NEW DELHI: Lifestyle changes brought about by the
lockdown to curb the spread of the
coronavirus may trigger weight gain and enhance the risk of type 2
diabetes mellitus in healthy people, according to a new study.
The study showed that 40% of the participants gained up to 5 kg and 16% added 2.1-5kg. The risk score for
diabetes was calculated using BMI. Data was collected online from 100 household members of type 2 diabetes patients in India between the 42nd and 49th days of the lockdown.
“According to our previous research, we are going to have many patients with uncontrolled diabetes and complications. To add to those numbers will be scores of patients with new onset diabetes as per our modelling estimates,” said Anoop Misra, chairman of Fortis CDOC Hospital for Diabetes and Allied Specialties and one of the authors of the study paper.
Misra cautioned that “all individuals above 30 years age not known to have diabetes must get sugar profiling done.”