COVID-19 may trigger chronic disease even after infection clears
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Chronic heart, kidney and brain damage are all symptoms of long-haul COVID.
According to scientists at the Mayo Clinic, the virus can have a lasting impact on these organs.
Now, researchers are uncovering a link between viral infection and another chronic condition: diabetes.
Researchers hypothesize the pancreas — it’s a key player in diabetes management — is a magnet for infectious particles once the virus enters the bloodstream.
A team of researchers spanning the globe assessed eight studies evaluating the association between the coronavirus and new-onset diabetes. Of the 3,711 patients, 492 developed type 1 or type 2 diabetes accounting for 14% of the group.
Authors of the paper, published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism say, “COVID-19 patients with newly diagnosed diabetes should be managed early and appropriately and closely monitored for the emergence of full-blown diabetes and other disorders in the long term.”
Whether the disease will be permanent remains unknown and scientists plan to continue to study the relationship between a coronavirus infection and the onset of diabetes.