Lifestyle, Quarantine, Diabetes and COVID-19

The objective of this narrative review is to describe the complex, bi-directional relation between diabetes and COVID-19, with a special attention to quarantine period and lifestyle implications. The scope will be to draw attention through the importance of a healthy lifestyle implemented at populational level. A dramatic pandemic event raised at the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became an important threat for health all over the world. COVID-19 occurs more frequently in patients withpoor glycaemic control, and SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause loss of glycaemic control and can even inducesevere ketoacidosis if blood glucose monitoring is inadequate and antidiabetic treatment is not adjusted if necessary. Main risk factors for COVID-19 are: age more than 65 years,comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney, lung, liver diseases, etc. The occurrence of severe forms of COVID-19 in patients with diabetes (type 1, type 2, or gestational) may be due to the fact that over 50% of these patients have at least one of the comorbidities listed before. All patients diagnosed with COVID-19 will be screened for diabetes, as SARS-CoV-2 can destroy pancreatic β cells, and on the other hand, it can increase insulin resistance, causing new-onset diabetes.Moreover, all patients with COVID-19 will be monitored in the medium and long term, as they may develop insulin-dependent diabetes by triggering SARS-CoV-2 induced immune mechanisms. Described as ”an obesogenic period”  quarantine  is favourising  an unhealthy lifestyle, marked by anxiety. Recognized benefits of mandatory mass quarantine must be weight against long term adverse effects mainly on cardiovascular risk burden. Social distance measures may induce stress, anxiety or even depression. Isolation, quarantine limits social interactions and may have consequences on weight both by energy intake and physical activity. In conclusion, the future will build more on healthiness, prevention and creating a healthy lifestyle.