COVID-19 can worsen Type 2 diabetics condition
Also patients living with uncontrolled T2D face a higher risk of contracting the virus than patients with controlled T2D
Type 2 diabetics or those suffering from the noninsulin dependent/adult-onset condition should always keep their blood sugar levels under control to prevent complications which may worsen due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID19).
Specialists in the fields of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes from the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) raised this alert and advice when they gathered recently for the “COVID19 and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) Scientific Updates and Clinical Practice in Direct Management for Patient Education.”
Obtained from the webinar organised by the German drug fir mu a e-based bo eh ring erin gel hei mMETA, was the latest International Diabetes Federation 21- state Middle East and North Africa data.
As of Feb. 2, 2020, there were 53,967,600 T2d-diagnosed patients out of the 418,371,400 adult populations. The 21 countries include the UAE, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Dubai Hospital-endocrinology and Diabetes senior consultant Dr. Mohammed Hassanein said:
“People with diabetes and related co-morbidities are at a higher risk of complications from COVID19. Patients living with uncontrolled T2D face a higher risk of contracting the virus than patients with controlled T2D.”
He said that based on official announcements, “40 per cent of COVID-19 mortality cases in the UAE and Kuwait had diabetes.”
In a consequent email interview that asked about the link between T2D and COVID19, Hassanein said: “Patients living with uncontrolled T2D face a higher risk of severe illness if they contract the virus than those living with controlled T2D.”
On Thursday evening, Saint George Hospital University Medical Centre (Lebanon) specialist endocrinologist Dr. Paola Atallah explained: “A patient living with di abe te si sim mu no compromised (impaired immune system), which makes him more exposed to inflammation. In case he is affected by COVID-19, he is most likely to spend more time at the hospital and in intensive care but will not necessarily due.”
She said that based on COVID19 research works and records, “diabetic patients do not necessarily die from the (lethal inflammatory upper respiratory disease).”
Yet, according to Atallah, because diabetics respond differently to inflammation compared to other patients, documents have revealed that it is the T2D sufferers who get to fall ill to COVID-19, who get to be confined “more at the intensive care unit” and longer at the hospital.
“Their condition is more serious. They can develop complications that affect the heart and lungs,” she added.
Atallah at the webinar offered the following tips, pointing out that the COVID-19 environment has proved to be stressful which may lead to inconsistencies in the required patern for diet and physical exercises of T2D patients: continue remote work and observe the safety protocol on hand washing/sanitizing, face masks and social distancing whenever staying outdoors becomes inevitable; stock up on medicines; and conscientiously virtually consult the trusted diabetologist or endocrinologist.
On the T2D complications, Egyptian Diabetes National Commitee member/diabetes-lipid- Metabolism professor Dr. Yehia Ghanem mentioned the suppression of the functions of the heart, kidney, eyes (retinopathy), nerves (nephropathy), foot, and impotence.
He and Jaber Al-ahmad Hospital- Endocrinology/diabetes/metabolism Division head (Kuwait) Dr. Thamer Alessa said new therapies and treatments against T2D abound in the region.
Boehringer Ingelheim-meta managing director Mohammed Al Tawil said the webinar was to guide as well as provide patients with the correct and “credible” information on T2D as associated with COVID-19.
In a related topic and in an article over WEBMD, Us-based registered dietician/reporter/writer Sally Kuzemchak busted six diabetes food myths: the sugar-free, honey and table sugar, gluten-free, the white stuff such as pasta and breads, and fruits. She cautioned that the sugar-free, honey, table sugar, and gluten-free contain carbohydrates too. She said it is best to limit portions of white breads and pasta. She added that fruits must not be let out even though it has the fructose form of sugar as any fruit is loaded with fibre, vitamins, minerals and other “disease-fighting compounds.”