When their 11-year-old son started losing weight and drinking lots of water, Tabitha and Bryan Balcitis chalked it up to a growth spurt and advice from his health class. But unusual crankiness and lethargy raised their concern, and tests showed his blood sugar levels were off the charts. Just six months after a mild case of COVID-19, the Crown Point, Indiana, boy was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. His parents were floored — it didn’t run in the family, but autoimmune illness did and doctors said that could be a factor. Could his diabetes also be linked with the coronavirus, wondered Nolan’s mom, a respiratory therapist. Turns out scientists in the U.S. and elsewhere are asking the same question and investigating whether any connection is more than a coincidence. It’s clear that in those who already have diabetes, COVID-19 can worsen the condition and lead to severe complications. But there are other possible links Emerging evidence shows that the coronavirus — like some other viruses — can attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas — a process that might trigger at least temporary diabetes in susceptible people. Rising cases might also reflect circumstances involving pandemic restrictions, including delayed medical care for early signs of diabetes or unhealthy eating habits and inactivity in people already at risk for Type 2 diabetes. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report looked at two large U.S. insurance databases that included new diabetes cases from March 2020 through June 2021. Diabetes was substantially more common in kids who’d had COVID-19. The report didn’t distinguish between Type 1, which typically starts in childhood, and Type 2, the kind tied to obesity. Rates of both types of diabetes have risen in U.S. kids in recent years, but reports from Europe and some U.S. hospitals suggest the pace may have accelerated during the pandemic. “I think we’re all a little worried,” said Dr. Inas Thomas, a specialist at the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital. Her hospital has seen a 30% increase in Type 1, compared with pre-pandemic years, Thomas said. It is not known how many had COVID-19 at some point, but the timing raises concerns that there could be a connection, she said. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar. It is thought to involve an autoimmune reaction, with the body attacking insulin-making cells in the pancreas. Patients must use manufactured insulin to manage the chronic condition. Experts have long theorized that some previous infection may trigger that autoimmune response. With COVID-19, “We don’t know if it’s a direct effect or some other factor that’s not fully understood yet, but we are hoping that this trend may help us figure out the trigger for what causes Type 1 diabetes,” Thomas said. At Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, Type 1 diabetes cases jumped almost 60% during the first year of the pandemic, compared with the previous 12 months, researchers reported recently in JAMA Pediatrics. Just 2% of those children had active COVID-19 and the report lacked information on any prior infections. But the sharp increase was striking and “clearly there’s a lot more work to be done to try to answer why is this happening,″ said co-author Dr. Jane Kim. Type 2 diabetes, which mostly […]

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