Studies have shown that adults with type 1 diabetes who contract COVID-19 are at an increased risk of severe illness. People with consistently high blood sugar levels and those with other medical conditions, such as obesity or lung, heart or kidney disease, are particularly vulnerable. This information is based on current knowledge of COVID-19 and will be updated as additional scientific evidence is released. As the virus spreads, the mortality rate and the number of people dying from the virus are expected to decrease as detection and treatment improve.
Your risk of severe illness from COVID-19 is likely to be lower if your diabetes is well managed. Having heart disease or other complications besides diabetes can make it worse for you to get seriously ill from COVID-19, as can other viral infections, because more than one condition makes it difficult for your body to fight infection. Viral infections can also increase inflammation in people with diabetes, which may be due to above-target blood sugar levels and could contribute to more serious complications. It's important to remember that people with either type of diabetes can vary in their age, the complications they've developed, and how well they've been able to manage diabetes.
People who already have diabetes-related health problems are likely to have worse results if they get COVID-19 than people with diabetes who are otherwise healthy, regardless of the type of diabetes they have. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) can make it difficult to manage fluid intake and electrolyte levels, which is important for controlling sepsis. Sepsis and septic shock are some of the most serious complications that some people with COVID-19 have experienced. It's important to know the signs of DKA and talk to your diabetes care team about when to check for ketones and when to contact your doctor if you have them. If you're sick, know what to do.
Learn more about how to protect yourself and others here. In addition, some home-use blood glucose meters have built-in wireless data transmission capabilities, which can facilitate remote monitoring of patients. The FDA encourages hospitals to consider policies that allow patients to self-evaluate with household blood glucose meters, which may include the use of patients' home blood glucose meters or the provision of a home blood glucose meter when patients are not allowed to use blood glucose meters when admitted to the hospital. Using strategies in which patients in the hospital can control their own blood glucose while allowing wireless access to results by health professionals can limit direct contact and reduce the risk of transmitting the virus preserve PPE. Early studies have shown that about 25% of people who came to the hospital with severe COVID-19 infections had diabetes. People with diabetes were more likely to have serious complications and die from the virus.
One reason is that high blood sugar weakens the immune system and makes it less able to fight infections. In their new study, researchers found that the blood serum of ICU patients with diabetes and severe COVID-19 had reduced levels of interferon beta compared to patients without diabetes. This same enzyme has been implicated in non-healing inflammatory wounds found in people with diabetes.
According to CDC reports at this time, people with type 1 or gestational diabetes may be at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.
In summary, patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of suffering a more severe course of COVID-19. Treatment for both types requires medication, lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly. A retrospective multicenter cohort study conducted in Italy confirmed that hypertension is associated with an additional increased risk of mechanical ventilation, ICU admission or death (OR 2.3) in patients with diabetes (6), and a prospective cohort study of EE. UU.1.3 (5), although this was not described in all cohorts (10, 50). Among non-survivors, 83.9% of patients with diabetes had hypertension and 45.2% CVD, compared with 37.5% and 18.8% of patients without diabetes. The impact of strict COVID-19 lockdown in Spain on the glycemic profiles of patients with type 1 diabetes prone to hypoglycemia by continuous independent glucose monitoring was also studied. Patients with diabetes were also at higher risk of excessive and uncontrolled inflammatory responses (90). Exact molecular mechanisms cause a story to emerge, and there is disagreement as to why some people develop type 1 diabetes after the coronavirus infection clears. In a patient with diabetes, associated comorbidities and diabetes-related complications, as well as certain demographic characteristics, may further contribute to this increased risk of a severe course of COVID-19. But it makes it harder for people to reach their fitness goal, which is a critical element of overall health and metabolic health, said Patti DiPietro, an adult endocrinologist at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. This worse prognosis is also likely related to comorbidities and other risk factors that increase susceptibility to severe illness from COVID-19.
