The Impact of Covid-19 to people with Diabetes

Details: Category: Region 9; Published: 03 March 2021

RO9 COVIDDiabetes Even before the upsurge of Covid-19 cases, the incidence of diabetes is growing around the world. It is in the top ten leading causes of death. The Filipinos are not an exemption to this incidence as more and more are affected by the disease. As stated by the Philippine Statics data in the last 2008 survey, it was alarming enough to conclude that one out of every five Filipinos have diabetes. That means that around 20% of the population have diabetes and this has significantly increase from only 4% in 1998. Another cause for alarm is that Filipinos diagnosed with diabetes are getting younger.

What is Diabetes? Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a metabolic disease that causes high blood sugar. The hormone insulin moves sugar from the blood into your cells to be stored or used for energy. There are a few different types of diabetes namely;

Type 1 diabetes also called as Juvenile Diabetes, is an autoimmune disease. The immune system attacks and destroys cells in the pancreas, where insulin is made.
Type 2 diabetes or adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin.
Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar during pregnancy. Insulin-blocking hormones produced by the placenta cause this type of diabetes.

So, are people with diabetes more likely to get COVID-19? The American Diabetes Association (ADA) articulates that there is not enough data to show whether people with diabetes are more likely to get COVID-19 than the general population. The problem people with diabetes face is they are more likely to have worse complications if they get it, not greater chance of getting the virus.

However, People with diabetes are more likely to have serious complications from COVID-19. In general, people with diabetes are more likely to have more severe symptoms and complications when infected with any virus. The risk of getting very sick from COVID-19 is likely to be lower if your diabetes is well-managed. Having heart disease or other complications in addition to diabetes could worsen the chance of getting seriously ill from COVID-19, like other viral infections, because more than one condition makes it harder for your body to fight the infection.

With or without the current pandemic, it is still crucial to monitor your health status especially if you have existing comorbidities such as Diabetes, while, remaining to be mindful with the minimum health protocols and infection prevention control conceded by the Department of Health and other concerned agencies.

PNC-ZDS Marie Claire A. Gaas

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