CDC Notifies States, Large Cities To Prepare For Vaccine Distribution As Soon As Late October

[Jonfw2]

Not arguing that obesity isn't dangerous but that has to do with a person's smoking affecting the health of the people around them directly, which a person's obesity does not.

That's a great point. No doubt. Although, I would push back a little that obese parents create obese kids....

 

[Jonfw2]

Obesity and other underlying conditions are definitely a large part, but it still doesn’t explain the huge range in reactions. It’s not like all obese people have severe cases, and it doesn’t explain why some have such a severe systemic reaction while others barely have symptoms.

You're absolutely right.

 

[Jonfw2]

I have had this happen to me....when I was on the line of being overweight....25-26 BMI and got into a new fitness regimen and got down to a 22 BMI. I had so many people ask me if I was ok.

However, I will say this....as someone who has had my weight fluctuate from time to time in my life......the conversation of obesity/overweight vs. smoking has occurred about a zillion times on this board, and it usually doesn't end well. And....most of the people on this thread are likely not where they'd like to be weight-wise, and so it's mostly just going to make people feel badly. Just my opinion.

Please understand that I am NOT condemning or shaming any person who is overweight. I am very happy to keep this just to the facts.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Does it say what definition they are using for obese? Is it going based on body fat % or B(S)MI? Unless you are a specific body type, it is very easy to be listed as obese through B(S)MI regardless of other measures.

I believe most of the BMI I've seen is something like 30 and above (I *think*) when it's listed for some states or areas others don't list. BMI isn't the best when it comes to talking about other medical things like blood pressures, cholesterol, triglycerides, etc because healthy based in weight and height alone with gender miss that

I was reading an article on obesity when spoken generally as part of why it was included as something that would get you a vaccine faster in some areas and it discussed that it can be the body's baseline is higher stress as in blood flowing or heart working or lungs,etc it was paralleled with cytokine syndrome in so much that your body basically goes into overdrive. ETA but we know that not all people categorized as obese have the same outcomes, that to me is where viral load AND/OR the person's immune system or other aspects of their health play a role IMO.

But if you're obese you stand a higher chance at having other medical conditions so perhaps chicken/egg type situation as some medical conditions cause increased weight or inability to lose weight easily.

As far as vaccines they likely simplify it to BMI index, I wouldn't personally use it to launch a discussion of other things.

 

[DLgal]

The obesity link is mostly to do with a less efficient immune system. They already know that many vaccines, like the flu vaccine, are less effective in obese people. They suspect the same outcome for the covid vaccines. Obesity results in weaker immune responses overall and that is what leads to severe illness with respiratory infections. It is unfortunate that we have such an obesity problem in the US, but it should have been a predictable outcome of all those years of lobbying by the sugar and corn industries.

BMI is a problematic measurement to use, but that is exactly what they are using. Body fat percentage is a much better measurement, but there isn't a super easy way to calculate that. This article is eye opening. What is funny is that my husband is considered obese by BMI standards simply because he is a 5'3" heavily muscled military guy. He is nowhere close to obese in reality. I skirt the line at a BMI of 27, but I am also very muscular. According to my blood work, though, I am the picture of good health.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story...ced in,the government in allocating resources.

 

[Jonfw2]

The obesity link is mostly to do with a less efficient immune system. They already know that many vaccines, like the flu vaccine, are less effective in obese people. They suspect the same outcome for the covid vaccines. Obesity results in weaker immune responses overall and that is what leads to severe illness with respiratory illnesses. It is unfortunate that we have such an obesity problem in the US, but it should have been a predictable outcome of all those years of lobbying by the sugar and corn industries.

BMI is a problematic measurement to use, but that is exactly what they are using. Body fat percentage is a much better measurement, but there isn't a super easy way to calculate that. This article is eye opening. What is funny is that my husband is considered obese by BMI standards simply because he is a 5'3" heavily muscled military guy. He is nowhere close to obese in reality. I skirt the line at a BMI of 27, but I am also very muscular. According to my blood work, though, I am the picture of good health.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story...ced in,the government in allocating resources.

Very interesting! And I totally agree with you on BMI- BMI doesn't account at all for muscle vs fat. And muscle weighs MORE than fat. There should be a calculation that combines weight with body fat %.

 

[DLgal]

Very interesting! And I totally agree with you on BMI- BMI doesn't account at all for muscle vs fat. And muscle weighs MORE than fat. There should be a calculation that combines weight with body fat %.

There is a better equation that uses hip measurement and height to estimate body fat percentage. I don't know why that isn't being widely used instead. Maybe because it requires actually measuring something?

It's called the BAI (Body Adiposity Index), if anyone is interested. There are plenty of calculators online. It is VERY close to what my smart scale says about my body fat percentage.

 

[DLgal]

Also, this is why the CDC recommends prioritizing obese and overweight people for the vaccine. They specifically mention that oftentimes, weight is out of a person's control, just like other high risk health conditions.

