Arka Acharyya, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College, Rahara
The whole world is trembling again for the second wave of covid-19. In this critical situation, a bunch of new covid-related problems has cropped up. Undoubtedly, high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or ‘bad cholesterol and obesity are two intense risk factors of heart diseases and stroke. As per a recent study, these are also severe risk factors of Covid-19, published in the journal PLoS ONE.
The study has conducted by researchers at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine in the US. For the study, researchers took into data from the UK Biobank of 5000,000 British volunteers over age 40. After examining the health condition of volunteers who tested covid positive, researchers compared their health factors with those who tested negative.
They found that covid positive volunteers were more likely to be obese or suffering from type-2 diabetes. On the contrary, individuals who tested negative had high levels of ‘good cholesterol or HDL, and their body weight was also normal as compared to those who had tested positive for covid-19.
According to researchers, maintaining a healthy body weight is very important during this time. The study also highlighted that increasing ‘good’ cholesterol (i.e. High-density lipoprotein or HDL) levels can reduce the risk of Covid-19 infections. Regular exercise and a monounsaturated fat-rich diet like extra virgin olive oil, avocados too essential in this pandemic time, researchers noted.
But, this was a completely statistical data-based study. The study wasn’t designed to determine what factors cause covid-19 infection. A healthy functioning immune system is so important for shielding against the covid-19, researchers also added.
Metadata: A comparison between positive and negative COVID patients show that a healthy body has better chances of survival in this time.
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