High blood sugar due to COVID-19 could spike death risk even among non-diabetics

24-Nov-2020

COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is known to be deadly, and cause a range of symptoms in patients it infects. Severe symptoms and complications of COVID-19 have especially been reported in people who have comorbidities like type 2 diabetes, cancer, and other diseases. Risk of death due to the infection has also been reported to increase manifold for people who have such existing conditions. However, according to recent reports, even non-diabetics may face a high risk of death due to increased blood sugar levels, arising primarily due to COVID-19 infection.

Abnormally high blood sugar may worsen mortality in COVID-19
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According to a recent study, extremely and abnormally high blood sugar levels can reduce outcomes and mortality among COVID-19 patients, including those who do not have pre-existing diabetes. The research was published in the peer-reviewed open-access journal Annals of Medicine and was conducted with an aim to understand the association between blood sugar levels and in-hospital mortality rates in non-critically ill COVID-19 patients. The study involved more than 11,000 such patients in Spain. The study augments the existing evidence about hyperglycemia leading to a high chance of death among COVID patients, irrespective of an independent diabetes diagnosis. The study found that patients who had high blood sugar levels were almost twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than those who had normal sugar levels. It was also found that they had a high need for ventilator support and ICU admissions due to the viral infection.

Compulsory Hyperglycemia screening and early treatment for all COVID-19 patients
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Based on the findings of the study, researchers are of the view that all COVID-19 patients, even if they are non-diabetic, should be screened for hyperglycemia and provided early treatment if their blood sugar levels are found to be high. They urge doctors to not overlook the condition, whether or not the patient has a diagnosis of diabetes before contracting the infection. "Screening for hyperglycaemia in patients without diabetes and early treatment should be mandatory in the management of patients hospitalized with COVID-19," says study coordinator Dr Javier Carrasco from Juan Ramon Jimenez University Hospital. "Admission hyperglycaemia should not be overlooked, but rather detected and appropriately treated to improve the outcomes of COVID-19 patients with and without diabetes,� he added. Researchers also said that many people around the world do not get themselves tested for diabetes regularly, because of which, they could be suffering from the disease and not know about it. They may be diabetic but classified as non-diabetic due to no diagnosis. Researchers further said that the reason why high blood sugar leads to a high risk of death is still unknown, but they believe it could have a link with the inflammatory problems which are common between the two diseases.