First of series of Fortnightly articles in The IndianExpress

Rise in uncontrolled diabetes during Covid-19 and postCovid-19 syndrome: Malady and solutions

The factors that work against the pancreas (that controls blood sugar) are severe attacks of Covid-19 on this organ, poisonous substances generated by COVID19 (“Cytokine storm”), marked mental stress, and use of steroids, to name a few.

Written by Anoop Misra,
Padma Shree Awardee, Author of book “Diabetes with Delight”.
A fully compliant patient came to my clinic recently in a very disturbed mood. His fasting blood sugar was ~300 mg/dl (markedly uncontrolled). He said in an emotional tone; “Doc. Such high sugars never happened before Covid-19, and I just had a mild disease”.

This is an oft-repeated first scenario these days. A second scenario is new-onset diabetes during COVID-19 infection in previously non-diabetic people. This may happen most often after severe COVID-19 but may also occur with mild disease. A third scenario is people with post-Covid-19 syndrome (“Long COVID”) who have high sugar values. Finally, those with diabetes, or even prediabetes, are likely to get severe COVID-19.

The factors that work against the pancreas (that controls blood sugar) are severe attacks of Covid-19 on this organ, poisonous substances generated by COVID19 (“Cytokine storm”), marked mental stress, and use of steroids, to name a few. It appears that COVID-19 uncovers a huge tendency of Indians for diabetes. Overall, we are seeing more patients with uncontrolled sugar now than ever before, and these patients show various complications of diabetes.

In the current era, many patients are suffering from post-COVID-19 Syndrome where fatigue, headache, muscle pains, muscle pains, lack of concentration, memory loss, singly or in combination may occur. This syndrome can be extremely debilitating and may take several months to resolve. In such a situation, stress and poor body physiology could lead to rise in blood sugar values. Patients with uncontrolled diabetes suffer from prolonged and severe fatigue after COVID-19, our recent research shows. In such patients, withering of muscles is prominently seen, and carrying out daily activities appears to be a major burden.

More here

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health-specials/rise-in-uncontrolled-diabetes-during-covid-19-and-post-covid19-syndrome-malady-and-solutions-8034508/