COVID-19 may not be impacting children the way it is older individuals, but that doesn’t mean the pandemic isn’t putting a strain on the health and well-being of the younger members of society.
A new study from Children's Hospital Los Angeles reveals a surge of patients presenting with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a severe complication of type 2 diabetes. DKA happens when insulin levels in the blood drop too low for too long. Insulin helps the body utilize glucose, so when there's not enough insulin, the body starts breaking down fat as a source of energy. This process causes dangerously high levels of acids in the blood.
Lily Chao, M.D., and her colleagues noticed back in March 2020 that more and more patients were coming in with DKA and type 2 diabetes.
"Parents are worried about going outside of the house," says Chao. "Some families have to take public transportation to go the pediatrician and they are hesitant to do so during the pandemic."
In addition to missing doctor visits, other factors may be involved, such as less physical activity during lockdown or reduced access to fresh, healthy foods. But there may also be a biological relationship between exposure to the virus and diabetes.
"There is definitely a link between COVID-19 and diabetes," says Senta Georgia, an investigator in The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and senior author on the paper. "We don't know whether SARS-CoV-2 infects insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas. There are some reports of a link between COVID-19 and diabetes in adults, but no pediatric studies have been published to date."
Future translational and clinical studies may determine whether increased DKA in patients could be caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2. But for now, the data clearly point to an emerging trend toward more severe diabetes complications during the global pandemic.
Photo credit: Artem Podrez