The recent pandemic has been one of the most devastating worldwide events in recent years, if not the most devastating, considering how vast the scope of the problem is and how many have suffered. Even with the distribution of COVID vaccines, there are still large areas where more and more people are getting afflicted with COVID. The virus can cause various problems, and in the cases of over 500,000 people, it has caused death.

Everyone is at risk of this serious illness with life-long after-effects and death due to COVID. However, an especially vulnerable portion of the population served well by following social distancing protocols and getting vaccinated includes people with diabetes. Due to the unique nature of diabetes, people with that illness can react even more severely when COVID is put into the mix.

We wanted to create this article to explain the specific issues that arisen when people with diabetes and non-diabetic people get COVID. So we will start with…

1. COVID Will Increase Blood Sugar Levels

If you’re a diabetic person, then your blood sugar levels have a tendency to be higher than a non-diabetic person, and you have to monitor yourself to make sure that it doesn’t go too high. If you get COVID while having diabetes, then stress hyperglycemia is triggered. Stress hyperglycemia is when your body’s systems produce hormones that raise blood sugar and doesn’t typically occur in non-diabetic people.

2. Middle Aged Diabetic People Have Higher Mortality Rate

Middle-aged and older people with diabetes already have higher mortality rates, and COVID worsens many of the underlying health reasons as to why that is.

Diabetic middle ages people tend to have cardiovascular issues, which COVID exacerbates due to how it causes clotting in the blood, making it more difficult to breathe.

3. You Could Get Pre-Diabetes

At this article’s beginning, we mentioned that we would explain issues that diabetic and non-diabetic people should know about COVID. One huge problem that COVID can cause is triggering type 2 diabetes in people who were previously free from the illness.

This fact is due to how COVID causes the pancreas to increase the production of insulin. In addition, COVID triggers the kidneys to produce insulin in a way that causes glucose to rise because of the acute stress that the virus puts on them. A person could then develop pre-diabetes, which could become full-blown type 2 diabetes if left untreated.

COVID could also trigger type 1 diabetes due to how it can make someone’s immune system destroy the beta cells that make insulin. So for those already at risk of developing type one diabetes, a COVID infection could be the last straw that makes them get type 1 symptoms.

Conclusion

For diabetic and non-diabetic people alike, COVID is a huge area of concern. We ask our readers to wear masks, sanitize their hands, maintain social distancing of six feet, and get vaccinated as soon as possible.