PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Volk, Brittanie M
AU  - Roberts, Caroline G P
AU  - VanTieghem, Michelle
AU  - George, M Patricia
AU  - Adams, Rebecca N
AU  - Athinarayanan, Shaminie J
AU  - McKenzie, Amy L
TI  - 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
AID  - 10.1136/bmjnph-2022-000444
DP  - 2022 Dec 01
TA  - BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health
PG  - 154--158
VI  - 5
IP  - 2
4099  - http://nutrition.bmj.com/content/5/2/154.short
4100  - http://nutrition.bmj.com/content/5/2/154.full
SO  - BMJ Nutrition2022 Dec 01; 5
AB  - 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.