People who contracted COVID-19 in the Omicron era are at increased risk for diabetes and related diseases. A study shows that the long-term dangers of the virus have persisted since the strain began to spread.
Rates of newly diagnosed diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol were higher than before in the 90 days after COVID infection, according to a study of nearly 24,000 patients during the Omicron period of COVID-19 dominance by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
According to the same study, vaccination appears to help reduce these risks.
The Times reports that Omicron was considered a less severe variant of COVID compared to previous strains, resulting in lower hospitalization and death rates than Delta and the strain that first emerged in China in early 2020.
Since Omicron began sweeping the world in late 2021, the vast majority of infections in the United States have been traced to the variant, underscoring the importance of surveillance for diabetes in people recovering from COVID.
According to Alain Kwan, who worked on the study as a cardiologist, most people by the age of 35 should be screened for diabetes.
COVID, initially thought to be primarily a respiratory disease, has since been shown to harm some patients in a variety of ways that can persist for years after infection.
Diabetes, which occurs when the body loses the ability to tightly regulate blood sugar levels, can damage tissues in the heart, kidneys and eyes.
During the Omicron era, new diagnoses of diabetes in unvaccinated individuals occurred almost three times more frequently after infection than during the pre-infection period.
High blood pressure, cholesterol and increased values of other blood fats occurred almost twice as often after an infection in unvaccinated people.
In vaccinated individuals who contracted COVID, the risk of diabetes remained about the same before and after infection, while the risk of other diseases decreased.
The link between COVID and diabetes, while still poorly understood, has been noted since the pandemic began. According to information from The Times, research is needed to understand how these diseases develop, who is at risk and the role of vaccination in prevention.