Researchers Look at Possible Coronavirus Diabetes link

A new study launched with the help of University of Florida researchers suggests that COVID-19 is unlikely to trigger or worsen Type 1 diabetes, according to a news release from the university’s medical school.

Researchers at the UF Diabetes Institute and other centers looked to see if a protein thought to be the coronavirus entry into the body was present in insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. Patients who already have diabetes have been seen as more at risk for serious illness or death from coronavirus infections.

“This does not provide support to the notion that you’re going to develop diabetes because the coronavirus goes in and destroys an individual’s insulin-producing cells,” Mark Atkinson, director of the institute and a researcher of Type 1 diabetes, said in a statement.