With input from Dr Monica Vasudev

 

1388: 1 in 5 diabetics hospitalized with COVID die in 28 days

1.    While about half of the patients with diabetes hospitalized with COVID-19 will be discharged from hospital within a month, one-fifth of the patients will have died, reports the French CORONADO study.

2.     Early findings published in May  last year revealed that 10.6% of patients with type 2 diabetes and COVID-19 and 5.6% of those with type 1 diabetes and COVID-19 succumbed within 7 days of hospitalization.

 

3.   2796 patients with diabetes were hospitalized with COVID-19 at 68 institutions in France from March 10 to April 10, 2020, and were followed for 28 days.

4.    44.2% of patients had microvascular complications and 38.6% had macrovascular complications.

5.    After 28 days, 20.6% patients were reported to have died and 50.2% were discharged. The median duration of stay in the hospital was 9 days.

 

6.    Increasing age was the most important risk factor that augured poorly, followed by a history of microvascular complications, dyspnea on admission, and inflammatory markers (white blood cell count, elevated C-reactive protein, and increased aspartate transaminase).

7.     Routine treatment with metformin and a history of COVID-19 symptoms before hospitalization were among the positive risk factors.

8.     Blood glucose level was a neutral prognostic factor. Another one in this category was treatment with DPP-4 inhibitors. Statin therapy was a negative prognostic factor.

9. The data are published in Diabetologia. [SOURCE: Medscape]

 

1389: Single high dose of vitamin D3 not tied to reduced hospital stay in moderate-to-severe COVID-19: A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has revealed that among patients hospitalized with moderate-to-severe COVID-19, a single high dose of vitamin D3 did not significantly reduce hospital stay in comparison with placebo. The trial was conducted in 2 sites in Sao Paulo with 240 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who had moderate to severe infection at the time of recruitment from June 2 to August 27, 2020. Patients were randomized to receive a single oral dose of 200,000 IU of vitamin D3 or placebo (n = 120 in each group). 

[SOURCE: DG Alerts]

1390: Life expectancy in the United States declined by a year in the first six months of 2020: Life expectancy in the US reportedly came down by a year in the first half of 2020. This represents the largest drop since World War II. This provides the complete picture of the pandemic’s impact on expected life spans of Americans. They declined to 77.8 years from 78.8 years in the year 2019.

Life expectancy of Blacks came down by 2.7 years in the first half of last year, after rise noted for 20 years. The gap between Black and White Americans, which was seen to be constricting, now stands at six years, which is the widest since 1998.

Contrary to the decline caused by the complex issue of drug overdoses, this one, guided mainly by COVID-19, will perhaps not last as long since deaths due to the virus are declining and people are getting inoculated. In 1918, when thousands of Americans died in the flu pandemic, life expectancy fell 11.8 years compared to the previous year, down to 39. The numbers completely bounced back the next year. (SOURCE: NY Times)

Dr KK Aggarwal

President CMAAO, HCFI and Past National President IMA