New COVID Symptoms Linked to Increased Diabetes Risk, Study Finds

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By Lili Scott , Parent Herald Mar 23, 08:43 am

Photo: (Photo : ELMER MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

According to a new study, people infected by COVID-19, including those with mild coronavirus infection, are likely to develop new COVID symptoms linked to increased diabetes risk.

Experts from the VA Saint Louis Health Care System learned that those who survived a coronavirus infection might develop type 2 diabetes within one year of their recovery, while one in 100 COVID-19 patients elevate their risk of being diagnosed as a diabetic. The experts published their findings in The Lancet journal.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 80 million people have had a coronavirus infection since the pandemic started two years ago. This means that there could potentially be 795,000 new diagnoses of diabetes cases.

Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, the chief of research at the VA Saint Louis Health Care System, said that it's becoming clearer COVID-19 does not just have acute effects after studying nearly 200,000 COVID-19 recoveries. Patients are bound to have long-term health consequences and new COVID symptoms, which is a jarring realization for many healthcare workers.

It's Evident in All Groups

The doctor further stated that they initially thought the increased diabetes risk would only manifest in people whose risk factors include obesity. However, their findings revealed that it's evident in all groups, regardless of age, gender, or race.

"It was also evident even in people who had no risk factors for diabetes at all," Al-Aly said, per ABC News.

In recovered COVID-19 patients diagnosed with diabetes, about 99 percent developed type 2 diabetes, the most common form of when the pancreas becomes insulin resistant.

Al-Aly and his team have some theories on why COVID-19 patients are now more prone to develop diabetes. The experts surmised that the virus infection had impaired the body's insulin sensitivity. It has also impacted the body's microbiome composition and function.

But they are not the only medical team studying the links between diabetes and new COVID symptoms. In Germany, experts at the Heinrich Heine University also saw an increase in diabetes diagnosis among mild COVID-19 patients compared to those who have never been infected.

Professor Wolfgang Rathmann and his team studied nearly 36,000 cases in the United Kingdom, and 28 percent have had an uptick in type 2 diabetes development. They published their findings in the Diabetologia journal.

Kids with COVID at Risk, Too

Another team learned that children infected with COVID-19 are at high risk of becoming type 1 diabetic, as per the American Diabetes Association. The experts noticed how fast the diagnosis doubled during the early phase of the pandemic. Type 1 diabetes, which develops in childhood, prevents the body from producing insulin.

Dr. Inas Thomas of Mott Children's Hospital in the University of Michigan said that they had a 30 percent rise in type 1 diabetes, which is a cause of concern. In San Diego's Rady Children's Hospital, diabetes in kids rose to 60 percent during the pandemic. The experts, however, are still trying to understand the direct triggers of these new COVID symptoms.