Type 1 diabetes is known in the medical community as “juvenile diabetes” because it is usually diagnosed in childhood. Coronavirus infection significantly increases a patient’s risk of developing diabetes, literally within a few weeks of the onset of the first symptoms of Covid-19. This risk is particularly high in children under the age of 18. This conclusion is supported by several studies conducted by scientists in the U.S. and several other countries.
The authors of one of these studies calculated that in the first few months of the epidemic, of the total number of hospitalized patients with suspected coronavirus in China, Italy, and the United States, almost one in seven were newly diagnosed with diabetes during COVID-19 treatment. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infected children are more than 2.5 times more likely to develop diabetes within a month of becoming infected with coronavirus.
Elevated blood glucose is one of the common symptoms of post-COVID syndrome (PCS), more commonly known as “long COVID” – when symptoms that occur as a result of COVID-19 infection persist for several months after the infection has resolved. Most academic experts decline to answer the question of how likely such patients are to make a full recovery, but practicing doctors say they are aware of such cases. Numerous scientific studies from around the world have long and convincingly demonstrated the link between the coronavirus and both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Moreover, this association is bidirectional.
In the early months of the pandemic, it became clear that the presence of diabetes (as well as other metabolic disorders, including obesity) in a patient immediately identified them as a high-risk group and greatly worsened their medical prognosis. Now it is clearer and feedback shows that coronaviruses can provoke the development of diabetes in patients during infection. Diabetes mellitus is a general term for several non-infectious diseases (i.e., they cannot be transmitted by an infected person). They are united by a common main symptom: due to problems with the absorption of glucose in the blood, the level of sugar in the blood increases significantly. As glucose accumulates, the blood thickens, eventually damaging blood vessels, especially the delicate capillaries (e.g. in the eyes, which can lead to blindness).
However, despite the similarity in symptoms, the diseases have very different origins – and therefore require a different approach to treatment.
Many diabetics need to check their blood glucose 4-6 times a day. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what will happen next. The number of offers should remain: episodes. End of story. Advertising Podcasts.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which the patient’s immune system malfunctions for some reason. As a result, the body begins to produce antibodies that destroy the beta cells of the pancreas, which produce insulin – a hormone needed to process ingested carbohydrates. In the medical community, this disease is known as “juvenile diabetes” because it usually occurs in childhood and the disease develops rapidly. Literally within a few weeks, insulin production stops completely, and the patient must control their blood glucose levels for the rest of their lives through subcutaneous hormone injections.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is usually preceded by a fairly long, often multi-year process called “prediabetes. Due to lack of physical activity and increased fat content in the patient’s tissues, they begin to respond less well to the release of insulin into the blood. In other words, the hormone itself is present, and in large quantities, but the body does not notice or recognize it. In Russia, almost every fifth person suffers from this condition. Doctors call this disorder “obesity diabetes,” and unlike T1D, this process can be reversed. It is possible to normalize blood sugar levels with the help of pills, but the most important thing is to change to a healthier and more active lifestyle.
The risk of becoming ill is significantly higher for those who have a severe form of the infection that requires hospitalization. However, there have been cases of diabetes developing after a mild course of coronavirus, even in people who were asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19. By the fall of 2020, at least a dozen articles had been published in reputable scientific journals in which the authors – mostly practicing clinicians – pointed out a suspicious coincidence: the blood of the majority of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had glucose levels significantly higher than normal – regardless of age and other factors. In general, this is a fairly standard response of the body to prolonged inflammation, even in the healthiest (otherwise) individuals. In the case of COVID, however, doctors have been far from successful in returning sugar levels to normal in many patients. Analysis of the scientific literature has shown that within one month of the first symptoms of Covid-19, diabetes develops in almost one in seven hospitalized patients (14.4%).
In the United Kingdom, people with diabetes – one of the highest risk groups – were among the first to be vaccinated. This is of particular concern to pediatricians. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infection of a minor child with COVID-19 significantly increases the child’s risk of developing diabetes in the next month (by a factor of 2.6, according to some estimates). Candidate of Medical Sciences, Moscow endocrinologist Anna Nevolnikova says that this mass detection of diabetes in coronavirus patients does not surprise her at all. There may be several reasons for this. First, on the surface of the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas is the ACE2 receptor, through which the virus enters – making them an easy target. Second, during the pandemic, people generally began to eat more and exercise less. In addition, under conditions of uncertainty and isolation, many people lost the motivation to take care of their health. According to Nevolnikova, the level of stress may also have played a significant role. “Glucose for the body is like money, and any crisis is easier to overcome if you have a reserve,” explains the expert. “During stress, when the body is afraid of lack of energy (and glucose is an easy source of fast energy for cells), the level of hormones that increase the level of glucose and decrease the body’s sensitivity to its own insulin increases sharply”. Third, patients hospitalized with coronavirus are often prescribed medications that also raise blood sugar levels, causing a condition known as steroid diabetes. Fourth, the notorious “cytokine storm” – when the raging immune system of some (genetically predisposed) patients begins to attack their own organs – always reduces the body’s sensitivity to insulin and increases the overall burden on the pancreas. However, according to Nevvolnikova, there is hope for at least partial recovery for newly diagnosed “COVID diabetics”. “I have seen many such cases, where the patient’s blood sugar level is very high after COVID, and you prescribe insulin. But then the doses needed become smaller and smaller, and at some point you switch the patient to pills,” she asserts. “These cases happen, and there are a lot of them.”