The scientist who founded his Covid tracking app says odor loss is a key indicator that 80 percent of people who go into intensive care units with coronavirus are obese and more likely to die.
Dr Tim Spector, 62, an epidemiologist at King’s College London, said he suffered a very mild Covid while developing his Covid Symptom Study app last year, but revealed that he was ‘too busy’ to let him stop.
The professor, who owns the Zoe app has tracked the outbreak using the personal data of 4.6 million people since March last year, said there is a clear link between the countries most affected by the virus and ‘those with the most obese people’.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Professor Spector also said that ’95 percent is sure we will have a relaxing summer and that it will be okay for the rest of this year despite the fact that fear of a third wave sweeping Europe.
It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson launches anti-obesity campaign, with GPs donating more than 700,000 people diet plans, apps and consumption activity trackers.
Tim Spector, a professor at King’s College London, who had a very warm Covid last year, said there was a clear link between the countries most affected by the virus and those with the humans. fattest and ultra-processed foods. It comes as Boris Johnson launches anti-obesity campaign, with GPs ordering diet plans from more than 700,000 people and fans of smoking activity
A study by the World Obesity Alliance has found that the majority of Covid-19 deaths have occurred in countries where more than half the population is obese
Covid’s positive tests fell 7.5 percent over the past seven days to 5,587 per day
Ministers have said they are committed to reducing the country ‘s lineage, after an alarming study revealed that obesity was partially to blame for Britain’ s devastating coronavirus death toll.
A World Obesity Alliance study found that Covid deaths have been 10 times higher in countries where at least half of adults are obese, and have accounted for 90 percent of global deaths.
Thousands of lives could have been saved if the population had become narrower, experts said, and locking measures might not have to be as magical if people were not as obese and had a lower risk of ending up in hospital.
The World Health Organization has warned that the findings were a ‘wake-up call’ for the West, where infertile jobs and processed foods mean obesity has become the norm for many .
Downing Street said it would invest in NHS-run schemes to help people of all ages lose weight, with the campaign specifically aimed at children and people living in deprived areas.
Mr Johnson, who previously admitted being ‘overweight’ when he went into hospital with Covid last spring: said: ‘It’s hard to lose weight, but small changes can make a big difference. Being obese increases the risk of becoming ill with Covid. ‘
Professor Spector came down with a hard cough as he was desperately getting the app ready for launch during the first wave last year, but admitted he was ‘too busy’ to let him stop it.
He said he marveled at the success of the app, informally called the Zoe app after the company that developed it and gave British policymakers a unique insight into the nature of the virus through real-world reports. time, data-driven.
With 4.6 million people signing and logging signals since its launch on March 24, 2020, officials found that odor loss was a key indicator.
Other patients were found to be suffering from Covid purple purpura skin rashes, known as ‘Covid toes’ and ‘Covid tongue’, while the app also collected data on Covid long and the mental health impact of the virus.
Crucially, the app established a link between countries with high coronavirus death tolls and obesity rates. Poverty was also considered by health officials to be a major risk factor, with those living in open poverty with a poor diet rich in processed foods.
‘We eat the most ultra-processed food of any country in Europe,’ the epidemiologist told the Sunday Telegraph. ‘That’s the enemy.’
‘Eighty percent of people in ICUs are obese … Obese people tend to be on a poor diet, which leads to a weak immune system and a weak microbial system.
‘You can easily see that the countries that have had the biggest impact on Covid are the ones with the most obese people and those with the highest proportion of ultra-processed foods. I’m pretty sure the quality of the diet and the condition of the gut microbes is a key factor in whether we get infected with it, then how quickly our immune system responds to it – or fail it, and then we get into the ICU and die. ‘
A WOF report found that large proportions of Covid deaths occurred in more obese countries such as the UK and the US which, in total, have caused approximately 643,000 deaths from the virus – a quarter of the world’s total.
The report, which compared countries ‘obesity rates and Covid’ s death tolls, found that coronavirus mortality was 10 times higher in countries where 50 percent or more of the population is obese.
It found that 2.2 million of the 2.5 million deaths in the world have occurred to date in countries with such high obesity rates.
‘An increase in body weight is the second largest prognosis in hospital and a high risk of death for people suffering from Covid-19,’ the report said.
‘Just old age levels are a higher risk factor. Covid-19 has unprecedented economic costs largely as a result of the steps taken to avoid overcrowding and the need for treatment for the disease.
NHS England figures show that 79 per cent of people over the age of 55 in the country had at least one dose of the vaccine by 14 March, but London is far behind in accepting it.
Reducing one key risk factor, obesity, would have put much less pressure on health services and reduced the need to protect those services from being provided. ‘
Professor Spector also revealed that it is ’95 per cent sure that we will have a calm summer and that it will be right for the rest of this year ‘, even as ministers poured cold water today on hopes for a normal this year.
A King’s College scientist said he expects a slight recovery in matters next winter, but doesn’t ‘see those big locks happen again’.
Instead, ‘most of our lives should be largely restored to normal’, with the disease becoming part of life and annual vaccines accounting for mutant sequences.
Drawing on data showing around 75 per cent protection against Covid after two months with a single injection, as more than half of adults vaccinated said: ‘I feel great calm down personally ‘.
Professor Spector also came out at the Government’s ‘parish’ response to the pandemic last year, saying that ‘learning from other countries was something we did not do’.
After wanting to ‘lock down early’ and ‘use masks’, he said:’ We accepted that British science is the best thing in the world. And for some things it wasn’t clear. ‘
The scientist suggested that this was caused by ‘leadership upheaval’, before he focused on the politics of coronavirus data – particularly with the BBC.
‘I’m not very good at politics and you understand that data is politics, you see this every day,’ Dr Spector told the Sunday Telegraph.
‘The data that the BBC decides to put on their website is very selective, depending on whether they want to intimidate people or whether they want to inspire people. We tend to get into these black-or-white situations, which I find hard to deal with. ‘