The immune system consists of three parts. When the body is attacked by bacteria, the innate immune system first fights against the invader; the adaptive immune system then produces antibodies to prevent the intruder from attacking in the future; at the same time, the body forms memory cells to help the immune system recognize future pathogens.
At these three levels, the immune system of obese people is very weak, because their entire immune system has been destroyed and suppressed.
In the wave of H1N1 influenza epidemics that swept the world in 2009, obesity has become a very obvious risk factor. Compared with people whose BMI is within the normal range, people with a BMI> 30 are more likely to die of influenza virus Out 3.1 times. Human immunity or resistance is often related to the health of the body. A healthy body is a guarantee against the invasion of germs.
Wu Yihua, director of the Shanghai International Medical Center Weight Management Center, believes that obesity-induced inflammation promotes an imbalance in immune system function. The essence of obesity is the excessive increase in fat and abnormal distribution. Obesity itself is an inflammation, which means that the body of the obese person is fighting with excess fat at all times. This causes the body’s resistance to be lower than when it is normal weight, giving the bacteria an opportunity. In the case of obesity, the normal immune cell population and number within the blood and tissues will change greatly. The original anti-inflammatory immune environment has evolved into a pro-inflammatory environment, and the secreted factors of immune cells will also change.
High chance of severe illness
Obese people are twice as long as ordinary people, and their anti-virus ability is “unable”
In 2018, a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases by the University of Michigan in the United States showed that obese people are more likely to get flu, and the time they carry the virus is twice that of normal people with BMI, and it is more infectious. The research team conducted a study of 1,800 volunteers from 320 families and children in Nicaragua during the three flu seasons, and found that obese people diagnosed with influenza have a 42% higher virus survival time than non-obese people. Obese people carry flu virus with only mild or no symptoms, and the survival time of the virus is still twice that of non-obese people.
Not only that, obese people who are infected with COVID-19 are also prone to develop severe illness. Professor Zhou Xin, the leader of the first medical treatment team in Shanghai and leader of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at the First Affiliated Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University, introduced that obese COVID-19 patients are more likely to become severe or critical in their work Patients, or because of obesity, have a strong inflammatory response in the body and cause damage to the lungs.
Everyone has the ability to fight viruses. The anti-virus immune mechanism of the human body is the body’s immunity against viruses, including cellular immunity, humoral immunity and other body immune modes, which can effectively fight against, contain, and eliminate the infection and destruction of the virus by the body.
Wu Liangping, director of weight loss and diabetes surgery at Jinshazhou Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, pointed out in his article that obese patients are usually accompanied by a variety of metabolic syndromes with low basal metabolic rates, so that they can provide a natural petri dish for the virus, Let the virus multiply in a chronic, low-inflammatory environment. Studies have shown that people with a BMI greater than 30 are associated with increased hospitalization rates, secondary infections, and mortality. Moreover, this association has been confirmed globally, and obese people are now considered to be at high risk of serious complications of influenza infection.
Hurt the whole body
Obesity leads to chronic diseases with bodily functions
Through the analysis of COVID-19 early patient analysis data published in “The Lancet”, it can be found that the proportion of critical patients in early patients accounts for 15%, mostly based on chronic patients, elderly people and obese people. The common basic chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular diseases, are closely related to obesity. Obese patients have a serious lung burden, which is also one of the accomplices in the deterioration of respiratory diseases caused by viral infections. All these indicate that obesity makes the whole body function worse.
Considering the dangerous situation of obese people, last week, the British government updated the list of “high-risk” people. In addition to the elderly over 70, it also included super obese people and pregnant women with a BMI of more than 40. Officials recommend that they not go out easily Isolation at home.
Chang Cuiqing, a researcher in the Department of Sports Medicine at Peking University Third Hospital, believes that when the flu attacks, obese people are indeed at high risk. Cui Qingqing explained that obese people have poor physical functions and disturbed lipid metabolism. According to statistics, 80% of obese people have fatty liver, 70% have high blood lipids, and they also have a high proportion of diabetes and hypertension. So they are more susceptible to viruses and have less resilience. In addition, fat people’s cardiopulmonary function will be reduced, for example, many fat people will pant when they move, so that their respiratory system is vulnerable to adverse effects.
Chang Cuiqing said that from the data of three national nutrition and health survey reports in 1992, 2002 and 2012, it can be seen that the number of obese people in China has been on the rise for 20 years. There are two main reasons for this: one is that the diet of the Chinese is unreasonable, and many people take too many high-oil, high-salt and high-fat foods for three meals a day; Choose a static lifestyle. Therefore, the most important thing for obese people is to lose weight. Secondly, in order to prevent flu, obese people should pay attention to reasonable diet, increase exercise, and maintain daily activities.