Many people suffer from diabetes but don't even know it because they don't show any symptoms of the disease. Diabetes can be diagnosed with a simple blood glucose test.
Forms of diabetes: type 1 and type 2
According to the World Health Organization, more than 400 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. You have to choose between Diabetes type 1 and type 2 distinguish. Type 1 diabetes often begins in childhood or adolescence and develops due to an absolute lack of the body's own insulin. The deficiency occurs, for example, when insulin-producing cells in the pancreas have perished due to faulty reactions of the immune system. As a consequence, the blood sugar level rises. Patients have to inject insulin.
At Type 2 diabetes the hormone insulin is still secreted, but the body cells of those affected are becoming increasingly insensitive to it. Insulin helps cells absorb glucose from the bloodstream. If the cells now no longer absorb the glucose, the blood sugar level rises.
In addition to type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes, there are also Type 3 diabetes (disease of the pancreas, infections or chemicals) and Type 4 diabetes (gestational diabetes). But these types of diabetes are very rare. By far the most widespread is type 2 diabetes. In Germany, circa. 90 to 95 per cent of the Diabetiker at this rather easily to treat diabetes form.
Hard to diagnose: Symptoms of diabetes
An Unhealthy diet, obesity and lack of exercise increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Age also plays a role. For example, says Prof. Dr. Andreas Fritsche, who works at the University Hospital in Tubingen and is a renowned diabetes expert in Germany: "The most important factor for the increasing incidence of diabetes is that our population is getting older and older. Age is the strongest risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes.
These signs could indicate a disease
In general, the symptoms listed above are more subtle in type 2 diabetics and develop over a longer period of time. This is why diabetes type 2 cases are often discovered incidentally, for example, when a sufferer is admitted to hospital for another condition. The painful thing is that this other suffering could have been avoided if the diabetes disease had been detected early enough. For example, high sugar levels promote calcification of the arteries, which can lead to a heart attack if the coronary arteries are affected. If the carotid arteries calcify, there is a circulatory disturbance of the brain, in this case a stroke is often the result.
The signs of type 1 diabetes develop much faster than in type 2 diabetes. It often takes only a few weeks for patients to go to the doctor because they feel thirsty all the time and have to urinate very frequently. The reason for the rapid worsening of symptoms: At a certain point, most of the insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas are destroyed. Insulin balance breaks down completely, with the consequences described above.
If a disease is suspected, it is very easy to detect diabetes. Only one blood glucose test needs to be done. The doctor uses various threshold values to see whether the sugar level in the blood is too high.
Therapies and medications are determined individually in Germany
In the treatment of diabetes, it is generally taken into account whether the patients are type 1 or type 2 patients. Type 1 patients have to inject insulin from now on. Type 2 patients, on the other hand, can manage without medication and insulin for a long time or even forever if they radically change their lifestyle. Lifestyle changes are accompanied by a change in diet, which is determined by nutritional therapy. In addition, we discuss how exercise and sport can be regularly integrated into the daily routine.
Regardless of the type of diabetes, patients must learn to monitor their own organism. Control is achieved by regular measurements of the patient's own blood glucose level. It is also important to know how to behave in emergency situations: What do I do in the event of hypoglycemia?? How to react in case of an infection? Thanks to patient training courses, those affected in Germany get to know themselves and the disease and know how to help themselves if necessary.
If a healthy diet and physical activity are not enough, the patient will lose weight Oral antidiabetics one to lower blood glucose. There are two main groups of medications:
Preparations with an effect on the beta cell, those that release insulin from the cells of the pancreas. These include sulfonylureas, glinides and gliptins.
preparations without effect on the beta cell. Drugs in this group of preparations do not affect insulin secretion, but they do affect sugar metabolism elsewhere. The drugs used here are metformin, thiazolidinediones, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors and gliflozines.
The choice of medication is determined individually by the doctor for each patient. Secondary diseases, diet and exercise habits, body weight and other factors play a role in the therapy. If blood sugar remains inadequately controlled despite drug therapy, doctors often recommend insulin therapy. In insulin therapy, an insulin preparation is administered to compensate for the lack of the body's own insulin.
In the case of several 10.000 patients are treated in Germany with the Insulin pump therapy applied. For example, if patients often suffer from hypoglycemia at night, which makes therapy without a pump difficult, insulin pump therapy can help stabilize insulin levels. Insulin is injected through the pump up to 480 times a day, minimizing complications such as hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia.
If all conservative therapy options do not help to reduce the weight, patients who are very overweight can have a Operation Help. The surgical procedure involves reducing stomach volume and/or shortening the distance of gastrointestinal passage. This will result in a faster saturation among patients. The intake of nutrients decreased.
Choosing the right clinic
Diabetes is a very common disease in Germany, therefore there is a specialized clinic in almost every region, which can guarantee treatment at the highest level. Every year, the weekly magazine FOCUS also awards prizes to the best diabetes clinics and the best diabetes practices in Germany, offering a good orientation guide. If you have a particular city or a particular doctor in mind, you can also contact us at any time with a question about a suitable hospital.