Do chubby individuals exhibit reduced cardiopulmonary fitness after recovering from COVID-19?

In a recent study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, a team of scientists investigated aspects corresponding to cardiopulmonary fitness, body composition, and long-term symptoms related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) sequelae in individuals who had recovered from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections.

Study: Body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness of chubby COVID-19 survivors in several severity degrees: a cohort study. Image Credit: Billion Photos/Shutterstock.com

Background

A big body of evidence suggests that COVID-19 shouldn’t be only a respiratory disease but a multisystem syndrome. Like many other viral diseases, the tip of acute SARS-CoV-2 infections is characterised by persistent COVID-19 symptoms that impact the cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurocognitive, muscular, and digestive systems.

These symptoms are collectively generally known as long coronavirus disease (long COVID) or post-acute sequelae of  COVID-19 (PASC) and may vary significantly across environmental and lifestyle-related aspects corresponding to age, ethnicity, sex, comorbidities, and hospitalization aspects.

Two broad categories have emerged within the classification of long COVID — one pertaining to the tissue damage that impacts major organs corresponding to lungs, heart, and neurological tissue, and the opposite related to the chronic inflammation that leads to autoimmunity, dysbiosis, viral persistence, and lymphopenia.

Studies have shown that individuals with higher fat mass, neuropathies, myopathies, and lower cardiopulmonary fitness are at increased risk of being admitted to intensive care units as a consequence of severe COVID-19.

Subsequently, understanding how chubby individuals are impacted by various long COVID symptoms is crucial for developing effective treatment and rehabilitation strategies.

In regards to the study

In the current study, the team aimed to guage cardiopulmonary fitness, body composition, and chronic long COVID symptoms of people who had SARS-CoV-2 infections and compare the symptoms with the severity of the infection. In addition they examined the hemodynamic and cardiopulmonary recovery after a stress test throughout the one-year follow-up.

The participants were categorized in accordance with the severity of COVID-19 into mind, moderate, and critically sick or severe, and detailed details about medication use, medical history, hospitalization and respiratory support requirements, and chronic long COVID symptoms was collected.

The test included individuals between the ages of 18 and 65 years who had a positive COVID-19 diagnosis based on a positive reverse transcription polymerase chain response (RT-PCR) test.

The participants were also chubby or obese in accordance with their body mass index (BMI). That they had to have received not less than one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and be medically cleared to undergo the stress test. Reduced mobility or any disabling neurological disorders were grounds for exclusion.

Baseline assessments included anthropometric and body composition measurements and a Bruce test to find out the systolic and diastolic blood pressures, heart rate, and oxygen saturation. Self-reported medical history, SARS-CoV-2 infection characteristics, lifestyle habits, persistent long COVID symptoms, and physical activity levels were also recorded.

Bioelectrical impedance evaluation was used to guage body composition measures corresponding to body mass, lean mass, skeletal muscle mass, fat mass, fat-free mass, and body fat, and these values, together with height measurements, were used to calculate the BMI.

An adapted Bruce test was used to observe vital signs corresponding to heart rate, oxygen saturation, and blood pressure throughout the stress test. These assessments were repeated after a 12 months.

Results

The outcomes reported that the long-term symptoms most prevalent after COVID-19 in chubby or obese individuals were memory deficits, lack of concentration, fatigue, and dyspnea, in that order.

The Bruce test indicated that oxygen saturation was significantly lower for near 5 minutes, and the diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher within the critically sick group than within the mild group.

The body composition measures also showed a time effect, with individuals within the critically sick or severe COVID-19 group showing a rise in skeletal muscle mass, lean mass, and fat-free mass after a 12 months.

The cardiopulmonary fitness didn’t appear to differ significantly across groups, and the respiratory quotient of the critically sick group was higher after a 12 months in comparison with itself. Nevertheless, the hemodynamic responses after exercising remained worse in individuals within the critically sick group.

The upper fat mass values within the critical or severe cases in comparison with the mild cases indicated adiposity, which was attributed to low-grade inflammation.

On condition that the prevalence of persistent long-term COVID symptoms was not substantially different across the three groups, the authors imagine that a treatment and recovery approach consisting of standard physical activity and balanced nutrition is crucial for all long COVID patients.

Conclusions

To summarize, the findings reported that overall cardiopulmonary fitness didn’t vary significantly based on the severity of COVID-19. Body composition assessments indicated increased adiposity related to low-grade inflammation in critically sick COVID-19 patients.

Nevertheless, the prevalence of long COVID symptoms didn’t vary in accordance with COVID-19 severity, with memory deficits, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, and dyspnea being essentially the most prevalent symptoms.