Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, health experts have discovered a concerning link between coronavirus and new-onset diabetes.
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Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, told KCBS Radio's "Ask An Expert" a study was conducted on the effects of long COVID on the body. The results of the study were "very alarming."
"We've done a study involving about 180,000 people with COVID-19 and compared them to more than 11 million folks who did not have COVID-19. What we found is that people who had COVID-19, up to a year later, had increased risk of diabetes," Al-Aly said.
Among the 180,000 participants were individuals of different age groups, BMI categories, race and gender. The results suggested that COVID-19 was associated with an increased risk of diabetes across all risk score quartiles, including the lowest risk score quartile.
Researchers reported that the study participants who had a COVID-19 infection were 40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than the control group. "Even people who had mild or in some cases asymptomatic COVID-19 several months after the initial infection were developing new-onset diabetes," Al-Aly said.
As health experts learn more about the ramifications of COVID-19, they've found that long COVID not only causes fatigue and brain fog, but it also causes a series of chronic health conditions. "It's actually leading to long-term damage in organ systems involving the heart, the kidneys and also new-onset diabetes," Al-Aly warned. Diabetes is now recognized as one facet of the multifaceted long COVID.
What worries scientists, he explained, is that these are chronic conditions that will stick with people for a lifetime with serious downstream consequences.
If you have had COVID-19, Al-Aly advised to be an advocate for your health by paying attention to your body. "If you're experiencing symptoms like chest pain or chest pressure or swelling in the leg or some manifestations related to diabetes like frequent urination … seek care earlier than later," he said.
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