We know everyone diagnosed with COVID 19 battles the disease differently. Friday, UofL health officials said patients with obesity are at greater risk of seeing complications, and even hospitalization if they contract the virus.
A big concern is people who live in Kentuckiana. That's because Kentucky and Indiana have some of the highest obesity rates in the country, according to data from the University of Louisville (UofL).
Data shows that in Kentucky 36-percent of people are obese and in Indiana 34-percent of all adults are obese. Based on these numbers, adults on both sides of the river are at risk of complications if they get COVID-19.
"These patients with obesity oftentimes have a low grade inflammatory state that's ongoing, even before they ever get an infection. They come into contact with COVID they develop a clinical case. And their immune system responds in an abnormal way," Dr. Fred Williams with UofL said.
Most of the complications come in the way of breathing which affects the person's diaphragms. This could mean in some cases--a ventilator may not be enough to save the patient.
"The efficiency of ventilation in large part depends on how well that diaphragm can move. And if you've got a large quantity of abdominal fat, you don't get the sort of mobility of the diaphragm, that would normally occur in non-obese patients," according to Dr. Williams.
Other risk factors, obesity leads people to be more prone to blood clotting which can be a major issue with COVID patients.
Dr. Williams offers this recommendation for patients with obesity or other comorbid conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease:
"Be especially vigilant because they're almost always more prone to get infection number one and number two if they do become infected. They have a much higher risk of developing a severe case where they would have to be hospitalized."
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