#9 OBESITY AND DIABETES IN COVID 19

Obesity, a lifestyle disease has been a major issue this pandemic, nobody could go out of their houses. Public gyms were closed and hence many people managed to workout at home. However, the fact that staying home made us eat more cannot be ignored. The unbalanced diet eventually leads to weight gain. It’s the basic thing that eating more between two meals, even though not hungry, leads to obesity. People didn’t pay much attention to such aspects because mentally the pandemic had taken a toll on us.

WHO has classified less weight, normal range and overweight categories to identify risks associated with Body Mass Index. The normal range is 18.50 to 24.99 which indicates minimum risk of diseases. Everybody should check their BMI and try to maintain it in normal range. Also, giving time to your health according to the type of exercise done is essential. Exercises for the heart, body elasticity and static as well as kinetic strength workout regularly or 4-5 times a week is necessary for good health.

A common statement we all hear is that obesity is a risk factor for many non-communicable diseases like some cancers, respiratory problems, fractures, diabetes. I would like to talk more about Diabetes. We are well aware about Insulin being administered via syringe or a pre-filled pen device. These are the common routes. Other routes are continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion, Lispro (Humalog-brand name) is one of the analogue insulin used in this therapy. For the last few years we saw some measures taken like, Sanofi India Ltd launched diabetes treatment – ‘Toujeo’, a basal analogue insulin; PIL filed in Madras to provide insulin free of cost with complete treatment at government hospitals under CMCHIS. Even the latest research news says that people randomized to use a continuous glucose monitor compared with the finger prick method substantially improved blood glucose levels.

After talking about these two terms Obesity and Diabetes separately, if we look at it closely, they are interlinked at a greater extent. Staying home has increased our eating frequency which leads to more chances of over eating finally making people over weight and obese. Eventually there is insulin resistance seen in these people which is the onset of diabetes. The correlation comes in when we eat, each time there is insulin secretion and as the frequency of eating increases, insulin secretion increases equally. Body uses carbohydrates for energy and fats are stored in fat cells after conversion during increased level of insulin. Thus, it gives us the idea of weight gain and obesity in hyperinsulinemia.

Insulin being an expensive medication, people tend to avoid diabetes leading to many untreated patients as diabetic patients who are up to 50% risk of encountering a high mortality rate from COVID-19.

Exercise regularly and maintain a good health along with regular heath check-up because ultimately health is wealth..!!

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