COVID19 causes diabetes?

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Also this article which says the steroid dexamethasone used in covid19 treatment can cause diabetes?
If dexamethasone is used in treating covid19, could it be this causing diabetes and not covid19?

I'm sure there's a chance of that, but Covid-19 is thought to hit multiple organs (including the liver) so I think the simplest explanation is that sometimes it causes diabetes. (I'm not sure how widespread use of steroids has been anyway.)
 
Well it's long been plain that steroid use can cause diabetes (& quite often does) and since dexamethasone is a steroid, no surprise. Why on earth would anyone think it would be?

OTOH usually i think it has been long term steroid use though I did hear of one case locally where a lady had something wrong that meant she was on heavy duty intravenous steroid treatment for a while and from the treatment became an insulin dependant diabetic for a few months, and then the diabetes disappeared as she gradually recovered from the condition that needed the steroid treatment! Weird.
 
Well it's long been plain that steroid use can cause diabetes (& quite often does) and since dexamethasone is a steroid, no surprise. Why on earth would anyone think it would be?

OTOH usually i think it has been long term steroid use though I did hear of one case locally where a lady had something wrong that meant she was on heavy duty intravenous steroid treatment for a while and from the treatment became an insulin dependant diabetic for a few months, and then the diabetes disappeared as she gradually recovered from the condition that needed the steroid treatment! Weird.
A-ha, that was my next question. Does the diabetes disappear when the steroid teatment is stopped. Thanks.
 
I'm sure there's a chance of that, but Covid-19 is thought to hit multiple organs (including the liver) so I think the simplest explanation is that sometimes it causes diabetes. (I'm not sure how widespread use of steroids has been anyway.)
Hi Bruce,

Just seen this article, a Professor Paul Zimmet is saying that he thinks diabetes may be the real problem following from covid19.

He said we need to keep an eye on emerging cases of diabetes as he said there have been many reports of people having very high blood sugars with covid19 admissions and then developing type 1.

 
.... mmm - a huge onslaught onto peoples immune system, causing it to go into overdrive and start destroying things that hadn't previously caught its attention ?
 
.... mmm - a huge onslaught onto peoples immune system, causing it to go into overdrive and start destroying things that hadn't previously caught its attention ?

Or it might be the blood clots and things that COVID-19 apparently causes. (And maybe both happen.) Presuming health services are tracking survivors effectively, I guess we'll find out in due course the nature of these long term effects.
 
Or it might be the blood clots and things that COVID-19 apparently causes. (And maybe both happen.) Presuming health services are tracking survivors effectively, I guess we'll find out in due course the nature of these long term effects.
If there is any truth to this, diabetes is caused by COVID19, is it possible that coronaviruses generally can cause diabetes? This is why diabetes is so prevalent.
 
If there is any truth to this, diabetes is caused by COVID19, is it possible that coronaviruses generally can cause diabetes? This is why diabetes is so prevalent.
When I was diagnosed, 12 years ago, my consultant said that it was suspected that Type 1 might have genetic roots, and be triggered by a virus. At the time, it was suggested that a Coxsackie virus might be the most likely culprit.
 
If there is any truth to this, diabetes is caused by COVID19, is it possible that coronaviruses generally can cause diabetes? This is why diabetes is so prevalent.

My guess would be probably not. I don't get the impression that many people are saying that COVID-19 causes diabetes specifically. Rather, it may cause lots of damage in various organs which in some case might include causing diabetes.
 
When I was diagnosed, 12 years ago, my consultant said that it was suspected that Type 1 might have genetic roots, and be triggered by a virus. At the time, it was suggested that a Coxsackie virus might be the most likely culprit.
Hi Robin,
Interesting....I've never heard of the virus "coxsackie" or heard that diabetes may be caused by it. It looks like foot and mouth disease?
 
Hi Robin,
Interesting....I've never heard of the virus "coxsackie" or heard that diabetes may be caused by it. It looks like foot and mouth disease?
Hand, foot and mouth virus, (which has nothing to do with Bovime foot and mouth), is a common and usually mild affliction in young children, it tends to go round playgroup from time to time, causing chicken pox type blisters on the palms of the hand, soles of the feet, and inside the mouth, When my daughter got it as a toddler, and I noticed blisters on her mouth and hands, I thought she’d touched and possibly eaten a poisonous plant, but my GP recognised it straight way.
Here is one of the studies that has been done, it’s one of those things that comes around from time to time, everyone wakes up and thinks, Oh, right, then loses interest again.
 
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My mum always used to say that you inherit the tendency towards diabetes but you need some sort of external event to trigger it. Not sure that is what is said nowadays, but I’d agree with it 100%. On the night of her 6th birthday my daughter became ill. We didn’t bother to take her to the doctor, as all they say is “it's probably a virus, come back in 5 days if she isn’t better then.” But whatever it was it was worse than just a cold, one of those that knocks you for six for a week and then takes at least another week to get back to normal. And then we both caught it just as she was improving and wanted to start playing again!

When my daughter was ill I could always smell a sugary smell on her breath, presumably ketones because she wasn’t eating properly, and then once she got better the smell would disappear. This time it didn’t, but she seemed fine otherwise so I didn’t rush to the doctor, I thought I'd just keep a close eye on her. And then we started to notice that she looked a bit skinny, and then at a family get together she downed a pint glass of water faster then she would normally drink her favourite apple juice, and then the next day we noticed that she seemed tired a lot and was eating like a horse despite getting skinnier... She was diagnosed with type 1 exactly 7 weeks to the day after her birthday. Have never mentioned it to a doctor but I am 100% certain that it was that virus which triggered my daughter's diabetes. If I'm wrong then it's one hell of a coincidence 🙄
 
If you stop and think about the topic of this thread, it’s hardly a worry for any of us, we’ve all got diabetes.

And it’s been known for decades that the onset of T1 is often associated in time with a viral infection, there isn’t any argument about that, so it’s no surprise if COVID infection triggers it.
 
If you stop and think about the topic of this thread, it’s hardly a worry for any of us, we’ve all got diabetes.

And it’s been known for decades that the onset of T1 is often associated in time with a viral infection, there isn’t any argument about that, so it’s no surprise if COVID infection triggers it.
Mike!
Ha ha, I was waiting for someone to say that!
Catching diabetes is the least of our worries. But, still potentially a problem for all those non diabetics that get diabetes as a result of covid19.
 
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