COVID-19 – Relation with Diabetes and How to Deal with It

As we all know, the world is taken aback by the current outbreak of COVID-19 virus. The virus is so deadly that the entire world went under lockdown to prevent it from spreading. Scientists, all over the world, left everything else and started working on developing the vaccines for this virus.

The symptoms vary largely from person to person. Some people often stay asymptomatic throughout. Younger people and people with no existing medical conditions are at lower risk than people having some sort of existing medical conditions. This is because people having some existing medical conditions have low immunity, and that makes it harder for them to fight against the virus. In this article, we are going to talk about the relation between COVID-19 and Diabetes and how COVID-19 affects people having Diabetes. 

Misconception

People with Diabetes, have high blood sugar level and Insulin controls the blood sugar level. When our body cannot produce enough insulin, the blood sugar level rises. We term people having this condition as diabetic. There is a very common misconception that diabetic people are more likely to get COVID-19. This is not true. Having Diabetes, doesn’t make us prone to the virus. What it actually does, is that it amplifies the severity of the disease. Diabetic people suffer more in case of other viral diseases, too.

The Relation Between COVID-19 and Diabetes

It is still unknown that why do COVID-19 patients with Diabetes, show severe outcomes compared to non-diabetic patients. Studies show that Diabetes handles the impairment of our body’s natural immune system. This makes us more vulnerable to severe damage, when some foreign substances enter our body. It is even responsible for lowering the speed of healing or recovering from any disease. Diabetes can even cause inflammation if we cannot control it for a long duration of time. This affects our immune system, too. Normally when we cut ourselves, the area gets inflamed. This happens for inviting proteins and molecules to the injury site for its speedy recovery. Inflammation doesn’t always work that way for people having chronic diseases. In fact, it can damage and not helpful. In blood, we have markers that measure inflammation. These markers are higher in both Diabetic patients and patients with severe COVID-19. 

The Risks of COVID-19 Patients with Diabetes

As we have already discussed, Diabetes is not responsible for making us prone to the disease but it surely makes the disease deadlier. Is the Diabetes well-manages? Are there any co-morbidities like hypertension or obesity? These are the factors that have a tremendous impact on the severity of COVID-19. 

Our body recognizes and responds to hyperglycemia, irrespective of the cause. Type 1 diabetic patient may develop complications later on, whereas type 2 diabetic patients may get complications within the initial years. It is observed that COVID-19 patients, having well-controlled Diabetes, have a higher survival rate than patients with uncontrolled Diabetes. This is because well-controlled diabetes lowers the markers of inflammation. COVID-19 becomes even riskier if the Diabetic person is an elderly patient. Many young people are also suffering, but the risk factor is relatively low in that case. 

What Should a Diabetic COVID-19 Patient do?

If we are suffering from COVID-19 while being diabetic, we can stay indoors and take care of ourselves, only if the symptoms are mild. In case we have severe symptoms, we should immediately get medical attention. If we decide to stay at home, we need to make sure that we are monitoring all the parameters regularly. This will help us notice immediately when our health deteriorates.

If we notice an abnormal blood sugar level, we should immediately consult a doctor. We should get ourselves hospitalized if we develop severe COVID-19 symptoms like breathing trouble, vomiting, nausea, etc. Managing Diabetes becomes harder, while dealing with COVID-19. It is observed that diabetic COVID-19 patients, admitted in the hospital, requires more insulin and develop severe diabetic complications like diabetic ketoacidosis, etc.

Diabetic Ketoacidosis or DKA is a state where the body break down fats so quickly that it ends up creating Ketones and making the blood acidic. Having ketones testing kits is an absolute necessity for patients who depend on Insulin or take Diabetes medication. If we develop COVID-19 while being diabetic, we should always consult a doctor to make sure whether or not any medicine should be avoided, or substituted during these days. On noticing something abnormal, we should not take any risks and get ourselves hospitalized.

We should always carry our own phone chargers, insulin needles/pens, insulin pump supplies, and glucometer for minimizing the exposure to other patients and staffs. 

How to Manage COVID-19 During Diabetes?

Firstly, we need to prevent ourselves from getting COVID-19. For that, we need to keep the following things in our minds.

• We should always follow all the social distancing norms and should always wear masks.
• We should be regular with practicing hand hygiene.
• We should try to avoid social gatherings as many as possible.

Managing Diabetes is also a crucial thing at this point. We must keep the following points in mind.

• Co-morbidities like heart disease or hypertension must be treated sincerely.
• We should exercise regularly.
• We should work to improve our daily diet.
• We should make sure that there are no fluctuations in our blood sugar levels, and we should ensure that the blood sugar level stays normal. 
• If visiting the doctor physically seems to be a little problematic, we should always ensure that we are connecting to them virtually. Consulting with a doctor has its own positive effects. Patients get a little motivated and take their medicines sincerely. 

Lastly, we need to keep in mind that if we have diabetes, COVID-19 can get really dangerous for us. So, it is important that we take good care of ourselves and do all the things necessary for keeping the Diabetes under check. 

Prevention

Because of the immense threat that the virus poses to people, it is very important that we keep no stones unturned to keep ourselves safe from it. We are all aware of the basic preventive measures, still let us discuss once more. We should always use hand sanitizers after we come to contact with some surface or another person. We should never forget to wear masks before leaving the house.

We should try to avoid social gatherings. In case we are going to one, we should follow all the social distancing norms. Now, let us talk about what we should do when there is a patient in our home. We should isolate that person completely and avoid exposing ourselves to them as much as possible. In case of home isolation, the other family members must always use mask and use hand sanitizers in home. 

Another important aspect of prevention is monitoring ourselves. We should always stay under strict monitoring, so that we realize even the slightest changes that take place in our bodies. FeverWarn is a useful device that can be used for monitoring our body temperatures. 

Why FeverWarn is an Exception?

There are several reasons that make FeverWarn unique from the other temperature scanners. Let us discuss some of them.

• Other temperature scanners take the body temperature readings from our foreheads, whereas FeverWarn scans temperature from our wrists or fists. Whenever there is a slight change in our mean body temperature, it can be sensed from our arteries. As we all know, arteries are located very close to the surface of our wrists. This makes the wrist ideal for taking the temperature readings. 
• Another important factor is that when temperature is scanned from the forehead, the readings may not come accurate always. This is because there can be makeup on our faces. That influences the temperature reading. We rarely apply makeup on our hands, so measuring temperature from the hands is more convenient.
• Weather is an important factor that often influences our body temperature. Whenever the outside weather is cold, it is possible that it will impact the temperature of our face surface. So, even if there is a significant drop in our mean body temperatures, the temperature on our face surface will automatically fall. Thus, other temperature scanners will not show the actual body temperature. It is not the case with FeverWarn. Because it scans from the wrist. Our wrists stay under the sleeves of our sweaters and jackets, so the outside temperature can’t affect the temperature on our wrists. We can simply pull down the sleeves and get ourselves scanned.
• The most important factor that makes FeverWarn unique is that it doesn’t involve exposing ourselves to other people. Normally, the temperature scanners are operated by other people. They hold the scanner in front of our forehead and take the reading. In case of FeverWarn, we can simply place our wrists below the scanner and get the readings.

Monitoring ourselves is not the only thing we should worry about. We need to take good care of ourselves to boost our immune system so that we can fight the virus. We should intake a lot of vitamins and maintain a healthy lifestyle so that we are ready for every situation.