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Up to one in 20 new diabetes cases could be linked to COVID-19: Study
As many as one in 20 new cases of diabetes could be linked to COVID-19, according to a new study.
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“Emerging evidence” suggests a higher risk of diabetes for an individual who has contracted COVID-19, according to JAMA Network, which published the research on Tuesday.
“This study found that SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with a higher risk of diabetes, suggesting that these infections may have contributed to an excess burden of diabetes at the population level,” the study said.
The results mean 3 -5 percent of new diabetes diagnoses can be attributed to COVID-19.
The study tested just over 600,000 people in Canada’s British Columbia from January 2020 to the end of 2021. It said that people hospitalized with the virus were at greater risk of developing diabetes.
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not make enough insulin – the hormone that breaks down sugar. This leads to a higher amount of sugar in the bloodstream, which can cause heart disease, loss of vision, and kidney disease in the long term.
Diabetes is separated into type one, usually managed through insulin injections, and type two, to be managed through diet and lifestyle.
Type one diabetes usually begins in childhood and is normally unpreventable. In contrast, type two diabetes, usually diagnosed later in life, can be prevented by eating well and exercising regularly.
Approximately 537 people aged 20 to 79 are living with diabetes, according to the latest figures from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). Experts predict this figure will rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045.
According to the IDF, 12 percent of adults in the UAE have diabetes, just under 18 percent in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait 25 percent in Qatar 16.4 percent. Diabetes was responsible for 796,000 deaths in the MENA region in 2021, according to the IDF website.
Read more:
Diabetes affects one in 10 adults, rise of 16 pct since 2019: IDF
More COVID-19 patients developing diabetes as pancreas cells being harmed: Experts