Obesity increases risk of severe infection, especially in diabetes patients

Losing weight can help a person with obesity -- especially those with diabetes -- fend off serious infections, new data shows.

It's an important finding, since "up to one in three hospitalizations in people with diabetes are for infections and people with diabetes are twice as likely to be hospitalized with infections than the general population. They are also at high risk of readmission," said study co-lead author Rhian Hopkins . She's at the University of Exeter Medical School in Britain.

Hopkins presented the research Saturday in Madrid at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).

The new study used data from the ongoing UK Biobank, a database that includes health info on almost 500,000 Britons.

According to the data, about 64,000 had been hospitalized for a bacterial infection (such as a urinary tract infection or pneumonia); almost 15,000 had been hospitalized with a viral infection (such as the flu), and about 408,000 had never been hospitalized for infection.

Obesity seemed linked to a higher risk for severe infection, the team found. Every 5-point increase in BMI -- for example, from a BMI of 30 (the threshold for obesity) to 35 -- incurred a 30% rise in the risk of a serious bacterial infection and a 32% rise for severe viral infection.

These associations were for all people, regardless of whether or not they had diabetes , Hopkins noted. However, because diabetes brings higher risks for infection generally, the findings are particularly important for people with the blood sugar disease, she said.

"Infections are a major cause of death and ill health, particularly in people with diabetes," Hopkins said in a EASD news release. "Anyone admitted to hospital with a severe infection is also at high risk of being admitted again with another."

"This study demonstrates that higher BMI is a cause of hospital admission with infection," she added. "Clinicians could discuss weight-loss options for people with a high BMI at risk of severe infections and readmission to hospital for infection."

Because these findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

Find out more about safely losing weight at the American Heart Association .

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