Top health experts have voiced an uptick in obese patients seeking weight loss surgery in a bid to protect themselves from a heightened risk of severe COVID-19. Amid the pandemic, numerous studies have examined obesity as a risk factor for a more severe course of disease from the virus. Obesity, defined as a BMI over 30, is believed to consist of several pathways leading to poorer outcomes. According to the Wall Street Journal, there were approximately 250,000 of these surgeries in 2018, most of which were gastric sleeves. “It’s come back really strongly in June or July,” J. Tod Fetherling, Perception Health’s chief executive, told the Wall Street Journal.

Source: Fox News September 29, 2020 15:45 UTC