COVID-19 Doesn't Spike A1c Levels
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Results from a retrospective, observational, case-control study of more than 20,000 people from a single US medical center showed a statistically significant but clinically insignificant increase in A1c in people following COVID-19 infection, in both those with and without diabetes. After people received a diagnosis of COVID-19 infection they were 40% more likely to also receive a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes compared with people who tested negative for COVID-19, a difference that was significant and could be explained by the increased medical care received by people who test positive for COVID-19. The risk of incident diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) among people who tested positive for COVID-19 was significantly higher among those with preexisting type 2 diabetes, those using insulin, and among Black individuals.
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@kuheli The authors said that their study is the first report of evidence that infection with COVID-19 affects A1c levels in a large, real-world clinical cohort. Until now, the impact of COVID-19 infection on A1c remained unclear. Results from previous studies indicated that COVID-19 infection may increase A1c levels, but the studied cohorts were small and lacked uninfected controls. The current study included 8755 people infected with COVID-19, had data from both before and after the infection on diabetes status and A1c levels, and also included many matched, uninfected people who served as controls.