Asthma And Obesity Increase Risk Of Severe COVID-19 - New Study

Asthma and obesity increase risk of severe COVID-19 - new study

According to a study by the Rush University Medical Center, patients with these conditions spend longer than others on a ventilator.

Photo: medscape.com

As part of the study, a team of scientists analyzed electronic medical records of patients with asthma from 20 to 59 years old who were tested or were hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 12 and April 3. As it turned out, these patients spent an average of five days on the ventilator, especially in cases where asthma was combined with obesity.

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“We found that asthma and obesity put a patient with COVID-19 at significantly greater risk. They may develop long-term pulmonary insufficiency, requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation,”write the specialists of the medical center in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

Asthma was significantly associated with long intubation time in patients aged 18 to 49 and 50 to 64, but not in the 65 and older age group, according to the physician. The length of hospital stay in the 50 to 64 age group was longer than in younger patients. The study also found that women with asthma and obesity are at greater risk of severe COVID-19 than men. However, asthma was not associated with a higher mortality rate or with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Doctors also noticed that some signs, such as shortness of breath, are similar to symptoms of worsening asthma, which leads to a later diagnosis of coronavirus.

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