Pneumonia Outcomes Worse for Diabetics

Researchers in Spain, who noted that diabetes is common inpatients with pneumonia, examined whether the clinical featuresand outcomes of pneumonia were altered by the presenceof diabetes. The results of their study showed thatpatients with diabetes had more serious pneumonia and morehospital stays, compared with patients without diabetes.

The researchers further reported that diabetes was independentlyassociated with a higher risk of death from pneumonia.The patients with diabetes who died of pneumoniahad more underlying diseases and diabetes-related problems.The microorganisms responsible for the pneumonia,however, were the same in both the patients with diabetesand the control group, according to the report in Chest(November 2005).