Intensive care head Peter van der Voort is leading the investigation.
The question is why seriously ill corona patients much more often overweight then have patients who are not in intensive care. The researchers also want to find out why it is precisely the corona patients who are overweight, also more than other IC patients.
We think the adipose tissue itself also makes substances that make the infection worse
Does fat cause more corona complaints?
Recent research shows that 77 percent of corona patients in Dutch intensive care units were overweight. They are also 44 percent more likely to die. The question is why they are so vulnerable.
According to Van der Voort, infectious diseases always have ‘many causes at the same time’. ‘But we think that the adipose tissue itself also makes substances that make the infection worse. And especially in people with excessive belly fat. This would put them at a higher risk of a serious disease course. ‘
Role of resveratrol
The dietary supplement resveratrol may be able to help this group of seriously ill people. This is because resveratrol lowers the amount of leptin in the blood; a substance that enhances inflammatory reactions. Overweight people have a lot of this substance, which is made in belly fat. These substances can also worsen inflammation in the lungs. The question is whether this is more the case with corona than with other patients and whether resveratol can indeed be of benefit.
Van der Voort said once last spring during a broadcast of Jinek that this antioxidant has possible positive effects. After his statements on television, there was a run on the drug, which is simply for sale at the drugstore.
Results within two years
In the laboratory, the researchers will compare blood samples and adipose tissue from corona patients and other patients. It should be ready within two years; the first results must be available earlier. UMCG doctors and researchers work together with the Amphia hospital and Amsterdam UMC.
Also read:
– ‘All corona patients in intensive care in Groningen are overweight’
– IC head of the UMCG after criticism: ‘I did not say that people should take resveratrol’
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