After COVID-19 infection, patients developing diabetes; experts unsure why

Although data showed that Covid-19 infection is dangerous for diabetics, new findings show that the virus can also trigger the disease in those who previously didn’t have it.

Several Covid-19 survivors have developed type 1 and type 2 diabetes, according to research published by Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism in November 2020.

An analysis of 3,711 patients involved in eight different studies showed that one in 10 Covid-19-positive patients (14.4 per cent) were diagnosed with diabetes after recovering from the virus.

Researchers noted that Covid-19 might cause inflammation and insulin issues among patients, thus triggering the metabolic disease.

The study also highlighted that the patients might already have diabetes and were unaware of their condition until after recovery.

The virus could also be enough to worsen existing metabolic health issues into full-blown type 2 diabetes, said Dr Jose Aleman, assistant professor of endocrinology at NYU Langone Health, in a Business Insider (BI) report.

As the pandemic continued, reports of patients who recovered from Covid-19 developing diabetes symptoms for the first time has increased.

“Clearly, there’s a link, there’s some sort of mechanism that makes the diseases fuel one another,” said chair of metabolic surgery at King’s College London, Francesco Rubino, to BI on Wednesday (Oct 6).

While researchers thought initially that a disruption of insulin levels occurred, further observation suggests that the virus alters the pancreas, forcing it to destroy itself.

A peer-reviewed journal, Cell Metabolism, published on Aug 3, highlighted that the pancreas began acting strangely after Covid-19 infection.

The organ began producing less insulin and more glucagon, which functions in reverse as insulin by increasing glucose and fatty acids in the bloodstream.

It is currently unclear if the symptom of diabetes is permanent and will last until after infection, said Mr Rubino and Shiubing Chen, a researcher at the Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine.

In the meantime, they recommend getting vaccinated against the virus to avoid infection altogether. /TISG

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