Common diabetic drug can trigger rare Covid complications

Source From: IANS 2020-12-29 14:50:14

Diabetes patients on glucose-lowering drugs are at risk of rare Covid-19 complications, especially those who use a popular class of diabetes drugs called sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), which function by releasing excess glucose in the urine.

In diabetes patients, rare but severe complications, like the potentially lethal condition diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), can arise when illness or certain conditions prevent cells from receiving enough glucose to fuel their functioning.

The researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital observed an uptick in a particular type of DKA called euDKA during the pandemic

EuDKA is a subset of the diabetes complication known as DKA, which occurs when the body's cells fail to absorb enough glucose and compensate by metabolizing fats instead, creating a build-up of acids called ketones.