People With Diabetes Are More Vulnerable To COVID-19

Coronavirus or CoV is a large family of viruses that causes severe illness ranging from the common cold to severe other diseases.

On 31st December 2019 in Wuhan city of China, WHO was informed of cases of pneumonia due to a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.

On 11 March 2020, the rapid increase in the number of cases outside China led the WHO Director-General to announce that the outbreak could be characterized as a pandemic.

As of October 29, 2020, 44351506 COVID-19 cases are confirmed globally and has been reported by the World Health Organization.

People With Diabetes Are More Vulnerable To COVID-19

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus and it is a respiratory tract infection. It spreads mainly through person-to-person contact and the infections range from mild to deadly.

The main symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, coughing, shortness of breath, trouble breathing, fatigue, chills, body aches, headache, sore throat, nausea, diarrhea, etc. 

Coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2 is a positive-stranded RNA virus that is enclosed by a protein-lipid bilayer containing a single-stranded RNA genome.

Patients with COVID-19 develop symptoms at 5-6 days after infection on average but has the potential to develop into a severe illness, including a systematic inflammatory response syndrome.

Patients at high risk of severe COVID-19 or death have several characteristics including age, sex, underlying health issues like cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes. 

Diabetes and COVID-19

Anyone can easily get infected with coronavirus, but some people with other medical conditions are more vulnerable to the virus like people having diabetes.

So diabetic patients need to take extra precautions than something normal people follow like social distancing, washings hands, wearing masks, and using sanitizers.

Their current health condition adds the risk of getting those serious complications from COVID-19.

They are more likely to have more severe symptoms and complications when infected. By managing your diabetes, you can reduce the risk of getting infected.

Having heart diseases in addition to diabetes makes your body harder to fight the infection. According to the CDC, people of any age with certain underlying medical issues including type 2 diabetes are at increased risk from COVID-19.

CDC also reports that it is important to remember that people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can have worse outcomes if they contract COVID-19. 

The risk for those with Diabetes

Patients having good control over type 1 diabetes and having no other diseases have a little risk of getting infected by the virus.

Older patients with other medical issues have greater complications and may increase the risk of getting infected.

These people may agave many serious symptoms and may even lead to death. So it’s important for people with diabetes to take extra precautions.

What should people with diabetes know and do? Let’s see.

• Wash hands and use sanitizers regularly
• Avoid touching your face with hands
• Clean and disinfect all surfaces and objects that you use
• Don’t use objects used by others
• Cover your mouth while sneezing or coughing
• Avoid contact with people having symptoms
• Avoid gatherings
• Stay isolated if you have any symptoms
• Pay attention to your glucose control
• Regularly monitor your sugar levels
• Consult healthcare professionals if you have any symptoms
• Drink plenty of water
• Keep a good supply of diabetes medications within yourself
• Have enough sleep

Apart from these precautions and measures, people having diabetes and not having diabetes should have to improve the immunity power of your body.

For this, you have to consume nutritious food. Follow a healthy eating habit and a balanced diet to keep your glucose level normal and to boost immunity. So, always keep given tips in your mind.

• Consume foods with a low glycemic index
• Avoid fried foods completely
• Do not consume foods that are high in sugar, carbohydrates, and fat
• Include foods that contain lean proteins like fish, meat, eggs, milk, etc.
• Include leafy vegetable in your regular diet
• Consume fruits

Among people with diabetes, the mortality rate due to COVID-19 was 7.3% and this is more than three times that of the overall population.

Cardiovascular disease and hypertension were also associated with diabetes. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 and studies found that one-third of coronavirus are related to deaths in hospitals in the USA are individuals with diabetes.

Researchers also found that compared with individuals without diabetes, people with type 1 diabetes had 3.5 times the odds of dying in the hospital with COVID-19.

Also, individuals with type 2 diabetes have 2.03 times the odds of dying in the hospital with COVID-19.

Also read : Is Coconut sugar good for diabetics?

It’s found that people with diabetes and poorly managed hyperglycemia who are hospitalized for COVID-19 have a death rate and longer length of hospital stay that is four times higher than people with these conditions.

So it is important to take the required precautions to protect yourself. Take work from home if it is possible, maintain safe physical or social distancing and proper handwashing habits.