During the COVID pandemic, I often stressed the role of obesity in poor COVID outcomes:
As early as March 1, 2020, I urged people to “Take vitamins, drink plenty of water, and start a sensible exercise regimen,” understanding that healthier weights would likely lead to better COVID outcomes.
Only now is one “mainstream” media outlet addressing the issue. CNN Health just published an article discussing how overweight people are at a much higher risk of serious COVID. The article featured information on a new study that suggests that losing weight can reduce that risk.
A large retrospective study published last week in JAMA Surgery suggests that substantial weight loss makes a difference.The study, looking at records from 20,212 people for more than six years, was funded by a grant from Medtronic, which makes devices for weight loss surgery.The rates of positive Covid-19 tests were similar in the surgical and control groups: 9.1% and 8.7%, respectively. The weight loss among the group that had surgery was associated with a lower risk of hospitalization, need for supplemental oxygen and severe symptoms from a Covid-19 infection. This patient group also had a 53% lower 10-year cumulative incidence of all-cause non-Covid mortality, compared with the control group.”The findings suggest that obesity can be a modifiable risk factor for the severity of Covid-19 infection,” the study said.
Critics slammed CNN for being shocked by the news well known to many (primarily Legal Insurrection readers).
Despite citing a “new study,” the article also referenced studies from August 2020, February 2021 and April 2021 that reported hospitalizations from the coronavirus were “robustly linked to cardiometabolic health” and the body-mass index.Critics quickly took to social media to slam CNN, with some questioning why it took so long for the liberal network to acknowledge the data that was already widely known.”A truly shocking development,” one critic jokingly wrote, while another thanked the network for finally “catching up.”
Many salient comments note the lockdown policies, especially those that targeted the gyms, contributed to the severity of the pandemic.
And there are reminders that those (such as yours truly) have been targeted on social media for presenting “misinformation,”…which later turned out to be the correct assessment.
To end this post, I would like to share some actual science: Inflammation plays a crucial role in severe COVID infections. From the Archives of Medical Science recorded in the National Institute of Health website comes a 2016 study showing obesity and inflammation are linked:
Obesity is the accumulation of abnormal or excessive fat that may interfere with the maintenance of an optimal state of health. The excess of macronutrients in the adipose tissues stimulates them to release inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin 6, and reduces production of adiponectin, predisposing to a pro-inflammatory state and oxidative stress.
Furthermore, the virus targets fat cells directly.
Now researchers have found that the coronavirus infects both fat cells and certain immune cells within body fat, prompting a damaging defensive response in the body.“The bottom line is, ‘Oh my god, indeed, the virus can infect fat cells directly,’” said Dr. Philipp Scherer, a scientist who studies fat cells at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who was not involved in the research.
In 2022, I look forward to more additions to my continuing series: I Was Right About COVID.
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