Covid-19 infection increases risk of Type 2 diabetes: Study

New Delhi: People who have had Covid-19 are at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a study. The study, published in t...

New Delhi: People who have had Covid-19 are at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a study.

The study, published in the journal Diabetologia, showed that patients with Covid-19 developed Type 2 diabetes more frequently than people with acute upper respiratory tract infections (AURI), which are also frequently caused by viruses.

The relative risk of developing Type 2 diabetes was 28 per cent higher in the Covid-19 group than in the AURI group, according to a team of researchers from the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) and IQVIA (Frankfurt).

Previous studies have shown that the human pancreas can also be a target of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid. Following an infection, reduced numbers of insulin secretory granules in beta cells and impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion have been observed.

In addition, after Covid-19 disease, some patients developed insulin resistance and had elevated blood glucose levels although they had no previous history of diabetes. SARS-CoV-2 infection may lead to a strong release of pro-inflammatory signalling substances (cytokines). Activation of the immune system may persist for months after a SARS-CoV-2 infection and impair insulin effectiveness (muscle, fat cells, liver).

To date, however, it is unclear whether these metabolic changes are transient or whether Covid-19 disease increases the risk of persisting diabetes.

To investigate, the team conducted a retrospective cohort study and included 8.8 million patients across Germany from March 2020 to January 2021. Follow-up continued until July 2021.

As a control group, the researchers selected people with AURI. The two cohorts were matched for sex, age, health insurance, month of Covid-19 or AURI diagnosis, and comorbidities (obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart attack, stroke). Patients on corticosteroid therapy were excluded from the study.

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