The pandemic has had a devastating impact on people living with diabetes in the U.S., delaying care, further stalling treatment advancements and increasing susceptibility to the worst effects of COVID-19 infection.
According to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 40% of people who died from COVID-19 also had diabetes. A Reuters analysis of CDC data shows deaths from diabetes were up 17% in 2020, with younger people (ages 24-44) seeing the sharpest increase.
In Bexar County, diabetes has been the most common of comorbidities among residents who died from or been hospitalized with COVID-19. In September 2020, diabetic patients reportedly accounted for more than one-third of local coronavirus deaths.
Why does being diabetic increase the risk of severe illness from coronavirus infection? Why does Type 2 specifically lead to more complications?
Emerging research also shows a link between COVID-19 and new cases of both Types 1 and 2 diabetes. What's the connection?
In what ways has the pandemic worsened America's pre-existing diabetes crisis? Will dire outcomes for these patients prompt a renewed focus on and an increase in efforts toward ending the U.S. diabetes epidemic?
Guests:
- Alberto Chavez Velasquez, MD, endocrinologist and diabetes specialist at University Health's Texas Diabetes Institute
- Golareh Agha, Ph.D., chief of informatics for the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District and an established chronic disease epidemiologist
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*This interview was recorded on Wednesday, August 25.