high blood sugar, even among non-diabetic, ups covid death risk

the higher risk of death was also “independent of a diabetes diagnosis,” according to a news release about the study, which was recently published in the annals of medicine. patients with hyperglycemia were also more likely to be on a ventilator or require icu care.

at the onset of the pandemic, diabetes was flagged  among the serious risk factors for people infected with the virus. other researchers are even looking into the whether covid-19 has a more direct link in causing diabetes in otherwise healthy patients. dr. francesco rubino, a diabetes researcher and chair of metabolic and bariatric surgery at king’s college london, told reuters in october, that “covid could be causing diabetes from scratch.”

for people with a diabetes diagnosis who are experiencing covid-19 symptoms, diabetes canada advises “you need to continue taking your medication and contact your primary care physician or local public health authority . for those who routinely monitor their blood glucose, on the advice of their clinical team, they should continue to do this more often.”

diabetes canada describes the symptoms of hyperglycemia as feeling tired, thirst and urinating more frequently, especially at night. “high blood sugar can result when food, activity and medications are not balanced. high blood sugar may happen when you are sick or under stress.”