Researchers from the University of Buffalo have come up with an interesting result that obese people live longer in the face of a serious illness. The American researchers further revealed that obese people suffering from chronic illnesses spent more days on artificial ventilators and occupied the intensive care unit (ICU) for a longer period of time. However, they seemed to live longer than thinner patients who spent fewer days on the artificial ventilators in the intensive care unit.
Why do the obese and ill live longer?
Numerous studies claim that the ailing and obese live longer lives due to the following reasons:
- Accumulating fatty tissues act like a storehouse for stirring up the production of chemicals called adopokines. These chemicals help in fighting inflammatory conditions and infections that affect the bloodstream like a sepsis. Such infections are the most common causes of ICU deaths.
- Chronic illnesses are marked by degenerating protein and glycogen contents in the body which is the only source of stored energy. It becomes easier for obese people to cope with protein and glycogen deficiencies because they already have abundant of it.
The study carried out by Akinnusi and his colleagues was an accumulation of 14 prior studies. Out of 62,045 critical patients, about 15,347 were reported to obese. Researchers found that were no associations that could be made to increased risks of deaths in case of critically obese patients even though on an average, they spent 1.48 days longer in the intensive care units and on mechanical ventilators.
The 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey reveals that about 59% of the adult population is overweight and that 29% are obese. This means a stuffed intensive care unit for people having a body mass index of 40 or more. However, they seem to be responding to well to treatments and medications than thinner patients. The outcome of ailing and obese people therefore seems to be more hopeful than expected.
Cause Becoming the Cure for a Disease
The study carried out by Akinnusi and others has further revealed that some conditions can be used as a cure for an ailment. For example, conditions like hypertension, strokes, diabetes, etc.
Other researchers were also able to prove that obese people suffering from chronic diseases like heart failure, kidney failure and lung obstruction responded better to treatment than thinner patients.
The researchers are not saying that obesity is good. They are only trying to explain that obesity doesn’t kill as ruthlessly and as soon as expected. Obesity can therefore be eliminated as a risk factor for death.
