Tag Archive for: breathing

COVID-19 and Obesity

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Obesity may be a contributing factor to the severity of symptoms for those who get COVID-19. The best explanation I’ve found why that may be true is in a paper in Nature Reviews Endocrinology published in April. There are several reasons in addition to the cardiovascular and endocrinological co-morbidities associated with obesity.

Just a reminder, by definition obesity is a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30.0 kg/meters squared; it’s a measure of surface area. You can check yours at the Health Info page on the Dr. Chet website; it also includes the info to determine if you’re really big boned, because that has an impact.

The increased risks associated with obesity are driven by the respiratory system:

  • Impaired respiratory mechanisms
  • Increased airway resistance
  • Impaired gas exchange
  • Low lung volume
  • Low muscle strength

In effect, the greater the obesity, the more difficult it is to breathe deeply and when deep breaths are taken, the resistance within the airway and the actual exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide are impaired. If required, intubation is more difficult. The greater the degree of obesity, the more difficult it is to provide regular patient care if someone is hospitalized with the virus. Add to all that the co-morbidities of the cardiovascular and endocrinological systems, and it makes recovery very difficult. More research is needed, but it’s a serious issue in a country where over 40% of all adults are obese.

I’ll wrap this up on Saturday with some thoughts about what we don’t know that could be impacting the development of treatments for the COVID-19 virus.

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I try to make myself as accessible as possible, and Insiders and Members have quicker access. My website contains a way to email me if you have a question. One way I’m no longer going to accept questions is via Facebook Messenger, so please use one of the other avenues.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 16, pages341–342. (2020)

Observations from the Road: The Mile-High City

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Whenever I travel, I observe people and especially what they do. This past weekend was no different as I traveled to Denver to do a seminar. Because Denver is called The Mile-High City, I thought altitude was a great place to begin.

There are at least two things that happen when you move from sea level to 5,000 feet: the oxygen level of the air drops about 3%, and the density of the air decreases. The net effect to the body is that it’s more difficult for the hemoglobin of your blood to saturate with oxygen and . . .

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