A Cleveland Clinic study found that COVID-19 survivors with moderate or severe obesity may be at greater risk of long-term consequences of the disease than patients without obesity. . The study was recently published online in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

Many studies have identified obesity as a risk factor for developing a severe form of COVID-19 that requires hospitalization, intensive care, and ventilator support in the early stages of the disease. Obesity, which is a complex multifactorial disease, is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, blood clots, and lung diseases. In addition, obesity weakens the immune system and creates chronic inflammation. Those conditions can lead to poor outcomes after infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

“To our knowledge, this present study is the first,” said Ali Aminian, MD, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Metabolism & Obesity Treatment Research Institute and principal investigator of the study. suggests that patients with moderate to severe obesity are at increased risk of developing long-term complications of COVID-19 beyond the acute phase.”

For this observational study, researchers used a list of patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Cleveland Clinic health system over a 5-month period from March 2020. to July 2020, with a follow-up period until January 2021.

The researchers examined three indicators of possible long-term complications of COVID-19 hospitalization, mortality, and the need for diagnostic medical testing – occurring 30 days or later after when the first positive SARS-CoV-2 virus test. Results were compared between five groups of patients based on their body mass index (BMI): 18.5-24.9 (normal), 25-29.9 (overweight), 30-34.9 (mildly obese), 35-39.9 (moderately obese), and 40 or more (severely obese). Obesity is a disease that is classified as having a BMI of 30 or higher.

A total of 2,839 patients who did not require ICU admission and survived the acute phase of COVID-19 were included in the final results of this study. The normal BMI group was taken as a reference.

Research shows that the health condition known as the post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) is an extremely common problem among COVID-19 survivors. Specifically, during the 10-month follow-up after the acute phase of COVID-19, 44% of study participants were hospitalized and 1% died. Furthermore, the results showed that compared with patients with normal BMI, the risk of hospitalization was 28% and 30% higher, respectively, in patients with moderate and severe obesity. The need for diagnostic testing to evaluate various medical problems, compared with patients with a normal BMI, was 25% and 39% higher, respectively, in patients with moderate and severe obesity.

More specifically, the need for diagnostic testing to evaluate heart, lung, vascular, renal, digestive, and psychiatric problems was significantly higher in patients with a BMI of 35 or higher than in those with a BMI of 35 or more. Normal BMI.

“The observations of this study may be explained by underlying mechanisms at work in obese patients, such as increased inflammation, immune dysfunction, and comorbidities,” Bartolome said. “Those conditions can lead to poor outcomes in the early stages,” says Burguera, MD, PhD, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Metabolic & Obesity Research Institute and co-investigator of the study. acute phase of COVID-19 in obese patients and may lead to an increased risk of long-term complications of COVID-19 in this patient population.”

Future studies are planned to confirm the findings of this study that obesity is a major risk factor for the development of PASC and determine the long-term and rigorous follow-up that the disease requires. Obese patients need after infection with SARS-CoV-2.

References:

Ali Aminian, James Bena, Kevin M. Pantalone, Bartolome Burguera. Association of Obesity with Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, 2021; DOI: 10.1111/dom.14454

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210603171255.htm

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Translated by: Thu Vo