 

[DLgal]

Another side-effect of the extremely cautious CDC advice that I didn't think of until I heard the argument made on the radio this morning: Teachers who are refusing to return to in person classes are pointing to CDC guidelines that say fully vaccinated people should still avoid "medium to large" gatherings and continue to maintain six-foot distancing in the presence of unvaccinated people to support their position that even with the vaccine, it isn't safe to be teaching in person.

Seriously?

 

[OKbyme]

The obesity issue is definitely a hot potato and for people who never struggled with it, it seems simple to address, eat right and exercise. I have been overweight almost my entire life. When young, there were periods where I got down but had a hard time maintaining it. As I hit my 50's it was such an incredible struggle and I actually blew out a knee from exercise at one point.

In the summer I got deathly sick. With a high fever, they thought I had Covid, but tested negative. I ended up in the hospital a few days as I was so very sick. Running tests, they found I had inflamed organs, an irregular heartbeat, and blood platelets had dropped to 42,000. They determined I had some type of viral infection. I was seeing multiple specialists for a month or two until everything came back to normal levels.

The weird thing, is after I was sick, I started dropping weight like crazy. With no effort. It was bizarre. It kept going and going. I lost about 45 lbs in less than 5 months. I actually had to start eating more. That illness somehow affected my metabolism as well. It was one good thing that came from that time and if someone could figure out how that happened, they could make a fortune!


I know this is a Covid thread but people who have never had an issue with weight think it's just a matter of eat right and exercise. And yes, that is so very important, but, there are other factors involved that can have far greater impact then you would imagine.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I was reading about this the other week. And yes most people won't like it. In the US we have a strange view of obesity and in that if someone can walk around a theme park, or go about there normal day with no major issue they think they are healthy and fine. I get really tired of the news articles about someone that is young and healthy that died and then show a picture of someone that is significantly overweight. This is very true about many of the teens/kids that died also.

You’re right. But it’s also time we update using BMI as a measure of overweight/obese, etc. The BMI scale is a terrible measure of that, completely outdated and doesn’t account for any health (or lack there of).

 

[jlwhitney]

You’re right. But it’s also time we update using BMI as a measure of overweight/obese, etc. The BMI scale is a terrible measure of that, completely outdated and doesn’t account for any health (or lack there of).

I agree I hate BMI! It’s terrible.

 

[lifesavacation]

I did find it interesting that the Pfizer vaccine may not work as well in people with obesity.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Please understand that I am NOT condemning or shaming any person who is overweight. I am very happy to keep this just to the facts.

I didn’t read it that way...but it’s one of those rabbit holes. Not just saying covid affects overweight/obese people more than those who are not....but the smoking vs.obese conversation.

 

[DLgal]

I did find it interesting that the Pfizer vaccine may not work as well in people with obesity.

Not just the Pfizer one. All of them. They all rely on the same mechanism of immune response.

 

[Katiebird]

I did find it interesting that the Pfizer vaccine may not work as well in people with obesity.

Not just the Pfizer one. All of them. They all rely on the same mechanism of immune response.

And that's the case for all vaccines, not just COVID. It's not a sure thing, and can usually be fixed with an extra booster. It happens in the elderly as well.

 

[lovethesun12]

The obesity issue is definitely a hot potato and for people who never struggled with it, it seems simple to address, eat right and exercise. I have been overweight almost my entire life. When young, there were periods where I got down but had a hard time maintaining it. As I hit my 50's it was such an incredible struggle and I actually blew out a knee from exercise at one point.

In the summer I got deathly sick. With a high fever, they thought I had Covid, but tested negative. I ended up in the hospital a few days as I was so very sick. Running tests, they found I had inflamed organs, an irregular heartbeat, and blood platelets had dropped to 42,000. They determined I had some type of viral infection. I was seeing multiple specialists for a month or two until everything came back to normal levels.

The weird thing, is after I was sick, I started dropping weight like crazy. With no effort. It was bizarre. It kept going and going. I lost about 45 lbs in less than 5 months. I actually had to start eating more. That illness somehow affected my metabolism as well. It was one good thing that came from that time and if someone could figure out how that happened, they could make a fortune!


I know this is a Covid thread but people who have never had an issue with weight think it's just a matter of eat right and exercise. And yes, that is so very important, but, there are other factors involved that can have far greater impact then you would imagine.

But if I mind my own business and don't judge other people I might start thinking something crazy like I'm not better than everyone else.

 

[EACarlson]

BMI is a problematic measurement to use, but that is exactly what they are using. Body fat percentage is a much better measurement, but there isn't a super easy way to calculate that. This article is eye opening. What is funny is that my husband is considered obese by BMI standards simply because he is a 5'3" heavily muscled military guy. He is nowhere close to obese in reality. I skirt the line at a BMI of 27, but I am also very muscular. According to my blood work, though, I am the picture of good health.

