After the Covid pandemic started in 2020, several studies and experts noticed the link between viral infection and diabetes. Dr. Himmat Bawaskar, who runs the Bawaskar Hospital and Clinical Research Centre in Mahad, Raigad district, has published a paper in the latest issue of the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care about Covid-19 patients from rural areas of Maharashtra who had normal HbA1c reports but were diagnosed with raised levels of sugar and thyroid-stimulating hormones. 

“These patients continue with a higher dose of diabetes medications even now," stated Dr. Bawaskar, who is known for his work in resource-crunch rural settings. He stated that some patients with known diabetes had elevated levels of sugar when admitted to hospitals with Covid and needed a higher dose of insulin or other medication. However, after a few months, their sugar levels dropped to pre-Covid levels. Meanwhile, several of the rural folks developed the sugar disorder after Covid infection. 

Senior endocrinologist Dr. Anoop Misra from Delhi suggested that the occurrence of new-onset diabetes and thyroid dysfunction in Covid-19 patients has been noticed across countries that can be attributed to the effects of cytokine storm in the body.

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/sudden-onset-of-diabetes-noticed-in-rural-covid-patients-too-study/92665189 )