A new study suggests that COVID-19 may be linked to up to 5 percent of new diabetes cases. The research, published by JAMA Network, found evidence of a higher risk of diabetes in individuals who had contracted the virus.
The study was conducted in Canada’s British Columbia and tested over 600,000 people from January 2020 to the end of 2021. Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were found to be at greater risk of developing diabetes.
Diabetes is a chronic condition in which the body does not produce enough insulin, resulting in high blood sugar levels that can lead to long-term complications such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.
The International Diabetes Federation estimates that approximately 537 million people aged 20 to 79 are currently living with diabetes, with experts predicting this figure will rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045.
The IDF also notes that the prevalence of diabetes is particularly high in the Middle East and North Africa, with rates ranging from 12 percent in the UAE to 25 percent in Kuwait, and the disease was responsible for 796,000 deaths in the region in 2021.
