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Covid

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Fat people even more likely to be affected by COVID than previously thought

804 replies

pocketem · 02/05/2020 10:16

UK government scientists are urgently investigating whether people living with obesity may be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, after emerging data from intensive care units suggested a stronger link than previously thought.

New data from the UK’s Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, which has been presented to ministers and SAGE scientists, has found that the proportion of severely obese patients in ICUs is twice the proportion in the general population.

Ministers have become increasingly alarmed by data coming out of Britain’s intensive care units, with some members of the government suggesting obesity may end up being a factor in the UK’s higher death toll.

The UK is currently projected to have the highest number of coronavirus deaths in Europe. Around 1 in 4 UK adults are obese. In 2018, the WHO found that the UK had the third highest obesity rate in Europe, behind only Malta and Turkey.

More here:
www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/alexwickham/uk-scientists-coronavirus-obesity-link

OP posts:
grumpyorange · 05/05/2020 12:43

@XingMing did you fully read the article you just posted. For example :

'But more clinically important than BMI, tied to waist circumference is the prevalence of chronic metabolic disease which can affect many of “normal” weight.'

Siameasy · 05/05/2020 13:20

Waist-hip ratio is meant to be really important. As an apple shape I would happily carry extra weight around the bum and hips and have a smaller waist even if it took me a bit over BMI but am lumbered with the choice of:
Beach ball on two twigs or
Looking like a teenage boy (I chose the latter)

XingMing · 05/05/2020 17:00

I read it quite quickly this morning @grumpyorange, after someone else on another thread flagged it, and thought everyone here (who are all interested because the thread has been running a while now) and because it's by a doctor and from the Lancet so not to be dismissed as SM fake news.

Everyone knows BMI tells only part of the story, but blunt instruments have their place in life.

Dowser · 05/05/2020 22:08

Thankyou Sophie
I wore a tight dress today, to remind myself to go steady.
Then ate a Fry’s peppermint cream bar this evening that there was absolutely no need for. 😡

Oh well, I will forgive myself and do better tomorrow

Greenpop21 · 06/05/2020 09:34

I’ve just hopped on the scales. 5 lbs up, not just lockdown but just been a bit too relaxed around eating and DC keep damn baking!! Still 23 bmi but I’ve reached my personal warning weight so it’s no breakfasting for a while to drop it. Just seen latest Adele pics and that’s got me focussed. Grin

Greenpop21 · 06/05/2020 09:36

Interesting about shape. I’ve always been a slight pear but as I approach 50, more is settling on my middle and I’m not having it!

alreadytaken · 06/05/2020 10:15

everyone on this thread sees to be obsessed with their weight - but very little actual study of the science looking at weight gain.

So some critical messages that you can find if, you know, you actually try following the research

  1. People react very differently to foods in terms of sugar spikes after eating therefore thinking what is good for you will work for someone else is stupid. Conventional diet advice is not preventing obesity and this is possibly an explanation.
  1. Extra fibre benefits a lot of people, however it doesnt work for everyone
  1. Eating more fruit and vegetables is generally helpful in part because it gives you fibre
  1. Eating a wide range of foods and eating seasonally is probably good for your gut biome. Eat different colours if you can.
  1. Artificial sweeteners are the work of the devil.
  1. Eat slowly and chew your food well.

6 If you want to try and kick start weight gain probiotics or prebiotics are worth a try.

And actually scientists are saying obesity may not be the real issue with Covid-19 but that vitamin deficiency could be. Obesity causes vitamin D deficiency. Also a suggestion that B12 may be important so vegans need to watch this.

alreadytaken · 06/05/2020 10:17

obviously obesity is not the only cause of vitamin D deficiency but on mumsnet sometimes you need to state the blindingly obvious.

Greenpop21 · 06/05/2020 10:19

I’m taking two Vit D3 (50mcg) a day lately. I normally take 25mcg but you can take up to 100mcg a day.

alreadytaken · 06/05/2020 12:41

sunshine is a better way to get vitamin D if you can. You need to have adequate magnesium levels too - so although heresy on this thread the odd square of dark chocolate is good for you.

SudokuBook · 06/05/2020 12:49

I’m only taking 1 12.5 mcg tablet, 250% RDA. Wondering if that’s enough given I am high BMI

Greenpop21 · 06/05/2020 13:04

The biggest benefit from taking a supplement comes from if you’re deficient. If you have dark skin and cover up more, you need more sun in high enough UV levels or D3. I get 20 mins sun on my arms if I can plus my 25D3

Whaddyathinkofthis · 06/05/2020 13:12

there’s no such thing as real food and (presumably) fake food

There are loads of fake foods!

