Effects of COVID-19 found to be worse in patients with diabetes, blood pressure

Muscat: About 60 per cent of COVID-19 patients with diabetes or blood pressure do not survive its effects, a study by a group of doctors in Oman has found.

The study, which was conducted by 13 medical professionals and three research students, discovered that 61 per cent of COVID patients admitted to intensive care who also had diabetes, and 59 per cent of those with blood pressure, died from the disease.

“This indicates to us that diabetes and blood pressure are some of the most important factors causing severe COVID-19 infection and death,” said Dr Fahad Al Kindi, a senior consultant doctor in cardiovascular diseases at Sultan Qaboos University, and one of the doctors involved in the research.

“The death rate of COVID-19 patients in intensive care in some countries has gone up to 40 per cent, but by the grace of God, the death rate here is only 14 per cent, and we intend to bring this number down to as low a figure as we can, by all the means available to us,” he added.

The study involved the examination of COVID patients admitted to intensive care units in three hospitals in Muscat, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Al Nahda Hospital, and the Royal Hospital. It was done in two phases, the first running from March to May, and the second from June to August.

“In the second stage of our scientific research, we decided to expand the number of patients involved in the study,” said Al Kindi.

“The more patients included in it, the greater the accuracy of our findings. In fact, that the results of the second stage were identical to those of our first shows that our initial discoveries were accurate,” Al Kindi further said.

“We were also able to discern the average ages of patients who died from the disease, which was different from the ages of those who recovered from the coronavirus,” he explained, “The average age of COVID patients who died from the disease is 60, while the age of those who recovered is about 48 years.”

Following this study, the team of researchers now plan on studying the effects of COVID-19 on those who have recovered from the disease, and look at any problems they now face that are linked to the symptoms they presented when they were first admitted to the ICUs.

Also included in this next study will be the long-term complications they suffer from because of COVID-19, how any chronic diseases they suffer from continue to affect their recovery, and whether their body parts have been damaged or rendered defective due to this virus.

“We took into our study all of the medical information of the patients we examined, from the time they entered the hospital, until they left,” recalled Al Kindi. “The system of medical records maintained by hospitals in Oman is detailed and accurate, and so helped us monitor the status of patients, including their symptoms, what medications they were on, and the extent of their bodies’ response to the drugs.

“We collected all of the relevant patient information, including the nature of tests done on them, and then compared the treatment plans used for patients who had died from the disease, to those who had recovered from them,” he added.