@article {Volke000444, author = {Brittanie M Volk and Caroline G P Roberts and Michelle VanTieghem and M Patricia George and Rebecca N Adams and Shaminie J Athinarayanan and Amy L McKenzie}, title = {Reduced COVID-19 severity elicited by weight loss from a medically supervised ketogenic diet in a geographically diverse ambulatory population with type 2 diabetes and obesity}, elocation-id = {e000444}, year = {2022}, doi = {10.1136/bmjnph-2022-000444}, publisher = {BMJ Specialist Journals}, abstract = {Objective To investigate factors associated with COVID-19 severity in ambulatory individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity treated with a medically supervised ketogenic diet (MSKD).Research design and methods In this real-world, retrospective, exploratory analysis, multivariate modelling was used to assess clinical factors associated with hospitalisation for COVID-19 in a geographically diverse outpatient population with T2DM treated virtually.Results Leading up to COVID-19 onset, non-hospitalised patients had higher average ketones (0.64 vs 0.52 mmol/L; p=0.016) and greater weight loss (6.8\% vs 4.2\%; p=0.009) compared with those hospitalised. Greater weight loss was significantly associated with lower likelihood of hospitalisation (adjusted OR=0.91, p=0.005), controlling for enrolment demographics and medical characteristics.Conclusions Therapies such as MSKD, which elicit rapid, significant weight loss, may favourably impact COVID-19 hospitalisation rate and severity in individuals with T2DM and obesity.Data are available upon reasonable request.}, URL = {https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/early/2022/07/01/bmjnph-2022-000444}, eprint = {https://nutrition.bmj.com/content/early/2022/07/01/bmjnph-2022-000444.full.pdf}, journal = {BMJ Nutrition, Prevention \& Health} }