[ExI] covid or cold?

[spike at rainier66.com]

> On Behalf Of John Klos via extropy-chat


>... It's about as useful as suggesting that people who lose weight are less
likely to die in a shooting because there's less to shoot at...
John
_______________________________________________


Hi John, after all this time I never thought of that angle.  You are right
on however.  I might hafta steal that, but no worries, I will give credit
when I do.  Our ExI guru of IT recognized an additional safety factor for
covid and shootings.

Aside: I get news from the town where I tragically squandered my cheerfully
misspent youth.  Coupla months ago, a hometown girl (family we know) had a
granddaughter in the hospital with covid, age 16.  I was shocked.  Then they
showed her photo.  I would be surprised if she was any less than 350 pounds.
So I looked into it.  In teenagers, the few who get serious cases of covid
are nearly all obese or severely diabetic, or both.  In grownups it might be
a factor, but in kids it is a clear factor.  Makes sense I suppose. 

Regarding that girl, she survived, but it was rough.  The news article, oh
mercy, they quoted her on what looked like her deathbed, talking about how
good the food was and how she was looking forward to getting well enough to
eat this or that or the other thing.  The editors coulda thought that out a
little more carefully. 

What I don't understand is why (or if) the immune system response is
different for obese young people or if it is just the extra load on the
heart and lungs.  My intuition is going toward the latter, but I don't know.

spike