With the worldwide fear of COVID-19 (or the coronavirus), it’s no surprise that people with pre-existing medical conditions such as obesity may feel more anxious than usual. It is completely natural and understandable. The virus is rapidly taking over the world, and researchers are struggling to find out how it works, who is most at risk, and how to control its spread. This blog provides the information you need to stay healthy and safe.
Many people have problems with weight control. A diagnosis of clinical or genetic overweight or obesity is not embarrassing, nor does it mean there is no help. Obesity can be genetic or caused by disease or medication but is often associated with a lack of health education, financial constraints or psychological trauma, and psychiatric problems. So this is a general topic that needs attention and affection.
The links become clearer as the coronavirus spreads around the world and provides data, and researchers are still trying to figure out why. Obesity increases the chances of developing several health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. And these are some conditions that can make a COVID-19 patient very sick.
So this article provided by Dr Venu Gopal Pareek gives information about the correlation between COVID-19 and Obesity, and how to deal with obesity.
COVID-19
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe illnesses such as Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). The new coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been identified in humans.
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, which means they are transmitted between animals and humans. Detailed research has shown that SARS-CoV is transmitted by human flower cats and MERS-CoV by human dromedary camels. Several coronaviruses are known to circulate in animals that have not yet infected humans.
Common signs of infection include difficulty in breathing, fever, cough, and shortness of breath. In more severe cases, the infection can lead to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
Standard recommendations for preventing the spread of infection include regular hand washing, covering the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with people who have respiratory symptoms such as coughing and sneezing.
What is Obesity?
Obesity is a global health problem associated with excessive body fat, and it’s treatable. It is caused by genetic and environmental factors and can be difficult to control through food alone. Obesity is diagnosed as a condition where the Body Mass Index (BMI) is 30 or more. This is a disease that can cause other health problems. Talk to your doctor to better understand and manage obesity.
What is the relationship between diet, obesity and immune function?
Diet and obesity affect immune function in complex ways. In general, those who regularly eat processed foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt are more likely to develop the disease. On the other hand, a balanced diet will help your body fight off infections, viruses, and other chronic diseases.
People who are overweight often have breathing problems, which include difficulty breathing, an impaired supply of oxygen to the blood, and low lung volume and muscle strength. They are also prone to diabetes, high blood pressure, pneumonia, pulmonary hypertension, and heart stress. All of these are risk factors that can lead to poor outcomes in people diagnosed with COVID-19.
Effects of obesity in patients with COVID-19
Being overweight not only makes symptoms worse, but it can also make it difficult to treat the disease safely. Especially if you have cardiovascular disease or pulmonary hypertension, narrowed blood vessels. Damage to existing lungs can reduce the airway’s response to the ventilator and may make a recovery difficult. Generally, ventilators help patients with COVID-19 get more oxygen to their lungs.
Severe cases can be more difficult to recover:
It’s not clear why obesity is a higher risk for a person, but there are several theories. One thought is that infection can worsen the breathing difficulties which obese people often experience. Another theory suggests that obesity can increase a person’s chances of experiencing a “cytokine storm” which is a life-threatening immune system complication related to COVID-19. Finally, having more fat increases the survival rate of the virus because of the molecular nature of these fat cells and viruses.
What Dr Venu Gopal Pareek says to his patients?
As a Doctor, I remind my patients that we are facing the reality that this virus will be with us for a long time. If you feel like you don’t have regular eating habits, try to establish a structure for what and when you eat. This may include planning meals or keeping track of what you’ve eaten.
Improve your health naturally:
While the lockdown has created a more stressful environment where one makes poor food choices, you can work towards developing healthier habits.
The most direct route to good nutrition is to switch from an animal-based diet to a plant-based diet. When reorganizing your diet, look for more meatless, unprocessed options such as:
- Antioxidant-rich food source: Rich sources include cereals like wheat, oats and Barley, vegetables like cabbage and Broccoli. Corn, dark green leafy vegetables such as Spinach (Palak), Fenugreek leaves.
- Look for vitamin-boosting foods that contain calcium, vitamin B12, zinc, potassium, and vitamin C, such as cashews, garbanzo nuts, oranges, bell peppers, and bananas.
- Eat high-fibre foods like avocado, bran, lentils. Chia seeds have beneficial gut bacteria that normalize bowel movements and cleanse your system.
In general, developing smarter and healthier eating habits will pay off. Dietary supplements can provide some benefit in providing the body with the missing vitamins and minerals, but taking pills doesn’t always work.
Apart from changing your diet, adding exercise to your daily schedule will go a long way toward improving your health. During the long summer hours of sunshine, you can naturally absorb the much-needed vitamin D when doing outdoor activities.
Surgical weight loss options:
When diet and exercise do not lead to weight loss goals, or there are more pressing health concerns, surgical options are also available. The two most common surgical interventions for obesity today are gastric sleeves and Gastric bypass.
Gastric sleeve procedure:- The surgeon reduces the size of the stomach to the size of a banana, removing excess stomach from the body with two less invasive surgical options.
Gastric bypass:– This process physically changes the anatomy of the stomach. A balloon-like sac at the top of the stomach is connected to the intestines in the digestive tract. This not only reduces stomach size, but also reduces hunger, boosts metabolism, and impairs the body’s ability to absorb essential nutrients.
While many patients prefer the simpler gastric cuff, gastric bypass is a more effective solution in fighting diabetes with an almost instant increase in blood sugar. It is also very effective for those suffering from severe acid reflux.
It’s never too late to lose weight and improve your overall health. Although it may not protect you from Coronavirus infection, it can help save your life in the long term.
How weight loss surgery can low the risk of COVID 19:
Obesity and being overweight have been linked to dangerous conditions. It is said that being overweight accounts for more than 25% of cases of high blood pressure in both men and women. If you gain 10% by weight, you may be six times more likely to have moderate or severe sleep apnea. Luckily, there’s good news weight loss surgery not only helps you lose weight, but it can also help improve and even treat conditions like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, and more!
While our bodies rebel against diet, bariatric procedures such as gastric sleeves help reset metabolism, reduce the production of “hunger hormones”, and provide the patient with the tools they need to follow a healthy path.
So there’s no better time to start! Dr Venu Gopal Pareek currently offers face-to-face and virtual consultations to help patients get started. So visit us today and start your journey towards health!
Conclusion:
Everyone must do what they can now to strengthen their immune health. It seems that it will take a while for vaccines to develop and strengthening the immune system will help us safely restore the “new normal” as guidelines for staying at home is relaxed. Now is the time to start thinking about fighting obesity as part of the public response to COVID-19. For more information, contact Dr Venu Gopal Pareek on 091777 77715 and book your appointment now!
