Obesity and the coronavirus - Printable Version
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Obesity and the coronavirus - Mick - 09-05-2020
We all know that obesity and attendant comorbidity factors impact death and illness rates from the coronavirus, as it did this gentleman:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/one-man-s-battle-shows-why-covid-19-and-obesity-are-a-toxic-mix/ar-BB18IMXH
I'm 6'1". This NIH chart claims I am overweight at 189 pounds, obese at 221 (30 BMI). Seems a tad off, but okay. When I took a coronavirus test, the sensitive group was pegged at a 40 BMI.
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/healthdisp/pdf/tipsheets/Are-You-at-a-Healthy-Weight.pdf
And the WHO predicts over 400,000 U. S. deaths by January 1:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/04/key-coronavirus-forecast-predicts-over-410000-total-us-deaths-by-jan-1.html
RE: Obesity and the coronavirus - Genuine Realist - 09-05-2020
(09-05-2020, 08:19 AM)Mick Wrote: We all know that obesity and attendant comorbidity factors impact death and illness rates from the coronavirus, as it did this gentleman:Congrats. If I am doing the math, you've lost over 40 pounds.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/one-man-s-battle-shows-why-covid-19-and-obesity-are-a-toxic-mix/ar-BB18IMXH
I'm 6'1". This NIH chart claims I am overweight at 189 pounds, obese at 221 (30 BMI). Seems a tad off, but okay. When I took a coronavirus test, the sensitive group was pegged at a 40 BMI.
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/healthdisp/pdf/tipsheets/Are-You-at-a-Healthy-Weight.pdf
And the WHO predicts over 400,000 U. S. deaths by January 1:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/04/key-coronavirus-forecast-predicts-over-410000-total-us-deaths-by-jan-1.html
I envy 189. I aim at 197, but am ususally around 200-202. I feel fit at that weight, however.
RE: Obesity and the coronavirus - Nan3cy - 09-05-2020
I’ve always been skeptical of the BMI’s lack of any differentiation between men and women. When I met my spouse he was 56 and in fabulous shape — and at 182 and 6 ft (well, 5-11 and 3/4...), he was supposedly a tad overweight. After we were married, he put on a few pounds, while I put on 2 pounds a year, like clockwork. After 15 years I was pretty porky — but according to the BMI, I was still in the normal range. (I’ve since lost all 30 pounds and am hoping someday to get back to the gym so I can keep it off.) I like the “smart BMI” — it doesn’t give you yes/no answers like the regular one, but maybe that’s the reason I like it.
RE: Obesity and the coronavirus - M T - 09-05-2020
It hasn't been clear to me whether the actual mass/weight (BMI) of a COVID patient is somehow contributory to a severe outcome or whether it is the genetics or perhaps life style that is somehow contributory.
For instance, if a sedentary lifestyle is contributory, that lifestyle might be preferentially selected by selecting people with high BMI. Or, if one had a genetic predisposition to weight gain, that set of genes might be selected by selecting high BMI. But losing weight (perhaps by fasting) wouldn't necessarily change those conditions.
On the other hand, if it were the miles of blood vessels or some other direct effect of extra body mass, that somehow is contributory to a severe outcome, then mass/weight is a good selector (but BMI would seem to be less good as a 6'6 200-pound man would have the same mass as a 5'6" 200-pound man but very different BMIs).
Adjusting your weight to a healthy value is generally a good idea. But don't presume that "normal" BMI is what you want. At least some studies show that people with a "normal" BMI has a lower life expectancy than those with "overweight" (or even "obese I").
[If you follow the link to the slides for that particular study, I'll point out that in "Proportion of life spent in poor health", consider whether being underweight is the cause of the poor health or the result of poor health.]
Remember, "normal" is just a setting on your washing machine.
RE: Obesity and the coronavirus - akiddoc - 09-05-2020
(09-05-2020, 08:19 AM)Mick Wrote: We all know that obesity and attendant comorbidity factors impact death and illness rates from the coronavirus, as it did this gentleman:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/one-man-s-battle-shows-why-covid-19-and-obesity-are-a-toxic-mix/ar-BB18IMXH
I'm 6'1". This NIH chart claims I am overweight at 189 pounds, obese at 221 (30 BMI). Seems a tad off, but okay. When I took a coronavirus test, the sensitive group was pegged at a 40 BMI.
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/healthdisp/pdf/tipsheets/Are-You-at-a-Healthy-Weight.pdf
And the WHO predicts over 400,000 U. S. deaths by January 1:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/04/key-coronavirus-forecast-predicts-over-410000-total-us-deaths-by-jan-1.html
6 feet 1 inch and 189 pounds is a BMI of 24.9 which is normal.
BMI classification depends on average muscle weight and average bone weight. They do not work well for certain people. If you are Samoan, for example, a BMI of 30 probably means you have minimal body fat.
RE: Obesity and the coronavirus - fullmetal - 09-05-2020
I'm pretty sure most guidelines that reference BMI do so with the understanding that it's an average descriptor and carving rules in stone around BMI calculations is a fool's errand. Still, the reference may be a decent average metric to work with. I mean, if it's that bad, why does anyone waste paper and ink on it?
RE: Obesity and the coronavirus - OutsiderFan - 09-06-2020
BMI might be better than nothing, but it is not a reliable measure because of reasons stated. What you really want is to measure actual fat, not guess at it based on height and weight. It seems like something that should be measured in routine physical exams but I’ve never been aware of this being a part of one.
