Overweight and obese people have suffered the worst effects of COVID-19 at disproportionately high rates, reports Fortune.
About the research
In October, a group of researchers, mostly from Stanford University, published a non-peer-reviewed study finding that COVID-19 may infect fat cells directly, a novel discovery that suggests overweight and obese people may be at increased risk for severe disease and long COVID.
“[Our study’s] data suggest that infection of fat tissue and its associated inflammatory response may be one of the reasons why obese individuals do so poorly when infected with SARS-CoV-2,” Dr. Catherine Blish, a professor at Stanford University Medical Center and a lead author on the study, told Reuters.
Blish and her team studied the adipose cells—or fat cells—of patients who died of COVID-19. The researchers found that COVID-19 not only infected the cells but also inflamed them, a response associated with severe COVID-19 cases.
The outcome
The findings suggest that the more overweight someone is the more susceptible that person may be to severe COVID infections. Someone carrying extra weight likely has more excess fat tissue that could be infected.
COVID-19’s ability to invade fat cells may have long-term implications for overweight or obese people infected with the virus.
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Source: Fortune
