A growing body of research shows that contracting the coronavirus can increase your risk of developing diabetes (“sugar”) months after infection. The Austrian Diabetes Association (ÖDG) therefore recommends that everyone be aware of diabetes symptoms, pay attention to them and have the personal diabetes risk clarified by a doctor.
It is important to understand what this increased relative risk means and what everyone can do to stay on the safe side. “Statements like ‘the risk of diabetes increases by 40 percent as a result of Corona’ are frightening if you have just received a positive test result,” explains ÖDG chairman Martin Clodi.
In absolute numbers, according to the head of the internal medicine department of the monastery hospital of the Brothers of Mercy in Linz, it sounds very different: if 1000 people without Covid get 32 cases of diabetes in a year, 1000 people will get a Covid-19 – Infection to 45 cases. So that’s 13 additional new diagnoses representing a 40 percent increase.
Obesity doubles the risk
The risk of developing diabetes in the year after infection with the pathogen SARS-CoV-2 increases with the severity of the Covid infection. However, more diabetes diagnoses in mild forms were also observed. Most notably, people who already had other risk factors for diabetes, such as being overweight, doubled their personal risk of the infection.
“Since the start of the pandemic, it has been important that people with diabetes in particular protect themselves against infection. It is now important that people who were previously infected protect themselves against diabetes by recognizing it early to avoid long-term effects,” reports senior physician Michael Resl, who also works at the Brothers of Charity Hospital in Linz. Symptoms of diabetes may include: frequent and increased urge to urinate, increased thirst, weight loss without wanting to lose weight, as well as fatigue and lethargy.
Lets clarify the risk of diabetes as a precaution
“Personal diabetes risk stems from a whole host of factors that are as much related to heredity as it is to lifestyle,” emphasizes Clodi. The most clear statement about an individual risk is provided by the preventive medical check-up. Here, if individual risk factors are present, the long-term sugar value (HbA1c) can also be determined free of charge, making prediabetes (a preliminary stage of diabetes, please note) visible.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
