A study by researchers has found that even patients who are believed to have been diagnosed as diabetic early, may develop serious complications.

The research article ‘The Profile of Clinically Diagnosed New Type 2 Diabetes among Asian Indians’ was published in Endocrinology Diabetes Metab J, Vol 4 (3) on August 17.

The aim was to study the clinical and metabolic characteristics of newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes in urban clinics and compare them with those who were detected as diabetic during general screening programmes among the urban population.

The researchers studied HbA1c values (average blood sugar values for two/three months) of 741 samples of newly-diagnosed diabetics, aged between 20 and 60 years, from across 12 centres in four southern states. They found that the average value among the subjects studied was very high -- at around 9.1. A HbA1c value of about 6.5 or below 6 is considered to be normal. The researchers said the results suggested that people had a longer period of undiagnosed diabetes.

“The paper describes late clinical diagnosis in our settings. It is very relevant in the context of COVID-19 infections among undiagnosed diabetes, especially [those] having undetected co- morbidities,” said A. Ramachandran, lead author of the study, and head of Dr. Ramachandran’s Diabetes Hospital.

“The HbA1c reading of 9.1 is very high. Remember, we are talking about newly-detected, drug-naive patients. The diagnostic criteria is 6.5 and in the United States, the average HbA1c is about 8 (for newly-detected drug-naive patients). The results of the study only reflect the late diagnosis of diabetes in clinical settings,” he said.

The study has important message during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Ramachandran pointed out. A large proportion of those who are undetected contract the infection. “They also could have undiagnosed co-morbid conditions such as mild kidney failure, hypertension. If they are not tested at all, then not only is the diagnosis of diabetes late but they also may be presenting at the first time with some other complications. This will make them mildly prone for risk of complications due to COVID-19,” he explained.