What is diabetes?
Insulin hormone is secreted from the pancreas gland, which regulates blood sugar. Diabetes mellitus, as it is called in medical language, is a chronic disease characterized by an increase in blood sugar as a result of either insufficient secretion of the insulin hormone secreted from the pancreas or a defect in its effect.
How common is it in the world and in our country?
Unfortunately, the incidence of this disease, which is not as sweet as its name, is increasing day by day. For example, while there were 366 million diabetes patients in the world in 2010, this figure is expected to reach 552 million in 2030. As in the world, the disease poses a danger to our country. To put it in numbers, according to the data of a study conducted in 2002, the prevalence of diabetes in individuals aged 20-29 in our country was 7.2%, while this figure has reached 13.7% today. In our country, 3,576,665 people were diagnosed with diabetes. Unfortunately, although so many people have diabetes, they do not know that they have diabetes.
Who is at risk of diabetes?
Obesity, having diabetes in first-degree relatives, hypertension, high blood fats (at serum triglyceride level), women with gestational diabetes during pregnancy, fast-food style diet with rich foods and a sedentary lifestyle increases the incidence of diabetes.
What are the symptoms of diabetes?
The main symptoms are dry mouth, drinking a lot of water, frequent urination, urination at night, eating a lot, drowsiness after meals, getting tired quickly, itching, recurring fungal infections, delayed healing of wounds, blurred vision, loss of appetite. Although it is normal, it is weight loss.
How is diabetes diagnosed?
The morning fasting blood sugar of a normal healthy person is between 70-99 mg/dl. In order to diagnose diabetes in a person, it is sufficient to have a fasting blood glucose value of 126 mg/dl or higher in the morning after at least 8-10 hours of fasting.
On the other hand, a person who has one or more of the symptoms of diabetes (dry mouth, drinking a lot of water, frequent urination, eating a lot, rapid weight loss despite normal or even higher appetite) If the blood sugar value is 200 mg/dl or more, that person is diabetic.
As it is known, glycosylated hemoglobin is an important indicator that reflects the blood sugar level of diabetic patients. Diabetes mellitus can be diagnosed with an HbAic value of 6.5% or higher in recent years.
In order to investigate diabetes in people with a fasting blood glucose value between 100 and 125 mg/dl, 75 grams of sugar loading (oral glucose tolerance test) must be performed. A blood glucose value of 200 mg/dl and above at the second hour of sugar loading is sufficient for the diagnosis of diabetes. If the blood sugar value in the 2nd hour is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, that person has impaired glucose tolerance, as the old people call it, latent diabetes mellitus. So this person is a candidate for diabetes. With lifestyle changes, it is possible to prevent or delay the person’s diabetes.
What are the complications related to diabetes?
Fasting blood glucose value above 126 mg/dl and/or blood glucose level measured in satiety (two hours after the first food taken) to be higher than 140 mg/dl in eyes, kidneys, heart and brings many negative effects on the vascular system. Because sugar; Since it is found in the blood and the blood circulates in the vein, it damages the vein. It causes damage and problems in the feet and eyes, especially in vital organs such as the heart, brain and kidney. When the amount of sugar (glucose) increases too much, the loss of sugar in the urine is also high.
For example, the progression of the disease leads to blindness in the eyes, deterioration of kidney functions, increased urea and blood pressure, and the inability of the kidneys to function, leading to the kidney (dialysis) machine. In addition, high blood sugar causes the increase of fat in the body and the development of heart disease. Delayed closure of wounds on the feet may be due to high blood sugar, while wounds may cause blood sugar to rise. Because diabetics have a predisposition to infection. For this reason, it is necessary to pay attention to a small wound on the foot. These negative and undesirable side effects both reduce the quality of life of the person and cause an increase in deaths.
Since the cells cannot use glucose (sugar) due to the deficiency of the insulin hormone or the defect in its function, the body will start to use fats and proteins. Therefore, both weight loss and excess acid in the body occur, and the patient may enter into a diabetic coma that may result in death
As a result, diabetes is a disease that needs to be taken seriously, and it is not a sweet disease like its name.
Is it possible to avoid or get away from these negative effects of diabetes?
The answer to this question is yes, it is possible.
What should be done?
A regular diet should be done, a blood glucose meter should be taken and one’s own sugar should be measured both in fasting and on a full stomach as recommended by the doctor, and should be written in the sugar follow-up book, the medications given by the doctor should be used in accordance with the time, exercises should be done regularly, and regular doctor’s control should be done. must go. In addition, blood pressure (blood pressure) and blood fats should be kept within the limits recommended by the doctor. Because high blood pressure and blood fat levels in diabetes affect the patient negatively and shorten the life span.
Walking for 20-30 minutes 4-5 days a week has many positive effects on the cardiovascular system as well as overweight, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and fat values. Thanks to the aforementioned recommendations, when we reduce both fasting and postprandial blood sugar values to normal limits, it is possible to prevent or at least delay the emergence of undesirable complications related to diabetes.
Is normal fasting blood sugar enough only?
Today, it is a known fact that normal fasting blood sugar does not protect diabetics from complications. For this reason, it should be aimed to have a postprandial blood sugar below 140 mg/dl two hours after meals.
In addition, it is possible to prevent or delay diabetes-specific complications with the HbAic level, which is an important indicator of blood sugar (average 3 months), below 7% or even 6.5%. HbAic level should be checked every 3-6 months
What should be considered other than blood sugar?
In a diabetic, just having the desired blood sugar levels is not sufficient in terms of complications. In order to avoid complications related to diabetes, weight (waist circumference), blood pressure (blood pressure), blood lipids should also be within the targeted values. For this reason, diabetic patients should have their blood pressure strictly controlled, and if they have high blood pressure or any disorder in their blood lipids, they should be treated. It is beneficial for every diabetic to have an eye examination at least once a year. On the other hand, kidneys are also frequently affected by diabetes. It is possible to understand whether the kidneys are affected by diabetes by looking at the microalbuminuria (MAU) in the urine. Especially in diabetic patients with hypertension, the chance of kidneys being affected by diabetes is quite high. For this reason, in order to prevent kidney failure in diabetic patients with hypertension, patients should be closely monitored and blood pressure should be kept below 130/80 mm Hg.
Diabetes also affects the eyes negatively. For this reason, when the disease is first detected, a fundus examination should be performed by an ophthalmologist. Subsequent controls should be made in line with the recommendation of the ophthalmologist following the patient.
In conclusion, diabetes is a chronic disease. From the first diagnosis of the disease, lifestyle changes (that is, regular diet and exercise (especially walking 30-60 minutes a day), taking drugs that regulate blood sugar in accordance with the rules and / or administering insulin on time, should be done regularly (both fasting and It requires monitoring of blood sugar and timely doctor control.In addition, if the patient is obese, he or she should lose weight and maintain the weight lost, and if there is high blood pressure and blood fat, it should be treated.
