Obesity Can Further Complicate H1N1

New Research Suggests Being 100 Pounds Overweight May Put H1N1 Patients at Greater Risk

(CBS)  New research suggests that obesity may be a key factor for H1N1 victims who end up in the hospital.

Early Show contributor Dr. Holly Phillips of WCBS-TV
sat down with Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith to discuss the connection.

According to Phillips, the numbers are very interesting.

"Of the 268 hospitalized patients for whom we had weights, actually 58 percent of them were obese. And 25 percent of that group were considered morbidly obese," Phillips explained. "Now, that's more than 100 pounds overweight, so they were significantly overweight and they were at five times increased risk of complications from the H1N1 flu than the general population."

CBSNews.com Special Report: H1N1
Read more about Healthy Living
Parents' Guide to H1N1

Obesity and especially morbid obesity can be particularly dangerous.

"Very much so. Morbid obesity in this context was thought to be as much of a risk factor, even more than pregnancy, which we know is a six times increased risk for complications. So it's really a serious risk factor and something we need to look closer at," Phillips explained.

"And so what's the take away here, what do we really need to understand?" Smith asked.

"What the study - they couldn't look at exactly what was causing the complications in the morbidly obese population, but we do know people who are obese are at increased risk of having underlying illnesses, diabetes, heart problems, and respiratory problems. And that can place them at increase risk for H1N1," Phillips said.

"A third of the patients who are morbidly obese did have underlying complications, so this makes it seem as though obesity itself may be a risk factor for having these problems with the H1N1 flu," she added.

Phillips also pointed out that this correlation is different than the seasonal flu.

"We never thought before that obesity was a risk factor for complication with the seasonal flu, but H1N1 is proving it different," she said.

[marryprice]

This site has good information.Thanks

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2159637

[mary_moran]

My child came home from school saying that they learned to cough and sneeze into their elbow with Germy Wormie, and I was totally taken aback. I always covered with my hands. But I went to the website and now I get it, hands touch, elbows don't!! Kids can touch 300 surfaces in 1/2 hour and they hate to wash their hands. There is also an entertaining DVD that teaches them the elbow cough, as well as other important hygiene habits. Prevention like this is crucial because anyone who gets the H1N1 vaccine may be a carrier anyway, health department officials say.

[nobox]

Correction re my previous post.

"Vitamin D potentates efficacy in a manner that is non-specific". should have stated,

"Vitamin D potentates immunity in a manner that is non-specific."

[nobox]

That obesity is a risk factor should not be surprising. What is not only surprising but shocking is that few seem to be citing the risk factor associated with the often severe vitamin D deficiency affecting more than 90% of population. Vitamin D plays a significant role in natural (innate) immunity and has been shown to be effective in providing protection against colds as well as flu.

The results of a recent study on vitamin D show that those taking 800 IU of D3 per day had far fewer colds and flu than those taking a placebo while those taking 2000 IU of D3 per day had zero incidence of colds and flu in winter, spring and autumn and the same incidence as the 800 IU group in summer with both vitamin D groups having a lower incidence than the placebo group. In the winter those taking a placebo had about 12 times as much flu as those taking 800 IUs of D3 and 23 times more than those taking 2,000 IU of D3 (who had zero incidence of colds and flu) Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 14 Number 2 Summer 2009

The large differences between the vitamin D group and the placebo group in the winter perfectly coincides with the drop in vitamin D levels while the smaller difference in the summer is explained by the peak serum levels of vitamin D.

Although intertwined, there are two separate issues here. The first is the well documented and extremely serious epidemic of vitamin D which the same health care authorities who are going all out to get Americans vaccinated are all but completely ignoring. The second issue is that vitamin D has a demonstrated broad-based efficacy against colds and flu in general. Vitamin D potentates efficacy in a manner that is non-specific.

Could the lack of interest in vitamin D lie in the fact that it can be purchased for about 1 cent per 1000 IUs because it is easy to produce and non-patentable? Vitamin D also has an extremely high safety profile. So, what's the problem?

[swizle44]

You are absolutely correct -- It is also widely known that obese people have much lower levels of Vitamin D!! The connection is there.

[scramcannon]

I work in a crowded office with many Latino workers. There is a cold or upper respitory infection circulating between most of them 12 months a year. These hard working people are aged from their late teens to mid 50's. In that period I have never contracted a cold or flu or any other upper respitory infection while literally dozens of my coworkers have. Only 2 of my coworkers have started supplementation with D3- 4-6,000 i.u. per day. Neither of these two workers have been sick a single day since then.

More important than any effect on the swine flu is the fact that on Tuesday, November 11, 2009 it was officially announced that breast cancer in women is almost entirely the result of a vitamin D deficiency. The Race For The Cure has been won. Check the facts at:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2009/04/c5846.html

and: Vitamin D Coucnil Vitamin D3 World