The only time I have ever had my body fat percentage taken was at gym by a trainer. It was done with the caliper tool. Whoever administers the assessment has to measure the right places or the results will not be accurate.
RE: Obesity and the coronavirus - DocSavage87 - 09-13-2020
Here's a new article in Science on the thread's topic:
Why obesity worsens COVID-19
Quote:The largest descriptive study yet of hospitalized U.S. COVID-19 patients, posted as a preprint last month by Genentech researchers, found that 77% of nearly 17,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were overweight (29%) or obese (48%).
The above sounds damning until you realize at least 64% (from 2000 survey) of the US population are overweight or obese. Not sure what the most current numbers might be.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/databriefs/adultweight.pdf
RE: Obesity and the coronavirus - BostonCard - 09-13-2020
I wonder if that article refers to this paper:
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.7326/M20-3742
Quote:Among 6916 patients with COVID-19, there was a J-shaped association between BMI and risk for death, even after adjustment for obesity-related comorbidities. Compared with patients with a BMI of 18.5 to 24 kg/m2, those with BMIs of 40 to 44 kg/m2 and greater than 45 kg/m2 had relative risks of 2.68 (95% CI, 1.43 to 5.04) and 4.18 (CI, 2.12 to 8.26), respectively. This risk was most striking among those aged 60 years or younger and men. Increased risk for death associated with Black or Latino race/ethnicity or other sociodemographic characteristics was not detected.
The numbers don't match. Note, the study was funded by Genentech/Roche but the researchers were at Kaiser.
BC
RE: Obesity and the coronavirus - M T - 09-13-2020
(09-13-2020, 11:52 AM)DocSavage87 Wrote: Here's a new article in Science on the thread's topic:
Why obesity worsens COVID-19
Quote:The largest descriptive study yet of hospitalized U.S. COVID-19 patients, posted as a preprint last month by Genentech researchers, found that 77% of nearly 17,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were overweight (29%) or obese (48%).
The above sounds damning until you realize at least 64% (from 2000 survey) of the US population are overweight or obese. Not sure what the most current numbers might be.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/databriefs/adultweight.pdf
Yes, if they had said that 90% (fake number) of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are right handed, that wouldn't be enough info to mean much.
Regarding weight, NIH statistics shows the overweight (but not obese) percentage has been steady but the obese percentage has been climbing. Still, in 2014, obesity was around 51% for women and 42% for men, so 48% in 2020 is more than obesity was in the general population of 2014, but not by a whole lot.
Remember, the hospitalized US COVID-19 patients constitute a different demographic than the US population. Gender, age, and racial information could be used to try to clarify the risk ratio.
Not the study you mentioned (which looked at hospitalization), but Genentech also funded a study that came out last month of Kaiser patients in SoCal. It has a nice graphic of risk ratios of death for various conditions. Note that overweight has less risk of death than normal weight. Underweight has a pretty high risk. BMI 30-35 (class 1 obesity) had a risk ratio of 1.26 (0.82-1.95); BMI 35-40: 1.16 (0.63-2.17); BMI 40-45: 2.68 (1.43-5.04); BMI 45+: 4.18 (2.12-8.26).
It also indicates that the chance of death has been going down over time.
![[Image: m203742ff1.jpg]](https://www.acpjournals.org/na101/home/literatum/publisher/acp/journals/content/aim/0/aim.ahead-of-print/m20-3742/20200812/images/medium/m203742ff1.jpg)
RE: Obesity and the coronavirus - DocSavage87 - 09-14-2020
(09-13-2020, 05:20 PM)M T Wrote:(09-13-2020, 11:52 AM)DocSavage87 Wrote: Here's a new article in Science on the thread's topic:
Why obesity worsens COVID-19
Quote:The largest descriptive study yet of hospitalized U.S. COVID-19 patients, posted as a preprint last month by Genentech researchers, found that 77% of nearly 17,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were overweight (29%) or obese (48%).
The above sounds damning until you realize at least 64% (from 2000 survey) of the US population are overweight or obese. Not sure what the most current numbers might be.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/databriefs/adultweight.pdf
Yes, if they had said that 90% (fake number) of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are right handed, that wouldn't be enough info to mean much.
Regarding weight, NIH statistics shows the overweight (but not obese) percentage has been steady but the obese percentage has been climbing. Still, in 2014, obesity was around 51% for women and 42% for men, so 48% in 2020 is more than obesity was in the general population of 2014, but not by a whole lot.
Remember, the hospitalized US COVID-19 patients constitute a different demographic than the US population. Gender, age, and racial information could be used to try to clarify the risk ratio.
Not the study you mentioned (which looked at hospitalization), but Genentech also funded a study that came out last month of Kaiser patients in SoCal. It has a nice graphic of risk ratios of death for various conditions. Note that overweight has less risk of death than normal weight. Underweight has a pretty high risk. BMI 30-35 (class 1 obesity) had a risk ratio of 1.26 (0.82-1.95); BMI 35-40: 1.16 (0.63-2.17); BMI 40-45: 2.68 (1.43-5.04); BMI 45+: 4.18 (2.12-8.26).
It also indicates that the chance of death has been going down over time.
So the two biggest risk factors aside from being an organ transplant is morbid obesity or advanced age? That's surprising to me -- the relative risk of comorbidities vs just age.