Ready meals, that plastic cheese people put on burgers and low fat yoghurt are 3 for a start.

Xenia · 06/05/2020 13:48

I used real food first on here and I know what I mean by that. If people want to eat very processed food but a lot less of it and get their weight down to a healthy 10 stone or less kind of level then that's fine too but you will feel a lot better eating food with a lot of vitamins etc in it.

On obesity and covid 19 :-

"The reason why obese people may be more at risk of dying from coronavirus could be because their fat cells make large amounts of a protein used by the infection to infiltrate human cells.

The coronavirus - scientifically called SARS-CoV-2 - latches onto ACE-2 receptors, known as the 'gateway' into cells inside body.

Fat cells express ACE-2 receptors, which experts say may explain why obese people have higher odds of suffering a severe bout of COVID-19.

ACE-2 is also expressed in the fat cells of people with type 2 diabetes - another high-risk health condition driven by obesity.

Some researchers now believe diabetes drugs could be used to fight the infection - and admitted that losing weight may also have a benefit.

The scientists who posed the theory, from Germany and the US, also outlined how fat cells are linked to a lung-scarring condition called pulmonary fibrosis.

With COVID-19 added on top, the lungs would struggle to get enough oxygen to the rest of the body.

The evidence is not concrete but data from hospitalised COVID-19 patients suggests obese people are more likely to die than those who are slim.

Public Health England has launched an investigation into how obesity plays a role in disease severity, as well as ethnicity and gender.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8291869/Obese-people-risk-coronavirus-fat-cells-infection-targets.html

Theeighthelephant · 06/05/2020 17:32

I wonder if Xenia hates fat people even more than she hates poor people...

TheHumansAreDefinitelyDead · 06/05/2020 17:35

Science= hate?Confused

HeIenaDove · 06/05/2020 18:13

A local care home has just had a mass free delivery of Dominos pizzas.

Can you imagine the social media furore if they had said "No thanks we prefer something healthier.

ChipotleBlessing · 06/05/2020 18:38

It’s not science to say obese people shouldn’t be treated on the NHS, it’s hate. My DM was slim and worked for the NHS all her life. A combination of thyroid problems, a work related injury and ageing have left her overweight in retirement. She’s contributed more to the NHS than Xenia ever will, but Xenia would leave her to die at home. Yeah, it’s hate. And it’s abhorrent.

grumpyorange · 06/05/2020 18:48

@TheHumansAreDefinitelyDead if you look back at Xenia posts you will see why it's thought of as hate

HeIenaDove · 06/05/2020 18:57

@ChipotleBlessing Totally agree.

XingMing · 06/05/2020 20:47

I disagree with Xenia on a lot of things, but I don't think that she "hates", albeit you might tag it as such. There is a view point that follows the evidence. Evidence is factual, impartial, based on numers and third party science, peer reviewed rather than the gurnings of social media.

The basic health of the nation, in all social classes, for all levels of wealth and education, was at its best during the years of rationing for WW2 and a few years after, when regardless of how much or how little you had you were entitled to a basic minimum ration: 2oz butter, 4oz bacon, 2 eggs, so much flour, and 6oz (I think) of meat per person per week. The rest you grew yourself, or someone in your family did. It was lean pickings for everyone, and no one got fat on it, but no one starved either. And yes, it was normal to buy a little extra sugar or flour and another egg privately, if you could, to make a cake for an important celebration.

And the NHS was created in 1947 to cater for that country, where most people did hard manual labour at home or at work, and few lived more than 3-5 years past retirement. Where there was no treatment for cancer or infertility, not many antibiotics, no transplant surgery, no hip replacements. In the days when the doctor looked you in the eye and said, "Mrs Smith you have xxxx. We can't treat it, but we can relieve the discomfort."

Now we're treating the diseases of ease and affluence and too much good food and good living, in an increasingly elderly population. It's progress, but at some point, we all need to consider how much the extension of life is value-adding at a societal level. We all know how much we love our parents and grandparents and value them as individuals, but extending life into a twilight zone just because we can't bear to say goodbye is destructive to the necessary renewal of life.

grumpyorange · 06/05/2020 20:53

@XingMing wow... I hope you remember this when you're in your twilight years...

XingMing · 06/05/2020 21:06

Too late @grumpy orange... I am already there.

grumpyorange · 06/05/2020 21:10

@XingMing so you're happy to not receive any treatment for the NHS?

ChipotleBlessing · 06/05/2020 21:21

I mean, my DM is 68 and could have another twenty years of life in reasonable health. So fuck off supporting Xenia suggesting she shouldn’t get NHS treatment, you social cleansing shits.

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