Topline
People are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and diabetes after falling ill with Covid-19, especially in the three months after being infected, British researchers found in a study published Tuesday in the open access journal PLOS Medicine.
A mask-clad Nova Medical School final-year student gives a woman a blood glucose test to check for … [+]
Key Facts
Covid-19 sufferers had 81% more diabetes diagnoses in the four weeks after contracting the virus that causes the disease, King’s College London researchers found, and their risk of developing diabetes was 27% higher for as much as 12 weeks.
Covid-19 was also associated with a six-fold increase in cardiovascular diagnoses, largely irregular heartbeat and blood clots in the lungs.
The risk of developing a cardiovascular condition began to decline five weeks after infection, researchers found, and the risk returned to baseline levels or lower from 12 weeks to a year later.
Covid-19 may not be associated with a long-term increase in cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, the study showed, and that patients can decrease their chances with regular exercise and a healthy diet after recovering from the disease.
The researchers analyzed medical records of more than 428,000 Covid-19 patients–and the same number of control cases–in England to determine whether an infection was associated with increased risks of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Key Background
More researchers are recognizing that Covid-19 is a multi-system condition that can cause disease throughout the human body, the study authors wrote. The virus that causes Covid-19 likely triggers immune responses that cause inflammation and can lead to other conditions, they said. The Covid-19 patients in the study were also more likely to be overweight and have other preexisting health conditions, which may have played a role in developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In February, a study found that even mild cases of Covid-19 were associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke in U.S. veterans. While Covid-19 vaccines that use mRNA technology–like Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna–are associated with a slight risk of heart complications, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in April found that a Covid-19 infection carries a far greater risk.
Further Reading
Heart Complications More Likely From Covid Than From Vaccines, Study Finds (Forbes)
Study Finds Increased Heart Disease, Stroke Risk After Surviving Even Mild Covid-19 (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/07/19/covid-19-linked-to-increased-risk-of-developing-diabetes-and-cardiovascular-disease-study-finds/