Diabetes, also known as diabetes, is a chronic and progressive disease that progresses with high blood sugar and damages various organs in the body. It has increased by 100% in the last 10 years in the world as a result of the widespread urban lifestyle and the increasing consumption of ready-made foods. Although its name sounds sympathetic, the dangers of the disease are quite frightening. Every 6 seconds in the world, someone dies from diabetes. There are approximately 7 million diabetics in Turkey and this number is increasing. Interestingly, half of the patients are not aware that they have diabetes.
How does the disease develop?
Insulin is the hormone secreted from the pancreas gland that is responsible for lowering blood sugar. Type 1 diabetes develops when this hormone is not secreted enough, and type 2 diabetes develops when it is secreted enough or even too much, but does not have a blood sugar-lowering effect on the tissues. While type 1 diabetes is seen at young ages, type 2 diabetes is seen at older ages.
What are the symptoms?
Diabetes disease has been known since the time of Hippocrates. Ancient physicians observed that these patients drank a lot of water and urinated a lot, and noticed that their urine was sugary. After hundreds of years, it has been understood that these findings are conditions that cause kidney damage caused by high blood sugar. Other symptoms include excessive hunger, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, irritability, blurred vision, wounds that heal slowly or do not heal, and frequent infections.
Which organs does diabetes damage?
Since it basically causes vascular damage, more or less every organ is affected by diabetes. The most affected organs are the eyes, kidneys and heart. Retinal damage in the eyes can lead to visual impairment, protein leakage in the kidneys can lead to kidney failure, blockages in the heart vessels can occur, and non-healing wounds can occur, especially on the feet. Additionally, deterioration in sexual functions may also occur.
How to prevent diabetes?
Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent type 1 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, before the disease occurs, there is a stage in which insulin resistance is at the forefront, called prediabetes. During this phase, the body keeps blood sugar balanced by secreting more insulin than normal. At this stage, changing eating habits, exercising, and losing weight if overweight can prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes. Some medications can also be used at this stage. Unfortunately, dieting is very difficult for insulin resistance patients. Due to high insulin levels, hunger occurs more than normal and the metabolism tends to accumulate.
Treatment of diabetes
In type 1 diabetes Insulin therapy can be applied.
Although studies on pancreas transplantation continue, finding a donor is the biggest problem.
When type 2 diabetes is newly diagnosed, drug treatments and lifestyle changes are the first treatment approach. The aim is to regulate nutrition for diabetes and improve blood sugar with medications and, when necessary, insulin. In patients in whom this treatment approach is successful, the disease can be prevented from damaging organs. However, this treatment approach is not successful in many patients because it requires a high level of patient compliance. Medications given to lower blood sugar often cause the patient to become extremely hungry, and as a result, patients have difficulty complying with the diet and gain weight. When you gain weight, the dose of medication is found to be insufficient and the dosage is increased.
What is Metabolic Surgery, to whom is it applied?
Metabolic syndrome includes type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, fatty liver. It is a condition that includes diseases such as cardiovascular occlusions. Surgeries performed for patients with metabolic syndrome are called metabolic surgery. The common point of these surgeries is that the stomach is reduced and the small intestines are connected to this reduced stomach. After metabolic surgery, several types of hormones are secreted from the small intestines that strengthen the body's insulin. In this way, the patient can both lose weight and increase blood sugar levels. It is ensured that it is controlled more effectively. Surgical treatment may be the treatment that will prevent diabetes from damaging organs in patients who cannot comply with medications, have difficulty in adapting to the diet, and whose blood sugar is uncontrolled despite medications.
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