Doctors are noticing a trend of patients with coronavirus developing diabetes. Now researchers are trying to determine if the virus is causing the disease.
Let’s connect the dots.
Although COVID-19 is known for attacking the lungs, a disturbing range of symptoms have been tied to the virus including blood clots, heart damage and even neurological disorders.
According to information published in the "Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism" medical journal, more than 14 percent of people hospitalized with severe COVID-19 developed diabetes. Some of the patients had no pre-existing risk factors for the disease.
Right now, researchers say they can’t prove a direct link between COVID-19 and these new diabetes cases, but they are definitely investigating. Cases of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes have been reported.
Type 1 is when your body can’t make the insulin needed to control blood sugar. Type 2 is when your body makes too little or becomes insulin resistant.
They are also investigating if COVID-19 has created an entirely new type of diabetes that works differently.
There are also questions about whether these diagnoses are permanent.
Other viruses, such as SARS, have been linked before to new cases of diabetes. However, in those instances, blood sugar levels for most patient returned to normal within two years.
Meanwhile, researchers continue to collect data on coronavirus and diabetes in the hope of getting answers.