Research found that 1 in 10 diabetic COVID-19 patients die within a week

A new study by French researchers found that 1 in 10 diabetic coronavirus patients died within 7 days of hospitalization, and 1 in 5 needed a ventilator to breathe.

Diabetes is one of the fundamental health conditions that experts believe people consider to be at increased risk of developing the more severe symptoms of COVID-19 the studyPublished in the Diabetologia journal on Thursday, it seems to confirm this.

Researchers examined more than 1,300 patients with coronavirus at 53 hospitals in France between March 10 and March 31. Most — 89% — had type 2 diabetes. 3% had type 1 diabetes. The rest were other forms of illness. The majority of patients were male, and the average age of all patients studied was 70 years.

By day 7 of the study, 29% of patients had ventilators or died. According to the researchers, 1 in 5 patients were on the ventilator, 1 in 10 died, and 18% were discharged from the hospital.

The researchers concluded that patients with diabetic complications were more than twice as likely to die within a week. They also found that patients aged 75 and older were 14 times more likely to die than patients under 55. Also, patients aged 65 to 74 were three times more likely to die than those under 55.

People with sleep apnea and shortness of breath were three times more likely to die by day 7, and obese diabetics were more likely to die, the researchers say.

Obesity is becoming a major risk factor for poor outcomes in both people with and without diabetes, said Dr. Robert Eckel, president of medicine and science. American Diabetes Association, Who were not involved in the study.

“The other is age and male. I think these two things have been repeatedly validated recently by other studies. So basically you’re over 70 Being a male and being overweight or obese has in fact brought great outcomes to outcomes, “Eckel said.

The researchers say there was no independent relationship between severe cases of COVID-19 and age, sex, long-term glycemic control, chronic complications, hypertension or abnormal drug therapy. However, being overweight as measured by body mass index (BMI) was an important factor.

“We found that only BMI was independently associated with the main results,” the authors write.

Increase the risk of infection

“It is well known that people with diabetes are at particularly high risk of getting influenza and pneumonia,” the researchers write.

In addition, diabetes was reported as a major risk factor for death in people previously infected with the 2009 H1N1 pandemic flu, and more recently in those infected with the Middle East respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (MERS). Epidemiologic studies quickly and consistently point to diabetes as one of the major comorbidities associated with COVID-19 and affecting its severity. “

The researchers found that patients who used insulin or other treatments to change their blood sugar levels were not at increased risk of developing more severe cases of COVID-19. They said diabetics should continue with these treatments.

No one died in a study of people under the age of 65 with type 1 diabetes, but the authors stated that only 39 patients in the analysis had type 1 diabetes.

Eckels pointed out that this study alone does not necessarily indicate that people with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19.

“They may be doing that. There is no information to clarify that question,” he said.

This study suggests that special attention should be paid to elderly people with long-term diabetes and high complications who are at high risk of severe COVID-19.

“ Based on my observations of the data, I don’t think I can conclude too much about it after all, but I revisited some other studies showing that diabetes is a predictor of outcome. Ekel said.

“Older men are getting worse. I think the obesity factor is now on board, making it an increasingly important factor,” he said.

“And people who show shortness of breath with either heart disease with a chronic medical condition, or ultimately obstructive sleep apnea, can say these findings, so caregivers should be careful about themselves. I think there is a need for medical practice related to COVID-19 and diabetes. “