COVID-19 infections are linked with a higher risk for Type 2 diabetes, according to a study conducted by researchers in Canada and published April 18 in JAMA.
The research tracked more than half a million people and compared the 126,000 people exposed to COVID-19 to the 500,000 not exposed. The diabetes rate per 100,000 people "was significantly higher in the exposed vs. unexposed group," the researchers found, with an average of 672.2 incident diabetes cases among the exposed group and 508.7 among the unexposed.
Men had a significantly higher risk of a diabetes diagnosis after a COVID-19 infection, too.
"These findings suggest that COVID-19 infection may continue to be associated with outcomes in organ systems involved in regulating blood glucose in the postacute phase and so may have contributed to the 3 percent to 5 percent of excess incident diabetes cases found in this study," the authors wrote in conclusion. "These findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection may be associated with a higher burden of diabetes at the population level."
The data were pulled from January 2020 through Dec. 31, 2021, and the results were analyzed from January 2022 through Jan. 19, 2023.
The average study participant age was between 25 and 42 years old, but this might not be an adult-only issue. In January, the CDC said children with COVID-19 are more likely to be diagnosed with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes than those who have not been infected with the disease.
Both the researchers in the Canadian study and the CDC said more research is needed.