The article discusses post-intensive care syndrome and its relation to diabetes. As the pandemic continues to spread across the world, there has been a phenomenal increase in hospitalizations, admission to hospital intensive care units (ICUs) and fatalities. During these times people with diabetes are at the risk of developing severe symptoms and complications of COVID-19 According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) both type 1 and type 2 diabetics are at a higher risk. It’s even riskier if your blood glucose levels are frequently high or if you’ve developed diabetes-related problems like heart or kidney disease. Being at higher risk for severe COVID-19, protection from exposure to the virus is important. In case you get sick, you should have enough critical supplies since leaving the house is not an option. It is also important that you know the situation at hand in case you require hospitalization.

Of all his years, 2020 was exceptionally challenging for Vietnam veteran Matthew Thomas. After the 75-year-old Aurora resident tested positive for Covid-19 in mid-May, doctors had to intubate him for 33 days so he didn’t go into respiratory failure. While Thomas survived, his 33-year-old son, diagnosed with Covid-19 shortly before his father was hospitalized, passed away.

Thomas also faced widespread effects from Covid-19, stemming from the time spent intubated and in intensive care. “The byproduct of the disease is that my muscles went to sleep,” says Thomas, who says his muscles became so weak that he could not use his arms and legs.

“I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even stand up,” he says.

You didn’t die. You battled COVID-19 in intensive care for more than a week. You were on a ventilator but pulled through. Now you are disabled.

This will happen to a significant number of people who discharge home after fighting COVID-19. It is typical of the course that post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) takes by creating or worsening physical impairment as well as causing cognitive and psychological impairment among patients who have been critically ill.

Neuromuscular weakness is the most common form of physical impairment that individuals acquired during a stay in the ICU, with more than 25% having poor mobility, recurrent falls, or quadri or tetra paresis.

Physical symptoms often resolve within 12 months after discharge from an acute care setting. However, research shows that ICU-acquired weakness can last as long as 24 months.