EASD Highlights - Video
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Overview
COVID-19 infection may increase risk of type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents
Testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is associated with an increased risk of new-onset type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents, according to a new research at this year's European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting.
In this nationwide study, Gulseth and colleagues linked individual-level data from national health registries for all children and adolescences in Norway. Children were followed from March 1st 2020 until diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, they turned 18 years old, death, or the end of the study (March 1st 2022), whichever occurred first.
The researchers examined the risk of young people developing new-onset type 1 diabetes within or after 30 days after PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV2 infection. They compared this group with children and adolescents in the general population who did not have a registered infection, as well as to a group of children who were tested but found to negative for the virus.
Over the 2 year study period, a total of 424,354 children tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection and 990 new-onset cases of type 1 diabetes were diagnosed among the 1.2 million children and adolescents included in the study.
After adjusting for age, sex, country of origin, geographical area and socio-economic factors, the analyses found that young people who contracted COVID-19 were around 60% more likely to develop type 1 diabetes 30 days or more after infection compared to those without a registered infection or who tested negative for the virus.
Reference:
Dr Hanne Løvdal Gulseth et al,MEETING The European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual Meeting
Remission from type 2 diabetes possible even in people with lower body weight
Everyone has a 'personal fat threshold' which, if exceeded, will allow type 2 diabetes (T2D) to develop, even if they are of a lower body weight, as presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
Having a BMI over 301 is a risk factor for T2D and landmark research from Newcastle University previously showed how and why an intensive weight loss programme can put T2D into remission in people who are living with obesity or overweight.
But not everyone with T2D is overweight. Around 15% of T2D diagnoses are in people with normal weight and it is generally assumed the condition has a different cause in such cases. The ReTUNE Study looked at whether weight loss can also reverse the condition in people with a BMI at or only just above the 'normal' range.
Twenty men and women with T2D ,average BMI 24.8kg/m2, took part in the study, They followed a weight loss programme in which they consumed 800 calories a day for two weeks, followed by four to six weeks in which they kept their new weight steady. They completed up to three rounds of this diet/weight maintenance cycle until they had lost 10-15% of their body weight.
Their results at the end of the study were compared to those of a group of controls - 20 people without diabetes who were matched for age, sex and BMI. Fourteen of the 20 participants (70%) with type 2 diabetes went into remission, a similar proportion to previous studies involving participants living with type 2 diabetes and overweight and obesity.
Weight remained stable between 6 and 12 months.
Average BMI fell from 24.8 to 22.4 and total body fat fell from 32.1% to 27.7%.
Levels of fat inside the liver and pancreas fell substantially.
Fat in the pancreas fell from an average of 5.8% to 4.3% and the activity of the insulin-producing cells returned towards normal.
This is important because these results should help dispel the stigma that can be attached to a diagnosis of T2D, the researchers noted.
Reference:
Professor Roy Taylor et al,MEETING The European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual Meeting
Speakers
Isra Zaman
B.Sc Life Sciences, M.Sc Biotechnology, B.Ed
Isra Zaman is a Life Science graduate from Daulat Ram College, Delhi University, and a postgraduate in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a flair for writing, and her roles at Medicaldialogues include that of a Sr. content writer and a medical correspondent. Her news pieces cover recent discoveries and updates from the health and medicine sector. She can be reached at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751
