Jahnavi Sarma
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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Published : April 30, 2021 12:07 PM IST
Several studies on diabetes and SARS-CoV-2 have already observed an approximately two to threefold increase in mortality due to COVID-19 in people with diabetes compared to people without diabetes.
The COVID-19 pandemic poses unprecedented challenges to science and the health sector. While in some people with a SARS-CoV-2 infection the disease is hardly noticeable, in others it is much more severe and sometimes fatal. So far, knowledge about the course of a COVID-19 disease is still quite meager. COVID-19 infection is dangerous for people with underlying health condition. And, diabetes has increasingly emerged as one of the risk factors determining the severity of the disease. People with diabetes are at an increased risk of developing a severe course of COVID-19 compared to people without diabetes. But one question that has been plaguing scientists is whether all people with diabetes have an increased risk of severe COVID-19, or can specific risk factors also be identified within this group? Now, a new study at Deutsches Zentrum fuer Diabetesforschung (DZD) has focused precisely on this question and gained relevant insights.
Several studies on diabetes and SARS-CoV-2 have already observed an approximately two to threefold increase in mortality due to COVID-19 in people with diabetes compared to people without diabetes. This makes it all the more important to conduct studies that examine the risk factors of people with diabetes for severe COVID-19 disease in more detail.
A new study of the German Diabetes Center, partner of the DZD, led by researchers at the Institute for Biometrics and Epidemiology, examined the risk phenotypes of diabetes and their possible association with the severity of COVID-19. In their meta-analysis, the researchers combined the results from 22 published studies. More than 17,500 people with diabetes and confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were included in this study. For individuals with diabetes and SARS-CoV-2 infection, male sex, people older than 65 years, high blood glucose levels (at the time of hospital admission), chronic treatment with insulin, and existing concomitant diseases (such as cardiovascular disease or kidney disease) were identified as risk factors for a severe COVID-19 course.
On the other hand, the results showed that chronic metformin treatment was associated with a reduced risk of a severe course of COVID-19.
Researchers of this study identified the following risk factors, which are indicators of diabetes severity or overall poor health.
However, some results, especially on diabetes-specific factors such as type or duration of diabetes and further treatments, are still imprecisely assessed and the significance is low. In order to strengthen the significance, further primary studies are needed that examine these specific risk factors and consider other relevant influencing factors in their analysis.
(With inputs from Agencies)
