Balancing treatment of COVID-19 with diabetes

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 virus is a rapidly spreading epidemic that threatens the world. Since its discovery, there have been fewer studies on the combination of COVID-19 and diabetes, and the complications of COVID-19 are closely related to diabetes. The findings showed that diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol levels were significantly associated with the severity of COVID-19, i.e. people with diabetes were more likely to contract COVID-19, especially those with severe acute respiratory distress. This comorbidity has been studied to be associated with compromised innate immunity and excessive proinflammatory cytokine responses involving IL-6 and TNF-α in uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (DM). The condition worsens if there are other comorbidities, such as high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, or coronary artery disease. These comorbidities often coexist with diabetes and are associated with more aggressive COVID-19 infections. This is because the most common complications of the new coronavirus are renal tubular necrosis and pancreatic islet B cell damage, so the treatment and prognosis of diabetes can also cause adverse reactions and worsen the condition of diabetic patients to a certain extent. A search of relevant literature and studies shows that, when treating patients with the disease, medical staff should implement early and aggressive management of diabetes to prevent adverse outcomes. In conclusion, the novel coronavirus worsens diabetes, and elevated blood sugar worsens pneumonia. Therefore, the control of diabetes and its complications should be prioritized for patients with pneumonia complicated by novel coronavirus infection, and then the disease caused by COVID-19 should be controlled and treated. © 2022 SPIE. All rights reserved.