supported by FAPESP<\/a> that recruited more than 3,000 individuals admitted to HC between March and September of 2020. This period corresponded to the first phase of the pandemic in Brazil when vaccines were not yet available.<\/p>\nApproximately seven months after being discharged from the hospital, the participants underwent a comprehensive in-person evaluation, which included a physical examination and laboratory tests.<\/p>\n
According to the results of the study, 94.3% of patients without diabetes reported full recovery, compared to 89.8% of patients with diabetes. \u201cIt\u2019s a considerable difference,\u201d says Silva. <\/p>\n
The researcher explains that the cardiovascular system of people with diabetes comes under significant stress due to the virus. \u201cThe systemic inflammation caused by diabetes compounds the direct toxicity of the virus, creating a scenario in which the heart becomes one of the main targets for serious complications. And the risk increases with the number of comorbidities the patient has,\u201d she states. <\/p>\n
The repercussions of this cascade effect are far-reaching. Among patients with diabetes, the virus severely compromised mobility. Twenty-one percent of these patients reported falls after discharge, nearly double the rate observed in patients without diabetes (11.1%).<\/p>\n
\u201cThis combination of altered metabolism and prolonged hospital stay \u2013 which was longer among those with diabetes [16 days versus 13<\/em>] \u2013 creates a cycle of muscle mass loss and vulnerability that hinders a return to daily autonomy,\u201d she tells Ag\u00eancia FAPESP. <\/p>\nFor Silva, understanding these metabolic peculiarities and the socioeconomic challenges of diabetes is essential in clinical care. \u201cThe chronic inflammatory state associated with diabetes and obesity, combined with the accelerated progression of cardiac and functional damage, makes this group more susceptible to serious complications. Furthermore, the virus can directly affect pancreatic cells or trigger insulin resistance, worsening the condition,\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n
She also emphasizes that social inequalities influence disease outcomes. These inequalities include limited access to medical care, stress, unhealthy diets, and lack of time for physical exercise. \u201cHealth policies must consider these factors, offering specific follow-up care for patients with diabetes in the post-COVID period,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Another significant finding was that 7.3% of participants without diabetes developed the disease after a COVID-19 infection. However, the researcher believes that while the direct role of the virus in destroying pancreatic cells cannot be ruled out, it is more likely that the infection revealed pre-existing cases or that the severe inflammatory response triggered the disease in people who were already predisposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must interpret this information with caution because, although the infection may catalyze the onset of diabetes, the pandemic itself and social isolation may also have influenced factors such as stress, poor diet, physical inactivity, and obesity, all of which can trigger diabetes,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
The study of patients hospitalized at HC during the first phase of the pandemic is ongoing, and the researchers are analyzing data collected three years after infection. \u201cIt\u2019s important to understand how COVID-19 impacts diabetes over time,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a study by the University of S\u00e3o Paulo involving 870 participants, people with diabetes took longer to recover from the virus and experienced more severe cardiac complications, as well as greater physical and cognitive difficulties. People with diabetes who have had COVID-19 tend to recover more slowly, experience more long COVID complications, have a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":9805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.sanity.io\/images\/bl383u0v\/production\/8172a394c9ae44fe430e0e4a4b722c00bee4a3b4-1500x1000.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[195],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9806,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9804\/revisions\/9806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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