Infection reduces the number of insulin secretory granules in beta cells and also inhibits the secretion of glucose-stimulated insulin.
An outbreak of new COVID-19 variants every few months is limiting the hope of a soon-to-be pandemic pandemic from a virus-weary world. As experts remain alert to sequencing samples to learn about the lineages in the making of new variants, other researchers are studying how pandemics will affect the health and overall lifestyles of infected people over a long period of time in the future.
Researchers from the German Diabetes Center, the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), and IQVIA (Frankfurt) conducted a retrospective cohort study and found that people who were infected with COVID-19 were at increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes .
The study’s findings were published in the journal Diabetologia. The researchers found that SARS-CoV-2 targets the human pancreas. Infection reduces the number of insulin secretory granules in beta cells and also inhibits the secretion of glucose-stimulated insulin.
Post-Covid, patients were seen developing insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar levels in their blood even without a previous history of diabetes. In addition, SARS-CoV-2-infection causes a strong release of pro-inflammatory signaling substances called cytokines. Activation of the immune system may persist for months after infection has cleared and may indefinitely reduce the effectiveness of insulin in fat cells, muscles, and liver.
Researchers have not yet ascertained whether the metabolic changes are transient or if covid-19 disease increases the risk of diabetes persistence. Researchers in the new study included a representative panel of physician practices across Germany with 8.8 million patients between March 2020 and January 2021.
Another group includes people with acute upper respiratory tract infections (AURIs), which are also often caused by viruses. The two groups were matched for month of health insurance, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and Covid-19 or AURI diagnosis, in addition to sex and gender. Patients on corticosteroid therapy were excluded from the study.
After studying 35,865 people diagnosed with covid-19, researchers found that covid-19 developed type 2 diabetes more often than people with an AUR, with an AURI of 12.3 per year compared to exactly 15.8. per 1000 people. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) of the two peer comparison came out to be 1.28. Simply put, the COVID-19 group was 28 percent more likely to develop type-2 diabetes than the AURI group.
Most people with mild COVID-19 are unlikely to develop type-2 diabetes, but the story’s author advised all patients to report increased thirst, fatigue, frequent urination, and seek immediate treatment after recovery from the disease.
