Why diabetics have greater reason to fear Covid-19
DISEASE IS KNOWN TO INCREASE SEVERITY OF COVID-19 COMPLICATIONS
It’s no surprise that most of the UAE’s deaths were diabetic patients as high blood sugar impairs immune response, increasing risk and severity of infection
With diabetes clearly linked to coronavirus deaths, doctors and health officials have urged diabetics to adopt strict precautionary measures, including social distancing and healthy lifestyle habits. Officials announced yesterday that 40 per cent of the 291 people who have so far succumbed to Covid-19 in the UAE were diabetic.
“Our records show that 40 per cent of Covid-19 deaths have been associated with diabetes. [So] we urge the public to pay more attention to groups at risk, including people with diabetes and other chronic conditions, as well as the elderly,” said Dr Amna Al Shamsi, official spokesperson for the UAE government.
Dr Mohammad Sohil Al Hossni, specialist endocrinologist at Medcare Hospital Sharjah, said that the reported link between diabetes and Covid-19 fatalities is not at all surprising.
Effect on immune system
“It is well known that high blood sugar impairs the immune response, thus increasing the risk and severity of all kinds of infection in patients, whether viral, bacterial or fungal. This is why people with uncontrolled diabetes who contract Covid-19 face a two-fold higher risk of being admitted to the ICU, and their risk of mortality is also three times higher,” Dr Al Hossni said.
Dr Job Simon, diabetes and endocrinology consultant at Burjeel Hospital Abu Dhabi, added that certain symptoms of diabetes, such as nerve damage and reduced blood flow, increase the body’s vulnerability to infection, while obesity and hypertension further exacerbate the condition of patients.
“In case of Type 2 diabetics, the risk is heightened because the majority of them are obese. Severe abdominal obesity is linked with mechanical respiratory issues due to decreased ventilation, as well as greater basal lung secretions that are not eliminated,” Dr Al Hossni added.
Other countries have also reported a relation between Covid-19 complications and diabetes, including China and the United States.
Links to other disease
In addition, studies have previously reported a link between Covid-19 deaths and hypertension.
A paper published in the
European Heart Journal said that patients with raised blood pressure had a two-fold risk of dying from coronavirus, based on data from nearly 3,000 patients hospitalised in China in March.
The risk was also found to be higher for people with hypertension who were not on medication to control the raised blood pressure.
“The exact mechanisms have not been completely elucidated [till now], and we may have to wait a little longer to find out [if hypertension and diabetes work in the same way to increase the severity of Covid-19 complications],” Dr Simon said.