Tag: diabetes

bookmark_borderIntroduction to COVID-19: Understanding the Long-Term Impact

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Author: Daniel Brouse

COVID Science Updates

COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has left an indelible mark on global health, demonstrating not only its immediate threat but also the potential for enduring consequences. This article explores the profound and lasting impact of COVID-19, delving into the virus’s role in chronic conditions and its ability to leave a lasting imprint on various aspects of health.

Long-Term Complications and Excess Deaths

A COVID-19 infection often leads to persistent complications that significantly diminish both the quality of life and life expectancy. Shockingly, 10% of excess deaths can be directly attributed to COVID itself, while the remaining 90% are attributed to what can be considered COVID’s silent killers. Individuals who have experienced COVID may face a diminished quality of life and an increased risk of premature death. Dr. Rob Wust underscores this by stating, “There is something inside the body going wrong with the disease.”

Long-COVID: A Looming Reality

For those who have contracted COVID, the probability of developing chronic conditions, known as Long-COVID, is a staggering 99%. This alarming statistic underscores the pervasive and lasting impact of the virus on an individual’s health.

Key Insights into COVID-19’s Long-Term Effects

  1. Direct Impact on Organs:
    • COVID-19 has been responsible for millions of deaths and has caused long-term damage to vital organs, leaving many survivors permanently disabled.
  2. Persistent Viral Presence:
    • SARS-CoV-2 can persist in the body for months or even years, causing chronic infections and leaving behind viral proteins associated with Long-COVID. This persistence is comparable to other viruses like Chicken Pox leading to Shingles or Epstein-Barr virus contributing to Mononucleosis and Multiple Sclerosis.
  3. Compromised Immune System and Autoimmune Risks:
    • Post-COVID individuals often experience a compromised immune system and an increased risk of autoimmune diseases. Local immune responses may be disturbed by both mental and physical exertion in long-COVID patients.
  4. Genetic and Epigenetic Changes:
    • SARS-CoV-2 induces genetic and epigenetic alterations to DNA, resulting in a compromised immune system, elevated risks of diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and damage to neurological, circulatory, and cardiovascular systems. Predisposed conditions are likely to escalate to more advanced stages.
  5. Complexity of Long-COVID:
    • Long-COVID is likely a multifaceted condition involving persistent virus presence, residual viral proteins, and lasting epigenetic and genetic changes, potentially lasting indefinitely.
  6. Increased Risks with Reinfection:
    • Reinfection with COVID amplifies the risks of death, hospitalization, and multi-organ damage, exacerbating underlying conditions across various bodily systems.

Understanding the epigenetic changes induced by COVID, including the downregulation of NAD+ and the impact on tryptophan, sheds light on the physical and mental health challenges faced by individuals. The deficiency in niacin, zinc, and vitamin D is a common consequence. It is crucial to recognize that COVID’s epigenetic changes may vary widely based on an individual’s genetic makeup, requiring tailored treatments for optimal outcomes.

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 / Novel Coronavirus

bookmark_borderCOVID: Excess Deaths and Quality of Life

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by Daniel Brouse
December 14, 2023

COVID=19

Long-COVID, or post-infection COVID, appears to affect the majority of the population. For individuals that “recover” from COVID-19, they can expect a decreased quality of life and a premature death.

Decrease in Quality of Life
Known chronic conditions resulting from a COVID infection include: Permanent Organ Damage, Persistent SARS-CoV-2 RNA in multiple organs and throughout the brain, Destruction of Good Gut Bacteria Resulting in a Compromised Immune System, Epigenetic Modifications (Changes to DNA), Change in Cell Fate, Tryptophan Deficiency, Dysfunctional Kynurenine Pathway, Neurological Damage, New-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, Exertional Intolerance, Oxygen Extraction, Reduced Exercise Capacity, Down Regulating NAD+, Up Regulating IDO, Rogue Antibodies, Insulin Reduction, Diabetes, High Cholesterol, Heart Disease and Stroke, Increased Risk of Cancer, Blood Clots, Hypertension, Vascular Disorders, Myocarditis and Heart Disease, Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), and Dysregulation of the innate immune system, i.e. “cytokine storm”.

Decrease in Life Expectancy
In epidemiology, the excess deaths or excess mortality is a measure of the increase in the number deaths.

On October 26, 2023, Insurance News Network reported, “Excess mortality is the difference between the total number of deaths for a specific time period and the number that would have been expected. The numbers were naturally forecast to climb during the pandemic, but some industry and health authorities are concerned the rates haven’t greatly diminished as COVID infection rates have declined.”

In November of 2023, the SOA Research Group released Group Life COVID-19 Mortality Survey Report finding the 39-month period of April 2020 through June 2023 showed the following Group Life mortality results:
• Estimated reported Group Life claim incidence rates were up 13.2% on a seasonally-adjusted basis compared to 2017–2019 reported claims.
• Estimated incurred Group Life incidence rates were 12.2% higher than baseline on a seasonally-adjusted basis. As noted above, the incurred incidence rates in May and June 2023 are based on fairly incomplete data, so they are subject to change and should not be fully relied upon at this point.

90% of these excess deaths were caused by post-COVID conditions. 10% of the excess deaths are attributed to the COVID virus.

