Fighting COVID-19 with every weapon the UK can throw at it has come at a catastrophic cost. The enormous backlog of health issues is amounting to a public health crisis. A new warning issued by doctor Quinton Fivelman PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at London Medical Laboratory highlights the urgent need to prepare for another looming epidemic.
If not treated quickly, it can lead to heart attacks, kidney failure, strokes, amputation, and blindness.
There are two types of the disease: Type 1 is the most severe and symptoms can develop over weeks or even days; Type 2 is by far the most common, and symptoms develop more slowly and may not be as obvious.
Fortunately, there is a simple blood test (HbA1c) which will categorically confirm whether or not you have Type 2 diabetes – even in the earliest stages, long before any symptoms have developed.
“The first signs that you may have diabetes are that you urinate more often, are frequently thirsty, are often tired, have unexpected weight loss or suddenly suffer from blurry eyesight,” warned doctor Fivelman.
Doctor Fivelman cited Two US studies released this summer, from Weill Cornell Medicine and Stanford University School of Medicine, which showed COVID-19 in pancreatic β-cells from patients who died from Covid-19.
Additional experiments revealed that COVID-19 selectively infected human islet β-cells in laboratory experiments.
“This suggests that COVID-19 infection of the pancreatic β-cells can, in some cases, lead to diabetes similar to Type 1 diabetes in previously healthy patients,” explained doctor Fivelman.
He continued: “It is already acknowledged in the UK that patients with pre-existing diabetes have a higher risk of serious complications with COVID-19, they are on the UK priority vaccine list.
“The way COVID-19 penetrates organs is a particular concern. The virus interacts with a receptor called ACE-2 to infiltrate cells in organs, including the pancreas. It is likely that this disrupts sugar metabolism.”