Obese Patients Hospitalized with Infection are More Likely to Survive than Healthy Ones

Overweight or obese patients who are hospitalised for infectious diseases, pneumonia and sepsis are about twice as likely to survive compared to those who have normal weight, new research shows.
The so-called “obesity paradox” was illustrated by three separate presentations at the European Congress on Obesity in Vienna. A key finding was that overweight patients were 40% less likely to die and those who were obese 50% less likely to die than those of normal weight.
Independent academics said the findings were interesting and looked to be based on good quality research, however they cautioned the type of experiment means the authors cannot conclusively prove cause and effect.
Sigrid Gribsholt from Aarhus University hospital department of clinical epidemiology in Denmark said there might have two reasons obese people are more likely to survive. One is that obesity causes inflammation which invokes a strong response from the immune system – which could assist people recover from infection. The second is that people who are obese are less likely to experience wasting as a result of their disease. “They have larger energy reserves, which may also be protective,” she said.
“Obesity and overweight are associated with an increased risk of death in the general population, but in specific disease conditions, a decrease in mortality has been reported,” the study states. “The ‘obesity paradox’ of critical illness refers to better survival with a higher body mass index.”
> Shiuly Rina