Overweight People Have Higher Survival Rates For Sepsis

[haidut]

Another example of the "obesity paradox", which Ray has written about before.

http://www.uofmhealth.org/news/archive/ ... val-sepsis

 

[tara]

Hi, I've read enough about the 'obesity paradox' to not consider it much of a paradox. But I don't think I've come across it yet in Peat's writing. Can you remember where?

 

[haidut]

Hi, I've read enough about the 'obesity paradox' to not consider it much of a paradox. But I don't think I've come across it yet in Peat's writing. Can you remember where?

I don't think he referred to it as "obesity paradox", but rather said in one of his newsletters that people who eat regularly and have higher BMI have better health outcomes than people who diet and have lower/desirable BMI. When I find the newsletter I will post the date and title.

 

[Milklove]

The article talks about the associaton of body mass index to survival, but I wonder whether the protective effects are due to the increased body mass or the increased muscle mass that tends to accompany an increased body mass.

 

[haidut]

The article talks about the associaton of body mass index to survival, but I wonder whether the protective effects are due to the increased body mass or the increased muscle mass that tends to accompany an increased body mass.

I wondered that as well. However, it has been shown that people with high body mass, even if it is high body-fat percentage, have higher basal metabolic rate. I think this is what confers the protective effect. Too bad the article did not do further analysis into whether it was just the higher mass or higher muscle mass that gives the protection.

 

[tara]

I don't think he referred to it as "obesity paradox", but rather said in one of his newsletters that people who eat regularly and have higher BMI have better health outcomes than people who diet and have lower/desirable BMI. When I find the newsletter I will post the date and title.

Thanks. That's consistent with info I've come across from other sources too.

 

[tara]

The article talks about the associaton of body mass index to survival, but I wonder whether the protective effects are due to the increased body mass or the increased muscle mass that tends to accompany an increased body mass.

I wondered that as well. However, it has been shown that people with high body mass, even if it is high body-fat percentage, have higher basal metabolic rate. I think this is what confers the protective effect. Too bad the article did not do further analysis into whether it was just the higher mass or higher muscle mass that gives the protection.

Seems likely that higher BMR would be a relevant factor.

My understanding is that adaptation to famine includes sacrificing from many organs, not just the fat and muscles, in addition to lowering a bunch of hormones, including thyroid. So for alternative/additional hypotheses, it could also be that some of these advantage people who don't restrictively diet. For example, I think the thymus is known to atrophy quickly under stress and hunger, and might be relevant to surviving sepsis. Heart, lungs, liver, digestive system and skin could all play a role. And maybe when fighting sepsis (and various other diseases associated with the obesity paradox), the benefits of a layer of insulation around vital organs to help keep core body temperature up might affect survival.

 

[jyb]

I wondered that as well. However, it has been shown that people with high body mass, even if it is high body-fat percentage, have higher basal metabolic rate. I think this is what confers the protective effect. Too bad the article did not do further analysis into whether it was just the higher mass or higher muscle mass that gives the protection.

But this extra fat is likely to have lots of pufa since it's a recent study, so it's a bit puzzling.