We are aware that if you have diabetes, skipping routine eye exams might be problematic and exacerbate vision loss.
A global study review was done by a public health researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst . It examined the effects of pandemic-related disruptions on diabetics and found that during the pandemic, deaths among people with diabetes that were not related to COVID-19 increased, as did deaths related to the diabetes complication of sight loss.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) commissioned the review, which was published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology on January 23.
The review examined 138 studies from North America (39), Western Europe (39), Asia (17), Eastern Europe (14), South America (four), Australia (one), Egypt (one), and multiple regions (33), comparing pre-pandemic to pandemic periods.
In depth
According to Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, co-lead author, “what we found was a fairly negative impact on diabetes outcomes overall.”
The research also discovered a remarkable spike in paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) admissions linked to diabetes, along with an increase in paediatric and adolescent instances of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). In many cases, the diagnosis of diabetes was made in conjunction with a significant, potentially fatal consequence of the disease called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Among adults, neither the frequency nor the severity of DKA increased.
The United Kingdom-based team (Hartmann-Boyce joined UMass Amherst last year from her previous post at Oxford University in England) became interested in examining the pandemic’s indirect effects on diabetes management after observing unambiguous evidence that diabetes was a risk factor for death from COVID-19.
Researchers found that children newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes were significantly sicker than during non-pandemic periods, and there were more new cases of Type 1 diabetes than would have been predicted. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune illness that is much less common than Type 2 diabetes. It is typically diagnosed in childhood, but it can strike at any age.
Take away
As was the case for Hartmann-Boyce, whose diabetes was identified from a urine test during her yearly well-child visit to the paediatrician, Type 1 diabetes is frequently identified at routine primary care visits.
Diabetes demands self-management through food, exercise, and regular routines, regardless of the form of the condition. Insulin is also necessary for those with Type 1 diabetes to control their blood sugar.
One of the fascinating things about diabetes is that, although there may be immediate effects from having increased blood sugar, these effects may not become apparent for five or ten years.
According to the review, co-led by Patrick Highton, a research associate at the Diabetes Research Centre at the University of Leicester, U.K., the detrimental effects were most extreme for women and younger individuals.
