![coronavirus]()
As the world sits on the precipice of what some health
officials say is the only answer to the COVID-19 pandemic — a vaccine — health officials
are worrying that one underlying factor could cancel the effectiveness of any
vaccine they produce.
That factor? Obesity. In the U.S. alone, more than 107
million adults are obese, and obesity is a known high-risk factor for
contracting COVID-19. In fact, Kaiser Health reports that those who are 100
pounds or more overweight are the highest risk of all.
Obesity not only interferes with your body’s ability to
fight infections of all kinds, but puts you at risk for a litany of chronic
diseases such as high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems, cancer
and diabetes. Because these diseases, added to obesity, keep your body in a
constant state of inflammation, it makes it harder for a vaccine, which
harnesses your inflammatory responses, to work.
Hence, even if a successful vaccine comes to market, it
might be possible it won’t work in the most vulnerable population.
SOURCE: Kaiser
Health News August 6, 2020