A Boston University study identified a total of 1,179,024 excess deaths from March 2020 through February 2022, including an estimated 634,830 excess deaths from March 2020 to February 2021, and 544,194 estimated excess deaths from March 2021 to February 2022.

Causes
A decrease in life expectancy, quality of life, or death after a COVID infection is usually caused by complications from the infection, persistent virus (chronic infection), and/or epigenetic changes.

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 / Novel Coronavirus

bookmark_borderCOVID: Insulin Reduction, Diabetes, High Cholesterol, Heart Disease and Stroke

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by Daniel Brouse
March 11, 2023

COVID=19

Post-COVID patients are at an increased risk of developing or exacerbating diabetes.

In addition, the American Heart Association (AHA) states that diabetes often lowers HDL (good) cholesterol levels and raises triglycerides and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.

Both blood sugar and cholesterol increase the risk for heart disease and stroke.

Coronavirus Transforms Pancreas Cell Function
When COVID infects cells, it impairs cell activity and can also change their function. When insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas become infected with the virus, they produce much less insulin than usual, and also start to produce glucose and digestive enzymes. “We call this a change of cell fate,” said study leader Dr. Shuibing Chen, who described the work in a presentation at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

It is not clear whether the changes are long-lasting, or if they might be reversible (though individuals have been impacted more than 3-years after infection), the researchers reported in Cell Metabolism in August 2021, SARS-CoV-2 infection induces beta cell transdifferentiation. “Single-cell RNA sequencing and immunostaining from ex vivo infections confirmed that multiple types of pancreatic islet cells were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, eliciting a cellular stress response and the induction of chemokines. Upon SARS-CoV-2 infection, beta cells showed a lower expression of insulin and a higher expression of alpha and acinar cell markers, including glucagon and trypsin1, respectively, suggesting cellular transdifferentiation. Trajectory analysis indicated that SARS-CoV-2 induced eIF2-pathway-mediated beta cell transdifferentiation, a phenotype that could be reversed with trans-integrated stress response inhibitor (trans-ISRIB). Altogether, this study demonstrates an example of SARS-CoV-2 infection causing cell fate change, which provides further insight into the pathomechanisms of COVID-19.”

Diabetes Risk Rises After COVID
A March 2022 study published in the Journal Nature found, “Even mild SARS-CoV-2 infections can amplify a person’s chance of developing diabetes, especially for those already susceptible to the disease. People who get COVID-19 have a greater risk of developing diabetes up to a year later, even after a mild SARS-CoV-2 infection, compared with those who never had the disease.”

A study published in February of 2022 in JAMA, Diabetes After COVID-19 Infection, found COVID-19 Omicron infection is linked to new-onset diabetes. COVID-19 Omicron survivors may be at a greater than 60% risk of new-onset type 1 or 2 diabetes (a potential precursor of heart attack and stroke.)

A Cedars-Sinai news release said that data trends and patterns suggest that COVID-19 may act as a disease accelerator, amplifying the risk of an illness that may have come later in life. “So, it could be that instead of being diagnosed with diabetes by age 65, a person with preexisting risk for diabetes might—after a COVID-19 infection—be more likely to develop diabetes by age 45 or 55.”

The Pennsylvania State University meta-analysis Association of COVID‑19 with Diabetes included eight studies on new-onset type 1 or 2 diabetes in COVID-19 survivors published from December 2019 to October 2022. COVID-19 was tied to a 66% higher risk of new-onset diabetes regardless of age or sex. “Given the extraordinary number of COVID-19 survivors globally, the modest increase in diabetes risk could correspond to a drastic rise in the number of people diagnosed with the disease worldwide,” the authors wrote.

Cholesterol Levels
The study Risks and burdens of incident dyslipidaemia in long COVID found people with a prior COVID infection had a 24% increased risk for high cholesterol levels.

“These are people who never had cholesterol problems before,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, an author of the study and a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis. “Now, all of a sudden, they started having problems weeks and months after Covid-19.”

In June of 2023, the study Incidence of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic was published in the Journal Nature and found COVID is linked to surge in child and teen diabetes.

Increased Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke
The Centers for Disease Control says, “High blood cholesterol is a major modifiable risk factor for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. A 10% decrease in total blood cholesterol levels can reduce the incidence of heart disease by as much as 30%,” and “Over time, high blood sugar can damage blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart. People with diabetes are also more likely to have other conditions that raise the risk for heart disease.”

COVID: Hypertension, Heart-disease Risk Soars

Long COVID Update: Living With It

COVID in Your Genes

MORE ON COVID: COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 / Novel Coronavirus

bookmark_borderTop 10 Causes Of Death

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A newly published study called “The Global Burden Of Disease” details the state of world health. Although the human lifespan is increasing, the amount of healthy years is not. The top ten causes of death are:

World Deaths in millions % of deaths
Ischaemic heart disease 7.25 12.8%
Stroke and other cerebrovascular disease 6.15 10.8%
Lower respiratory infections 3.46 6.1%
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 3.28 5.8%
Diarrhoeal diseases 2.46 4.3%
HIV/AIDS 1.78 3.1%
Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers 1.39 2.4%
Tuberculosis 1.34 2.4%
Diabetes mellitus 1.26 2.2%
Road traffic accidents 1.21 2.1%