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| LETTER TO EDITOR |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 10
| Issue : 6 | Page : 308-309 |
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Association of obesity with COVID-19 deaths
Bhupalam Pradeepkumar1, Narayana Goruntla2
1 Department of Pharmacology, Raghavendra Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research-Autonomous, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India
2 Department of Pharmacy Practice, Raghavendra Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research-Autonomous, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India
| Date of Submission | 12-Nov-2020 |
| Date of Decision | 13-Nov-2020 |
| Date of Acceptance | 17-Nov-2020 |
| Date of Web Publication | 24-Dec-2020 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Bhupalam Pradeepkumar
Department of Pharmacology, Raghavendra Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research - Autonomous, Chiyyedu Post, Anantapur - 515 721, Andhra Pradesh
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/cmrp.cmrp_57_20
How to cite this article:
Pradeepkumar B, Goruntla N. Association of obesity with COVID-19 deaths. Curr Med Res Pract 2020;10:308-9 |
Sir,
As the number of cases of COVID-19 has been gradually increasing around the globe, the risk factors for the attack of COVID-19 have to be deciphered. In obesity, the progression of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), activation of the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS), deficiency of Vitamin D and cardiovascular and metabolic effects are quite common.[1] In this association, the possibility of risk among overweight and obese people for the attack of coronavirus has to be deciphered. Therefore, we established the correlation between the prevalence of overweight and obesity with death due to COVID-19 in the top 19 countries. Data regarding the prevalence of overweight and obesity were obtained from the global health services data of the World Health Organization.[2] The United States of America ranked first in the prevalence of overweight (67.9%) and obesity (36.2%). Most of the countries (Italy, the UK, Brazil, Spain, France, Russia, Canada, Israel, Iraq and Turkey) had obesity prevalence between 20% and 30% and overweight prevalence between 55% and 65%, as shown in [Figure 1].[3] Interestingly, in China and India, the prevalence of obesity was <10%.[1],[3] Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been revealed to be responsible for the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The activation of RAAS in obese people makes sense of an increase in ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2.[4] Hypertension may cause dysregulation of RAAS. On the other hand, OSA is related to a respiratory disorder, which may cause hypoxia due to the collapse of upper airways.[5] In obesity, Vitamin D deficiency is quite common and has an impact on several systems such as the immune system and inflammatory system. GraphPad Prism 3.0 software (San Diego, California, USA) software was used for statistical analysis. Linear regression analysis was used to correlate obesity with COVID-19 deaths and confirmed cases. P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The findings of the study revealed a positive association between obesity and COVID-19 deaths (P = 0.0442; r2 = 0.2174), as shown in [Figure 2]. | Figure 1: Distribution of obesity and overweight among different countries
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 | Figure 2: Association of obesity with COVID-19 deaths and confirmed cases
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Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | |  |
| 1. | Ekiz T, Pazarlı AC. Relationship between COVID-19 and obesity. Diabetes Metab Syndr 2020;14:761-3.  |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | Zores F, Rebeaud ME. COVID and the renin-angiotensin system: are hypertension or its treatments deleterious? Front Cardiovasc Med 2020;7:71. |
| 5. | Malhotra A, Hillman D. Obesity and the lung: 3. Obesity, respiration and intensive care. Thorax 2008;63:925-31. |
[Figure 1], [Figure 2]
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