New study shows high triglycerides STRONGLY linked with severe COVID-19

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #1

Fascinating study finding that a genetic marker–“linked to” people having high trigs–was “linked” to a high likelihood of severe Covid.

QUT Professor Dale Nyholt said the link appeared so strong that they were prepared to say the triglyceride levels were directly causing the severe symptoms in COVID patients.

“Triglyceride levels appear to have a causal relationship with COVID-19,” he said.

I hope this is the case because my trigs are pretty great, whereas my fasting insulin remains stubbornly high. I’ve been concerned this whole pandemic that elevated insulin levels would put me at a disadvantage if I were to contract Covid.

(This is not an attempt to reignite the Covid wars on these forums of 2020-21. Let’s keep it civil.)

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

For those who want to read the actual paper:

It appears from what I’ve read so far, that the conditions associated with metabolic disease are all risk factors for a severe case of Covid, so it will be interesting to see if anyone follows up by studying people on a ketogenic diet and their bouts of the virus.

While I think the authors’ focus on genetics is a red herring, because we are still very unclear about the relationship between genotype and phenotype, they did observe a positive correlation between triglycerides and Covid, as well as a negative correlation between HDL and Covid. So it does seem that someone eating in a way that lowers triglycerides and raises HDL should be in a good position to have a milder case when contracting the virus.

On the other hand, the statistical significance of the observed correlations does not appear to be as high as one could wish. The observed correlations between SNP’s and observed blood levels are statistically quite robust; it is the connexion with the severity of Covid cases that is disappointing. I also wonder if reducing triglycerides with a statin is likely to prove a useful treatment, given what researchers are discovering about the role of cholesterol in the immune system.

Still, it is a fascinating study.