Health Experts Probe If Covid Is Causing Diabetes

In a study published in August, researchers at Imperial College in London and several hospitals there found that cases of type 1 diabetes among children nearly doubled to 30 during late March to early June — as the pandemic raged — compared to the same period in previous years.

Five of the children tested positive for a prior coronavirus infection, but the study’s authors said many of the children were not tested.

In the United States, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles said the percentage of newly diagnosed type 2 patients who arrived in diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal buildup of acid in the blood, has nearly doubled from March through August compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019.

Dr. Lily Chao, director of the type 2 diabetes clinic there, said the hospital is still investigating whether this increase is driven by exposure to the deadly virus.

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Brandi Edwards, a registered nurse and diabetes educator at Alabama’s Huntsville Hospital, said calls about pediatric cases began to surge in May.

Doctors summon her when a child arrives in the emergency room or ICU so she can counsel the family on insulin injections, glucose readings and how daily life will change going forward.

“We’ve seen more type 1 cases this year than I ever remember,” Edwards said. “There were three kids in the pediatric ICU at the same time. That is so rare.”

Eviction notice

After surviving a diabetic emergency, life for a newly diagnosed patient can be overwhelming. Medication and other supplies to manage diabetes can cost hundreds of dollars every month, and long waits to see an endocrinologist are common in many areas.

Buelna, the patient in Arizona, is still waiting for his Medicaid plan to approve a continuous glucose monitor more than two months after his diagnosis.

The diabetes diagnosis after testing positive for the novel virus knocked him out of work for weeks and wrecked his family’s finances.

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His wife, Erika, is eight months pregnant and they have a three-year-old daughter, Katalina.

The family got an eviction notice on August 2, while Mario was in the ICU, and they rely on a food bank for some meals.

Buelna said he fell into a depression in the hospital, cut off from family visits, and credits his sister with lifting his spirits in phone calls.

“I want to get better so I can see my kids grow up,” he said. “I’m not ready to go yet.

(Writer: Chad Terhune | Editor: Brian Thevenot)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-diabetes-insight/doctors-probe-whether-covid-19-is-causing-diabetes-idINKBN2741D6