A study revealed that COVID-19 kills more men younger than the age of 60 than women. Researchers discovered that obesity is the reason behind it.
The study conducted by researchers at Kaiser Permanente Southern California Health System.
As cited from TOI, the study revealed that the extremely obese men with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of aged more years 40 or more, three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than people of average weight. And it’s more dangerous for men under the age of 60 years.
Also, people with a BMI of 45 were four times more likely to die of COVID-19.
The researchers wrote that severe obesity – particularly among younger patients – suggests a significant pathophysiologic link between excess adiposity and severe COVID-19 illness.
John Hopkins University cardiologist Dr. David A. Kass told, “The mortality risk posed by obesity conditions, such as the history of myocardial infarction, diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia, is higher. Because obesity is particularly damaging in this age group and it is more likely that other serious comorbidities that evolve later in life take over as dominant risk factors.”
Kass explained, “It requires more muscle force to displace the diaphragm downward when a substantial fat mass lies below it. Abdominal obesity also makes us more difficult to breathe.”
So, with COVID-19 taking so many lives, this would be the perfect reason to take a walk in the park.
