A new study by Cleveland Clinic has shown that COVID-19 survivors who are obese are more likely to have a greater risk of experiencing long-term complications of the disease than those who are not obese.
The study was published online in the Journal of Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism.
There is growing evidence that obesity plays a key role in developing a severe COVID-19 illness, requiring hospitalization, ICU, and even mechanical ventilation in the early onset of the infection.
Obesity is also associated with an increased risk for heart disease, blood clotting, and lung conditions. Furthermore, most people with obesity have a weakened immune system, creating a chronic inflammatory state in the body. The condition can also lead to a poor prognosis even after recovering from COVID-19 infection.
The study’s principal investigator Dr. Ali Aminian said, “To our knowledge, this current study for the first time suggests that patients with moderate to severe obesity are at a greater risk of developing long-term complications of COVID-19 beyond the acute phase.”
Dr. Aminian is the director of Cleveland Clinic’s Bariatric & Metabolic Institute.
The study used a registry of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 infection within the Cleveland Clinic health system from March 2020 to July 2020, with follow-up until January 2021.
The researchers looked at three indicators of possible long-term complications of COVID-19 – such as hospitalization, mortality, and need for diagnostic medical tests.
Upon analysis and evaluation, the team found that a health condition called post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection (PASC) is an extremely common problem in COVID-19 survivors, according to Science Daily.
During the study period after the acute phase of COVID-19, 44% of the participants had required hospitalization and 1% died. In addition, results showed that patients with moderate and severe obesity have a 28% risk of hospitalization and a 30% risk of dying than those with normal body mass index (BMI).
The study’s co-investigator Dr. Bartolome Burguera said, “The observations of this study can possibly be explained by the underlying mechanisms at work in patients who have obesity, such as hyper-inflammation, immune dysfunction, and comorbidities.”
Dr. Burguera is the chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Endocrinology & Metabolism Institute.
“Those conditions can lead to poor outcomes in the acute phase of COVID-19 in patients with obesity and could possibly lead to an increased risk of long-term complications of COVID-19 in this patient population,” he added.
The researchers said future studies have been planned to confirm the study findings that obesity is a major risk factor for the development of PASC. Further research will also help determine the long-term and rigorous follow-up that patients with obesity need after having COVID-19. The article was published in Science Daily.
