Dr.. Osama Abu al-Rab
World Diabetes Day was launched in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by the disease.
The world celebrates Diabetes Day on 14 November each year, and on this occasion we highlight the disease with an in-depth article on its causes, symptoms and treatment.
He was chosen on November 14 to celebrate the disease, because it marks the birthday of Frederick Panting, who co-discovered the insulin with Charles Best in 1922.
World Diabetes Day is the world's largest diabetes awareness campaign, reaching a global audience of more than a billion people in more than 160 countries, with a blue circle symbol adopted in 2007 to signify the unity of the global diabetes community.
Every year, the campaign focuses on a dedicated theme that lasts for a year or more.The 2019 campaign theme is family and diabetes, in which families are urged to learn more about the warning signs of diabetes and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
If untreated or controlled, diabetes can lead to major complications such as blindness, amputation, kidney failure, heart attacks and strokes.It was responsible for four million deaths in 2017.
What is the?
Diabetes is a metabolic disease caused by a lack of hormone insulin or poor natural response from the body's cells to insulin, which introduces the sugar in the blood (glucose) to the cells, and in both cases the result is similar, as the levels of glucose in the blood above the normal limit, and this leads to negative effects On the body sooner and later.
Insulin is a hormone made by beta cells in the pancreas, which secrete insulin into the bloodstream after eating, in response to high blood sugar.
Glucose forms the energy that food is eaten by humans, and is excreted in the blood, which is taken by the cells of the body and burned to produce energy for its vital processes. To do this, they need the hormone insulin that makes glucose move from the bloodstream to the cells.
The higher the level of glucose in the blood, the pancreas produced more insulin to reduce it, but if it decreases, the pancreas reduces or stops the secretion of insulin, and the body in return for four other hormones to raise its level in the blood, namely: glucagon, cortisol, adrenaline and growth hormone, making the liver releases glucose to blood stream.
Normally, the body maintains a blood glucose level of 70 to 120 milligrams per deciliter, through a mechanism that ensures that it is maintained even if a person fasts for a long time, or (conversely) consumes a large amount of it; in diabetes, glucose rises Above normal limit.
Types of diabetes
1- Type 1 diabetes
It is also called insulin-dependent diabetes, and juvenile diabetes. It is an autoimmune disease. The body's immune system attacks and destroys beta cells in the pancreas, gradually reducing the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas.
The destruction process lasts for months or years, and eventually insulin becomes too small, leading to high blood glucose and diabetes symptoms.
The disease develops before the age of 35, and usually infected between the ages of 10 to 16 years. It accounts for 5% to 10% of people with diabetes.
The treatment of type 1 diabetes requires the patient to be given insulin by injection or by pump, which leads to low blood glucose and control.
There is still no cure for this type, but scientists hope to develop a mechanism to produce new beta cells in people with this type of diabetes, through stem cell research and regenerative medicine.
2. Type 2 diabetes
It is called non-insulin-dependent diabetes and adult diabetes, in which the sensitivity of cells to insulin decreases, ie, the degree of response of the body's cells to it, called "insulin resistance", the cells are resistant to the hormone insulin, which is the function of the introduction of glucose.
In normal conditions, insulin adheres to the cell, releasing a signal inside it that carries a type of vector to carry glucose from the surface of the cell into it. In the case of type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance is caused by blocking the signal it sends inside the cell, which leads to the non-entry of glucose and accumulation and rise in blood stream.
To solve this problem, the pancreas works to increase its production of insulin, to reflect the impact of resistance, which may last months or years, but in the end insulin resistance grows, and the pancreas becomes tired and high blood glucose levels.
People with this type are usually obese, so weight reduction and dietary modification are the first treatment mechanisms.
This type affects people over the age of forty years, usually, and constitutes 90% of the proportion of people with diabetes.
However, if the patient does not respond to the required changes in food and movement, or glucose levels remain high, this may exacerbate the disease, prompting the doctor to move in later stages to insulin therapy.
Type 2 diabetes, like the first one, does not yet have a cure, but reducing weight, changing diet and movement can improve blood glucose control, and may reduce the need for treatments such as anti-diabetic medications or insulin injections.
3- Gestational diabetes
Also called gestational diabetes, in which high blood glucose levels in some pregnant women, usually return to its normal level after birth. Women who have gestational diabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in the future.
Symptoms of diabetes
A condition called "pre-diabetes" (Prediabetes), which means that the level of blood sugar in the patient is less than diagnosed with diabetes, but at the same time higher than the normal level. If not treated, the person will develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years or less.
The risk of pre-diabetes comes from the fact that, if not handled properly, it usually leads to type 2 diabetes.
Diagnosis:
There are three tests to diagnose diabetes:
the test | The result is in the case | ||
Natural | Pre-diabetes | Diabetes | |
Fasting Sugar: It measures the blood sugar level after eight hours of fasting | Less than 100 milligrams per deciliter | 100-125 milligrams per deciliter | 126 milligrams per deciliter |
Sugar tolerance: It measures the level of sugar after a special sugar drink for two hours | Less than 140 milligrams per deciliter | 140-199 milligrams per deciliter | 200 milligrams per deciliter or higher |
"HPA1C": It measures the blood sugar level over a period of two months to three months | Less than 5.7% | From 5.7% to 6.4% | 6.5% or higher |
facts
According to the World Health Organization, the number of people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.
The global prevalence of diabetes in adults over the age of 18 has increased from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014, and the World Health Organization predicts that diabetes will become the seventh leading cause of death in 2030.
protection
The World Health Organization says simple lifestyle measures have proven effective in preventing or delaying type 2 diabetes.
To help prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications, you should:
- Working to reach and maintain healthy weight.
- Physical activity, at least 30 minutes of moderate and regular physical activity on most days of the week. Weight control requires more physical activity.
- A healthy diet includes three to five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, reducing intake of sugar and saturated fats.
- Avoid tobacco use, as smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
smoking
The Smoking Control Center at Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar warned that smoking could cause type 2 diabetes and increase its complications.
"Several studies have found that smokers are 30-40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-smokers," said Dr. Ahmed Al-Mulla, director of the center, on the occasion of World Diabetes Awareness Day.
On the mechanism that makes smoking linked to diabetes, Dr. Al-Mulla pointed out that smoking leads to inflammation and imbalance in the walls of cells, which hinders their response to the work of the hormone insulin responsible for the introduction of glucose to the cells, and stimulates a number of hormones - cortisone and adrenaline - which reduce the effectiveness of the hormone Insulin.
This explains why insulin-dependent diabetics may require a higher dose of insulin than non-smokers.
On the increase in the incidence of diabetes complications in terms of severity and early onset in diabetic patients smokers, said a specialist to quit smoking at the Center for Smoking Control at Hamad Medical Corporation Dr. Jamal Basahi, that diabetic patients smokers have an increased incidence of heart and kidney disease and retinopathy and peripheral nerves, especially For men, blood supply to the feet is reduced, threatening chronic ulcers that are difficult to heal, or so-called diabetic foot syndrome.
As for the benefit of the final cessation of smoking, Dr. Basahi pointed out that the diabetic patient after eight weeks of stopping smoking, get rid of its negative effects and increase the effectiveness of diabetes treatments.