People without a diagnosis of diabetes but who still exhibit high blood sugar may be at dangerously increased risk of contracting COVID-19, a new study in Annals of Medicine suggests.
The Spanish-based study included data from more than 100 hospitals in the European nation of Spain throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Over 11,000 adult patients were examined for the first few months after the World Health Organization declared an epidemic in March of 2020.
Depending on their blood glucose levels, the participants were split into three groups.
From their analysis of the data, it was determined that a considerable amount of the participants, or nearly 19 percent, were diagnosed with diabetes, while more than 20 percent were infected and died as a result of the disease.
The findings indicate that abnormally high glucose levels may play a critical factor in an increased risk of worsening symptoms by patients infected with the recent coronavirus strain.
“Screening for hyperglycaemia in patients without diabetes and early treatment should be mandatory in the management of patients hospitalized with COVID-19,” co-author Javier Carrasco stated in a news release.
All in all, the authors of the study concluded the following, “Admission hyperglycaemia is a strong predictor of all-cause mortality in non-critically hospitalized COVID-19 patients regardless of prior history of diabetes.”