I went to see a new doctor two years ago. He told me I needed to lose 35 lbs to be healthier. I looked at him and said, "Doc, I'm 6'2 . In order to fit in what your BMI chart says is a "healthy" zone I would have to have 3% body fat." And promptly found a new doctor. I told the story to a friend of mine at work who is a weightlifter in addition to the physical work we were doing, we did the math and he would have had to have a negative body fat percentage to fit the chart.

You’re right. But it’s also time we update using BMI as a measure of overweight/obese, etc. The BMI scale is a terrible measure of that, completely outdated and doesn’t account for any health (or lack there of).

BMI can be a great tool, if you have that specific body type, very slight, not a lot of muscle and not very tall.

 

[Colleen27]

I was reading about this the other week. And yes most people won't like it. In the US we have a strange view of obesity and in that if someone can walk around a theme park, or go about there normal day with no major issue they think they are healthy and fine. I get really tired of the news articles about someone that is young and healthy that died and then show a picture of someone that is significantly overweight. This is very true about many of the teens/kids that died also.

Not sure how anyone can "not like it". Facts are facts. It doesn't matter whether or not we like them. And I say that as someone who is a part of the group we're talking about - I'm active, but for most of my life I've been overweight on the edge of or into obese. In fact, when my state released the guidelines for the vaccine priority groups, I was sort of kicking myself because I've lost just enough weight during the pandemic (proving, once and for all, that dining out absolutely is my worst health vice) not to qualify.

The obesity issue is definitely a hot potato and for people who never struggled with it, it seems simple to address, eat right and exercise. I have been overweight almost my entire life. When young, there were periods where I got down but had a hard time maintaining it. As I hit my 50's it was such an incredible struggle and I actually blew out a knee from exercise at one point.

In the summer I got deathly sick. With a high fever, they thought I had Covid, but tested negative. I ended up in the hospital a few days as I was so very sick. Running tests, they found I had inflamed organs, an irregular heartbeat, and blood platelets had dropped to 42,000. They determined I had some type of viral infection. I was seeing multiple specialists for a month or two until everything came back to normal levels.

The weird thing, is after I was sick, I started dropping weight like crazy. With no effort. It was bizarre. It kept going and going. I lost about 45 lbs in less than 5 months. I actually had to start eating more. That illness somehow affected my metabolism as well. It was one good thing that came from that time and if someone could figure out how that happened, they could make a fortune!

I know this is a Covid thread but people who have never had an issue with weight think it's just a matter of eat right and exercise. And yes, that is so very important, but, there are other factors involved that can have far greater impact then you would imagine.

Off on a tangent here, but that's fascinating to me because my mother had the exact same experience this past summer. She had some sort of viral illness with a high fever, negative covid test but all the hallmark symptoms of covid, including viral pneumonia and widespread inflammation, which put her in the hospital in July. And ever since then, she's been dropping weight effortlessly. She's lost close to 60lbs, after losing and gaining the same 20lbs off and on for the last 40 years or so. Neither she nor her doctor can even begin to explain it. She's less active than she's ever been, between lingering balance issues that are a side effect of a new blood pressure medication and the general confines of winter plus pandemic. She's probably not eating less or better either, because boredom and stress eating are two of her worst habits and because she's ordering DoorDash/UberEats when she doesn't feel up to cooking, which is often.

 

[DLgal]

Not sure how anyone can "not like it". Facts are facts. It doesn't matter whether or not we like them. And I say that as someone who is a part of the group we're talking about - I'm active, but for most of my life I've been overweight on the edge of or into obese. In fact, when my state released the guidelines for the vaccine priority groups, I was sort of kicking myself because I've lost just enough weight during the pandemic (proving, once and for all, that dining out absolutely is my worst health vice) not to qualify.



Off on a tangent here, but that's fascinating to me because my mother had the exact same experience this past summer. She had some sort of viral illness with a high fever, negative covid test but all the hallmark symptoms of covid, including viral pneumonia and widespread inflammation, which put her in the hospital in July. And ever since then, she's been dropping weight effortlessly. She's lost close to 60lbs, after losing and gaining the same 20lbs off and on for the last 40 years or so. Neither she nor her doctor can even begin to explain it. She's less active than she's ever been, between lingering balance issues that are a side effect of a new blood pressure medication and the general confines of winter plus pandemic. She's probably not eating less or better either, because boredom and stress eating are two of her worst habits and because she's ordering DoorDash/UberEats when she doesn't feel up to cooking, which is often.

Viral infections are well known to trigger hyperthyroidism and other thyroid problems like cancer and Graves disease.

This HAS been documented with Covid.

My gut feeling is that your mother and the previous poster DID in fact have Covid and the test results were wrong. That has happened to many people as well, I have read several articles where this happened to hospitalized patients. They never had a positive Covid test and in one case, a person tested negative 3 times before finally testing positive a week after hospital discharge.

A thyroid issue is the only real way to explain away such drastic and effortless weight loss, although it is not a benign situation. Your mother should really see an endocrinologist for some in depth thyroid testing.