CLEVELAND, OhioAn analysis of the electronic medical records of over 1 million children worldwide suggests that COVID-19 infection may make children more susceptible to developing type 1 diabetes, say researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.<\/p>\n
The study found that there was a 72% increase in the number of type 1 diabetes diagnoses of people under age 18 in the six months following a confirmed case of COVID-19, compared with children who had another type of respiratory infection.<\/p>\n
Unlike type 2 diabetes, which is the result of decreased sensitivity to insulin and occurs primarily in adults, type 1 diabetes is more frequently diagnosed in children and occurs when the bodys immune system attacks and destroys the insulin producing cells of the pancreas.<\/p>\n
Type 1 diabetes is considered an autoimmune disease, said Pamela Davis, a professor of medicine at CWRU School of Medicine and one of the studys authors. COVID has been suggested to increase autoimmune responses, and our present finding reinforces that suggestion.<\/p>\n
Age was not a significant factor in the results. The diabetes risk in younger children, from birth to 9 years of age, was similar to that in older children aged 10 to 18.<\/p>\n
Families with high risk of type 1 diabetes in their children should be especially alert for symptoms of diabetes following COVID, and pediatricians should be alert for an influx of new cases of type 1 diabetes, especially since the omicron variant of COVID spreads so rapidly among children, Davis said.<\/p>\n
We may see a substantial increase in this disease in the coming months to years. Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong challenge for those who have it, and increased incidence represents substantial numbers of children afflicted.<\/p>\n
Further research is needed to determine which children are most vulnerable, whether the increased risk of diabetes persists beyond 6 months, and how to treat COVID-19 associated type 1 diabetes in children, said co-author Rong Xu, a CWRU professor of biomedical informatics.<\/p>\n
We are also investigating possible changes in development of type 2 diabetes in children following SARS-CoV2 infection, Xu said.<\/p>\n
About 187,000 people under 20 live with type 1 diabetes nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n
The conclusions were published Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open.<\/p>\n
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Juvenile type 1 diabetes associated with COVID-19 infection in children, CWRU study finds - cleveland.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CLEVELAND, OhioAn analysis of the electronic medical records of over 1 million children worldwide suggests that COVID-19 infection may make children more susceptible to developing type 1 diabetes, say researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The study found that there was a 72% increase in the number of type 1 diabetes diagnoses of people under age 18 in the six months following a confirmed case of COVID-19, compared with children who had another type of respiratory infection Continue reading