Obesity and the increased risk for COVID-19: mechanisms and nutritional management

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic has become a complex problem that overlaps with a growing public health problem, obesity. Obesity alters different components of the innate and adaptive immune responses, creating a chronic and low-grade state of inflammation. Nutritional status is closely related to a better or worse prognosis of viral infections. Excess weight was recognized as a risk factor for COVID-19 complications. In addition to the direct risk, obesity triggers other diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, increasing the risk of severe COVID-19. This review explains the diets that induce obesity and the importance of different foods in this process. We also review tissue disruption in obesity, leading to impaired immune responses and the possible mechanisms by which obesity and its comorbidities increase COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Nutritional strategies that support the immune system in patients with obesity and with COVID-19 are also discussed in light of the available data, considering the severity of the infection. The discussions held may contribute to combating this global emergency and planning specific public health policy.

Nutritional and lifestyle changes required for minimizing the recovery period in home quarantined COVID‐19 patients of Punjab, Pakistan

“…In our results, BMI association was also found to be significant on the recovery period and this is supported by Silverio et al (2020) who claimed that obesity is widespread among COVID-19 infected hospitalized patients. Obesity can be a cause of impaired immune response and delayed recovery and hence can serve as an independent risk factor for the severity of COVID-19 pathogenesis (Morais et al, 2020). Reasons behind this association could be the link of obesity with lower expiratory volume and functional capability of the respiratory system.…”

Predicting Prognosis in COVID-19 Patients using Machine Learning and Readily Available Clinical Data

“…CRP, d-dimer, and LDH have been linked to COVID-19 severity in other studies, likely reflective of a pronounced inflammatory, systemic immune response with heightened thromboembolic risk (30-31). Increasing age and body mass index are well-established risk factors for influenza severity (32), and may, in part, exacerbate the inflammatory response (33-34). While race/ethnicity was not found to play a key role in explaining risk classification in the Shapley value analysis, a white race was observed to contribute towards a lower risk classification, while all other choices did not contribute substantially to risk category (see figure E22 in supplement).…”

Sarscov dois e o tecido adiposo

“…Segundo As mudanças de comportamento, de padrão alimentar, de ciclos de sono e inclusão de atividade física como rotina são as abordagens baseadas em evidência com eficácia no controle da obesidade. A prática de atividade física é um dos mais altos graus de recomendação terapêutica, devido à redução de citocinas inflamatórias, proteção cardiovascular e fortalecimento imuno-celular (MORAIS et al, 2021;SALVADORI et al, 2021;DUTTA et al, 2021). Além dessas abordagens, o uso de fármacos para controle de peso e apetite, procedimentos endoscópicos e cirurgia bariátrica são terapias mais invasivas também utilizadas para o paciente obeso, sendo desafios a serem contornados pelos sistemas de saúde pública.…”