Diabetes & COVID-19. Researchers report that 40% of people in the U.S. that died from COVID-19 had diabetes. According to Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief scientific and medical officer for the American Diabetes Association, the risk of hospitalization and death related to COVID-19 is 6 to 12 times higher in people with diabetes.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiologic agent of COVID-19, can infect the heart, vascular tissues, and circulating cells through ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2), the host cell receptor for the viral spike protein. Acute cardiac injury is a common extrapulmonary manifestation of COVID-19 with potential chronic consequences.

COVID-19 & Cardiovascular

With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic entering its third year, the extrapulmonary impact of the disease has become increasingly evident. For the cardiovascular system, infection with the etiologic virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), can manifest acutely and persist into convalescence and possibly beyond.¹ Clinical outcomes are worse in patients with COVID-19 with cardiovascular disease and risk factors (eg, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity). Acute cardiac injury, inferred from elevations in cTn (cardiac troponin) levels, is reported in 8% to 62% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and is associated with greater disease severity, including the need for mechanical ventilation, and death.^2–6

Among hospitalized patients with COVID-19, evidence of acute cardiac compromise is common and includes acute heart failure (3%–33%),^71–73 cardiogenic shock (9%–17%),⁷⁴ myocardial ischemia or infarction (0.9%–11%),⁷¹ ventricular dysfunction (left ventricular [10%–41%], right ventricular [33%–47%], biventricular [3%–15%]),^75–78 stress cardiomyopathy (2%–5.6%),^75,77 arrhythmias (9%–17%),^71,72,74,79 venous thromboembolism (23%–27%),⁷³ and arterial thrombosis secondary to viral-mediated coagulopathy.⁸⁰

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.317997

Diabetes Testing Centers™ helps medical providers offer our proprietary Post-COVID protocol program to patients.

If You Have Diabetes:

• Prepare in case you get ill

• Make sure you have all relevant contact details to hand in case you need them

• Pay extra attention to your glucose control. Regular monitoring can help avoid complications caused by high or low blood glucose

• If you do show flu-like symptoms (raised temperature, cough, difficulty breathing), it is important to consult a healthcare professional. If you are coughing up phlegm, this may indicate an infection so you should seek medical support and treatment immediately

• Any infection is going to raise your glucose levels and increase your need for fluids, so make sure you can access a sufficient supply of water

• Make sure you have a good supply of the diabetes medications you need. Think what you would need if you had to quarantine yourself for a few weeks

• Make sure you have access to enough food

• Make sure you will be able to correct the situation if your blood glucose drops suddenly

• If you live alone, make sure someone you can rely on knows you have diabetes as you may require assistance if you get ill

• Keep a regular schedule, avoid overwork, and have a good night's sleep