Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Today I'm going to discuss the return to school this fall. There are two scenarios I want to talk about. The first is young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who are leaving home and going off to college. They have their own set of risks and concerns. Second are parents who have T1D whose young kids are going back to school.
There's much concern about what is the right approach for people without diabetes, but it's especially important to talk about people who have diabetes or have someone in their family with diabetes.
People who have well-controlled diabetes (an A1c of around 7 or less) don't necessarily do worse if they develop COVID-19. But there are other risk factors that can be in the mix. Things that worsen outcomes include obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, renal disease, and age. These are all comorbidities that increase risk.
If you have a young, healthy individual under the age of 50 with an A1c of 7 or less, and they don't have any other comorbidities, that person is probably not at higher risk of doing badly with COVID-19 than anybody else.
New Pandemic Peril? Pretending It's Over as Case Numbers Rise
COMMENTARY
Off to College With T1D in the COVID Era: How to Prepare
Anne L. Peters, MD
DisclosuresSeptember 04, 2020
Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Today I'm going to discuss the return to school this fall. There are two scenarios I want to talk about. The first is young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who are leaving home and going off to college. They have their own set of risks and concerns. Second are parents who have T1D whose young kids are going back to school.
There's much concern about what is the right approach for people without diabetes, but it's especially important to talk about people who have diabetes or have someone in their family with diabetes.
People who have well-controlled diabetes (an A1c of around 7 or less) don't necessarily do worse if they develop COVID-19. But there are other risk factors that can be in the mix. Things that worsen outcomes include obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, renal disease, and age. These are all comorbidities that increase risk.
If you have a young, healthy individual under the age of 50 with an A1c of 7 or less, and they don't have any other comorbidities, that person is probably not at higher risk of doing badly with COVID-19 than anybody else.
Medscape Diabetes © 2020 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Anne L. Peters. Off to College With T1D in the COVID Era: How to Prepare - Medscape - Sep 04, 2020.
Tables
Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Author(s)
Anne L. Peters, MD
Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine, Keck School of Medicine; Director, University of Southern California Westside Center for Diabetes, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Disclosure: Anne L. Peters, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Serve(d) on the advisory board for: Abbott Diabetes Care; Becton Dickinson; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Livongo; Medscape; Merck & Co., Inc.; Novo Nordisk; Omada Health; OptumHealth; sanofi; Zafgen
Received research support from: Dexcom; MannKind Corporation; Astra Zeneca
Serve(d) as a member of a speakers bureau for: Novo Nordisk