- Experts have found that some COVID-19 patients develop type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
- It is not clear whether diabetes may be a permanent side effect of coronavirus infection.
- People with autoimmune disorders, prediabetes or obesity are at high risk for 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 the opposite may also be true: some patients recovering from COVID-19 develop diabetes, including type 1 and type 2, according to research published in November 2020 in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.
More than one in 10 coronavirus patients (14.4%) have just been diagnosed with diabetes after recovering from the disease caused by the new coronavirus, according to the analysis of 3,711 patients in eight different studies.
New cases of diabetes may be the result of inflammation and insulin problems associated with COVID-19, according to the study’s authors, researchers from several universities, including McMaster University in Canada.
Read more: A ‘COVID tongue’ that is swollen, bumpy or unstable may be a sign of a virus infection
COVID-19 can aggravate existing health issues such as prediabetes, which causes type 2 diabetes
In at least some of these cases, it may be that some of the patients in the study already had diabetes and were not aware of it until they were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19, according to the study.
Evidence also suggests that COVID-19 may be enough to exacerbate existing metabolic health issues to a full-blown type 2 diabetes, according to Dr. Jose Aleman, assistant professor of endocrinology at NYU Langone Health.
“Stress conditions lead to elevated levels of regulatory hormones that raise blood sugar to help the body fight any insult, such as illness or injury,” Aleman told Insider. “For people with underlying conditions, it may be enough to kick them over the edge.”
These conditions include prediabetes, obesity, insulin resistance or high blood pressure. This may explain how the virus is linked to new cases of type 2 diabetes, which happens when people respond less to insulin and consequently control blood sugar.
Experts are more confused by the new cases of type 1 diabetes
What is less clear is how it can also be linked to new cases of type 1 diabetes. While type 2 diabetes occurs when people are less sensitive to insulin, type 1 happens when people do not produce enough insulin in the first place, due to a lack of specific cells in the pancreas called beta cells.
According to Aleman, the best theory currently is that COVID-19 can cause the immune system to overreact and destroy some of the body’s own cells while fighting the virus.
Researchers have found that the coronavirus, or the body’s immune response to it, can disrupt beta cells in the pancreas, possibly causing the onset of type 1 diabetes.
Patients with pre-existing autoimmune disorders, or older patients with immune system problems, are at particular risk.
We do not know if COVID-related diabetes is permanent
However, we do not yet know enough how the two diseases relate to understanding patients’ long-term predictions. It is likely that at least some patients will experience constant problems.
“I think this is going to be one of the long-distance complications of COVID,” Aleman said.
Meanwhile, he recommends that people at risk for diabetes now start as treatment for underlying conditions such as obesity and high blood sugar.
“It is difficult to treat if you are already ill and in hospital, and it is a motivation to treat the conditions now,” he said.