Much of what we eat contains glucose we need to convert to energy. Our pancreas produces the insulin hormone that helps the glucose enter our cells. Diabetes is a medical condition that affects our ability to process food correctly. More people are developing the condition during the pandemic. We decided to find out why people with COVID-19 may get diabetes more often.
One Seventh of People With Severe COVID-19 Get Diabetes
The Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University reports a global survey confirmed the extent of the current trend. That exercise found up to 14.4% of people who were hospitalized with severe COVID-19, also developed diabetes.
The Ohio researchers wondered whether a viral infection was behind this. Or whether the diabetes was lying dormant, but the infection accelerated the process. They say there is no confirmed evidence COVID-19 induces the disease.
However, it’s apparently a fact ‘90% of the 88 million with pre-diabetes don’t know that they have it’. Moreover, some 25% of people with the full-blown condition are unaware of their state either.
How People With Severe COVID-19 Develop Diabetes Disease
The Wexner Medical Centre explains diabetic people have autonomous systems unable to maintain their insulin balance. Diet, weight, and lack of physical exercise are common stressors.
However, pregnancy, steroids, or inflammation from cytokine activation, common in COVID-19 may also cause a hyperglycemic oversupply of sugar. And this comes about in turn when there is insufficient insulin in the patient’s body.
The author at Wexner Medical Centre says TYPE 1 Diabetes – where the pancreas produces insufficient insulin – can trigger during COVID-19 when the immune system increases production of all available antibodies.
But people with severe COVID may also develop TYPE 2 diabetic symptoms if (a) they have un-diagnosed diabetes or (b) they are pre-diabetic. But finally they could also (c) develop new diabetes, from the combination of their insulin resistance from the acute infection, and the high-dose steroids used to treat COVID-19.
This could occur more often if they were overweight (not obese), and mildly but not completely sedentary. Therefore once again the benefits of a healthy life style are evident in the pandemic too.
Related
COVID Risk from Poorly-Controlled Diabetes
Diabetes Symptoms Associated with COVID-19
Preview Image: Global Diabetes Prevalence
