Facts about diabetes: Type 1-Type 2
Almost 6 per cent of the world's adult population are living with diabetes. The number is expected to grow to 380 million by 2025, making diabetes on of the greatest medical challenges of the 21st century. People with diabetes have a high risk of serious health complications which can lead to severe disabilities and even death if the condition is poorly controlled. This is why, finding the most effective and suitable treatment is crucial to long-term management of the disease. They also suffer from poor quality of life, such as insulin-linked weight gain and unwanted low blood sugar levels. This can be reduced by the latest modern insulin treatment. While diabetes cannot be cured, early diagnosis and proper control of blood sugar through healthy eating, healthy lifestyle as well as starting and remaining on treatment reduces the risk of health problems. Health impact of diabetes
People with diabetes have a higher risk of heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, blindness, kidney disease, nerve damage and amputations, particularly if the disease is untreated or poorly controlled. Who gets diabetes and what causes it?
Over 75 per cent of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes which usually appears in middle-aged or older people. But more commonly it is seen in younger, overweight people as well. The main cause is their body's inability to make insulin. It is most commonly triggered by factors such as obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 30-40 per cent compared with those who are regularly physically active. Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes, being overweight or a waist size of 80cm or over for women, 89cm or over for Asian men, high blood pressure or history of heart attack or stroke, women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and who are overweight, a diagnosis of abnormal blood glucose (fasting blood glucose in between 5.6-6.9 mmol/L or after food in between 7.8-11 mmol/L), diagnosis of diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes), severe mental health problems. Type 1 diabetes usually affects people under 40, especially children, although it can appear at any age. In these patients, insulin-producing cells in the pancreas have been destroyed, most likely due to an infection. Family genes can also affect risk of developing diabetes if a close family member such as a parent, sibling or twin, is affected. Race can also affect risk. How is diabetes treated?
The aim of diabetes treatment is to have blood glucose and blood pressure levels as normal as possible to protect against damage to eyes, kidneys, nerves heart and major arteries. People with type 1 diabetes need to inject insulin to keep blood sugar near to normal most of the time because their bodies cannot produce it. Type 2 diabetes patients make some insulin but not enough, or when produced it does not work properly. Some are able to control blood sugar through food and exercise alone. Others may need pills to achieve normal blood sugar levels but may eventually have to switch from tablets to insulin or take a combination. The latest treatments
The newest insulin therapies, called modern insulins, have many benefits that improve the patients' quality of life and management of the disease with improved blood glucose control and no increased safety risk like hypoglycaemia (blood glucose below the lowest limit of normal range). Conclusions
Cases of diabetes, particularly type 2, which is linked to obesity, are rising. Patients can help prevent life threatening complications by eating healthily, taking regular exercise and staying on treatment. They can also tackle quality of life problems such as fear of hypos and being able to a little liberal about timing to eat by switching to modern insulins. The writer is a Professor of Endocrinology and Diabetology of BIRDEM
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