People who contracted Covid-19 are at increased risk of being diagnosed with diabetes and cardiovascular disorders in the three months following infection, although the risk declines back to baseline levels, according to a study from the United Kingdom says.
DIABETES AND COVID 19
The analysis and study published in PLOS medicine said that diabetes mellitus diagnoses increased by 81 per cent in acute covid-19 and remained elevated by 27 per cent from four to 12 weeks after infection. Meanwhile, the researchers from King’s College, London noted that patients recovering from Ccovid-19 should be advised to reduce diabetes risk including adopting a healthy diet and taking exercise.
In the study, GP medical records from more than 4,28,650 Covid-19 patients were matched with the same number of controls and followed up to January 2022. All patients with pre-existing diabetes or cardiovascular disease were excluded from the study.
CARDIOVASCULAR AND COVID 19
The Study pointed out that acute covid-19 was associated with a sixfold increase in cardiovascular diagnoses overall. The researchers said that this included a 11-fold increase in pulmonary embolism, a sixfold increase in atrial arrhythmias, and a fivefold increase in venous thromboses. They also mentioned that the risk of new heart disease diagnosis began to decline five weeks after infection and returned to baseline levels or below from 12 weeks to one year.
Lead study author Emma Rezel-Potts noted that their study showed risk of diabetes mellitus increased for at least 12 weeks. Clinical and public health interventions focusing on reducing diabetes risk among those recovering from covid-19 over the longer term may be beneficial, the researcher said.
UNDIAGNOSED AND HIGHER RISK AND COVID 19
However, the study has not shown that people without pre-existing cardiovascular disease or diabetes who become infected with covid-19 appear to have a long term increase in incidence of these conditions. Though they point out a higher risk, the researchers however, cannot say if the short term increase in risk is directly because of Covid infection or if undiagnosed cardiovascular disease and diabetes may be more prevalent among covid-19 cases.
Another version is that people recovering from Covid-19 had higher rates of GP consultations, which had led to an increased medical surveillance. This might have resulted in frequent opportunities for diabetes to be diagnosed.
