In a new study, researchers found that for patients with diabetes and COVID-19, risk factors for death include older age and increased C-reactive protein in the blood, a marker of inflammation.
In addition, insulin usage is linked to poor prognosis.
The research was conducted by a team at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China.
The team did a retrospective study involving 904 patients with COVID-19 (136 with diabetes) to compare clinical and laboratory characteristics between the groups with and without diabetes.
They examined risk factors linked to mortality or poor prognosis.
The researchers found that for patients with diabetes and COVID-19, risk factors for higher death risk included older age and elevated C-reactive protein.
There was a link for insulin usage with poor prognosis. For patients with diabetes and high blood pressure who had COVID-19, clinical outcomes were comparable for those using an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) or angiotensin II type-1 receptor blocker (ARB) and those who did not use ACEIs/ARBs.
The team says that insulin usage was linked to poor prognosis, suggesting that more attention is needed regarding patients with COVID-19 who have diabetes and use insulin.
The lead author of the study is Yuchen Chen.
The study is published in Diabetes Care.
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