- Experts have found that some COVID-19 patients are developing type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
- It is unclear whether diabetes can be a permanent side effect of coronavirus infection.
- People with autoimmune disorders, pre-diabetes or obesity have an increased risk of COVID-19 complications.
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Diabetes is known to be a risk factor for severe cases of COVID-19.
But new evidence suggests that the verse may also be true: Some patients who have recovered from COVID-19 have diabetes, obesity and metabolism, according to research published in November 2020, which includes type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
More than 10 coronavirus patients (14.4%) were newly diagnosed after recovering from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to an analysis of 3,711 patients in eight different studies.
New cases of diabetes may be the result of COVID-19-related inflammation and insulin problems, according to the study’s authors, from researchers at several universities in Canada, including McMaster University.
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Covid-19 can worsen existing health problems such as prognosis diabetes, Causes type 2 diabetes
At least in such cases, it may be that some of the patients in the study already have diabetes and did not know it until they were hospitalized in Covid-1 for.
But the evidence also suggests that Covid-19 may be sufficient to address existing metabolic health issues in a fully developed type 2 diabetes, says Dr. According to Jose Alemann.
“Stressful situations lead to elevated levels of regulatory hormones that raise blood sugar to help the body cope with insults such as illness or injury.” “For people with underlying conditions, it may be enough to kick them off the edge.”
These conditions include prognosis, obesity, insulin resistance or high blood pressure. It could explain how the virus has been linked to new cases of type 2 diabetes, which occurs when people respond less to insulin and consequently control blood sugar.
Experts are further confused by new cases of type 1 diabetes
What is clear is how it can be linked to new cases of type 1 diabetes. When type 2 diabetes occurs when people become less sensitive to insulin, due to the lack of specialized cells in the pancreas called beet cells, type 1 occurs when people do not produce enough insulin in the first place.
According to Aleman, the best theory we currently have is that COVID-19 can overpower and destroy the immune system from the body’s own cells while fighting the virus.
Researchers have found that coronavirus, or the body’s immune response to it, can disrupt beta cells in the pancreas, potentially stimulating the onset of type 1 diabetes.
Patients with existing auto-immune disorders or elderly patients with immune problems may be particularly at risk.
We don’t know if Covid’s diabetes is permanent
However, we do not yet know enough about how the two diseases are related to fully understand the long-term advances of patients. It is possible that at least some patients have ongoing problems.
“I think this will be one of the long-term difficulties of COVID,” Aleman said.
In the meantime, he recommends that people with high-risk diabetes now begin treatment for underlying conditions such as obesity and high blood sugar as a preventive measure.
“It’s hard to treat when you’re already sick and in the hospital, and this is the motivation to treat these conditions now,” he said.