A high fat, low carbohydrate ketogenic diet could be beneficial for elderly COVID-19 patients, according to a recent study at Yale School of Medicine, New York University Langone Health and Washington University School of Medicine.
Researchers claim that a ketogenic diet improves immune-metabolic functions and reduces inflammation in elderly COVID-19 patients. Age is one of the strongest risk factors that has been associated with a high mortality rate in elderly patients, with about 80% of COVID-19 related deaths in the U.S. occurring in people who are more than 65 years old.
In the study with mice, scientists observed that both old and adult mCoV-A59-infected mice had an almost similar viral load in the lungs; however, old mice displayed higher body weight loss, hypoxemia and anorexia. Further analysis showed that old, infected mice had severe inflammation, edema, fibrosis, pneumonia, pulmonary thrombosis and hemorrhage compared to that in younger infected mice.
The study concluded that a ketogenic diet could be used as a readily available and affordable intervention to improve COVID-19 outcomes in older adults.
SOURCE: News Medical Life Sciences September 14, 2020