This condition makes coronavirus especially risky if you are young
A new study says that obesity can be a driving factor in severe cases of COVID-19 in younger patients.
Throughout the pandemic, research has appointed obesity as one of the pre-existing conditions that put people - especially seniors inincreased risk of developing a serious case of COVID-19. And although the overweight is a major risk factor, a new study indicates that this could be more young people than medical experts had previously raw.
To discussThe conclusions of a recent study he has co-conducted who have been published inThe lancet,cardiologistDavid Kass, a medical teacher who heads the Cardioscience Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said: "In the population with a strong prevalence of obesity, Covid-19 will affect more populations than previously reported . "
By using a dataset of 265 patients with six different hospitals, Kass and his colleagues reported having found "a significant reverse correlation between age and IMC, in which younger individuals admitted to the hospital were more likely to be obese ". Before these results, being overweight was mainly considered a largerRisk for the elderly Due to the highest mortality rates among this particular demographic. However, according to Kass, these figures could have been misleading because of other life-threatening conditions related to obesity not to have time to develop in younger patients.
"The reason co-morbidities do not occur in younger patients - say less than 40 or 50 years - is that the cardiac, vascular and metabolic risks related to obesity may not have enough time to develop in a concrete way, "Kass said in aMaintenance on the results Posted on the John Hopkins hub. "You will find that Covid-19 patients who are younger are unlikely to have heart disease or preceding stroke, and many are not yet diabetic. We must pay attention to obesity as a risk major in itself. "
The study also emphasized this should be of particular concern for younger individuals in the United States, because the prevalence of obesity is much higher in this country than in other people - 40% in the United States, compared to 6 , 2% in China, 20%. In Italy and 24% in Spain.
When asked to summarize the greatest takeaway provided by the conclusions, Kass stressed that being young and overweight is worrying when it comes to coronavirus.
"I think the message is that you need to seriously treat obesity as a pre-existing condition that increases your risks to Covid-19," he said. "Maybe you did not think that because you are young and thought of that as an elderly person. But no-if you are obese and you have 25, 35, or 45, you have a risk factor And you should be carefully careful. "And to learn how you can reduce your chances of serious symptoms, checkDo this thing at home considerably reduces your coronavirus risk.