COVID-19 causing diabetes among some severely infected patients, studies find

As new variants of concern emerge, there is growing certainty among medical experts that COVID-19 could be causing diabetes in severely infected patients.

When Craig Spanz continued to suffer headaches after contracting COVID-19 in March, he thought he may be experiencing some long COVID symptoms. The Vancouver resident expected to be told by his doctor on how to cope with his constant head pain, but instead he was diagnosed as diabetic.

“It was like a little over two weeks after COVID-19 was officially over, when I found out I was diabetic,” said Spanz.

As new variants of concern emerge, there is growing certainty among medical experts that the virus could be causing diabetes, too. Two studies supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the United States found that COVID-19 was causing serious damage to the beta cells in the pancreas, limiting how much insulin could be created. If there is an insufficiency of insulin, blood glucose levels will spike resulting in diabetes.

“The virus can directly damage the cells that produce insulin, which is the master key to control glucose, so less insulin, less glucose control,” said Dr. Remi Rabasa, an endocrinologist at the University of Montreal.

There are at least two other ways the virus could be causing damage inside the human body which could lead to diabetes. If infected by COVID-19, the virus can replicate in the pancreas and into other cells which surround the beta cells. The virus can also cause cells to malfunction so that they’re no longer able to properly regulate blood.

Forty-nine-year-old Spanz admitted he did have some markers for pre-diabetes, but said his bout with COVID-19 was dreadful. It resulted in him being hospitalized as he suffered from difficulties breathing, severe chest pains and a loss of sensation in his extremities.

What Spanz was describing is a severe infection, which Rabasa said “can limit the ability of insulin to act in the tissues,” and is just one of “multiple ways by which COVID-19 could trigger diabetes.”

A Sept. 15 study published on cell.com found that rising blood sugar levels were common among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Patients required longer hospital stays and had a higher risk of “developing acute respiratory distress syndrome and increased mortality.”