The troubles of more than 100 million "sugar people"...

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 14 -

　　Xinhua News Agency reporters Kong Xiangxin, Lin Miaomiao, Ma Xiaodong

　　November 14th is United Nations Diabetes Day.

More than 100 million people with diabetes in my country have once again attracted attention.

　　So, what is the current status of diabetes?

What are the causative factors?

How to carry out effective control?

The reporter walked into the endocrinology clinics of many hospitals, visited well-known Chinese and Western medicine endocrinologists, and explored the reasons behind the high incidence of diabetes.

The "Sugar People" team continues to expand and become younger

　　At 8 o'clock in the morning on November 10, the clinic of the Chief Physician of the Department of Endocrinology of Guang'anmen Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Xiaolin’s clinic was full of waiting people, most of whom were diabetic patients.

The reporter found that among patients with this disease, which has always been regarded as "mostly occurring among middle-aged and elderly people," there are many faces of young people.

　　"Diabetes is called Diabetes in Chinese medicine. Weight loss, thirst, and polyuria are typical symptoms of diabetes. Generally, these typical symptoms do not appear until blood sugar is high to a certain level for a period of time," Tong Xiaolin said.

　　Tong Xiaolin introduced that the prevalence of diabetes in my country has been increasing year by year in recent years.

Statistics from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) show that the number of people suffering from diabetes in my country between the ages of 20 and 79 has increased from 98.4 million in 2013 to more than 100 million in 2019, ranking first in the world.

　　At the same time, the prevalence of diabetes is becoming more and more obvious.

Weng Jianping, vice president of the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China and chief physician of the Department of Endocrinology, said that the number of diabetic patients under the age of 40 is growing rapidly, with a prevalence rate of 5.9%.

Compared with elderly diabetic patients, the etiology and pathological mechanism of diabetes in young and middle-aged diabetic patients are quite different, the treatment is more difficult and the curative effect is relatively less than ideal for the elderly.

　　"Diabetes is one of the highest and fastest-growing diseases in the world. Our country used to be a country with a low incidence of diabetes, and now it has become the largest country with diabetes, and the number of pre-diabetic populations, the reserve army, is also very large. "When it comes to the prevalence of diabetes, Weng Jianping is deeply worried.

　　"Improper control of diabetes will bring complications such as kidney disease and retinopathy. It is clinically found that after the incidence of diabetes has increased, the peak of complications is coming." Tong Xiaolin said.

In addition to genetics, bad lifestyle is an important cause of disease

　　Unlike type 1 diabetes caused by congenital factors, the incidence of type 2 diabetes is mostly related to poor lifestyles.

"Diabetes is classified as a'lifestyle disease' in some countries," Tong Xiaolin said.

　　"The rhythm of modern society is tense, young people often eat irregularly, like frying, barbecue, spicy and other'heavy taste' foods, and often drink drinks with a lot of added sugar. The daily commute is mainly driven by driving and public transportation, and physical activity is reduced. I don’t usually exercise. These lifestyle habits of “eat more and less exercise” can easily lead to obesity, insulin resistance, glucose metabolism disorders, and even type 2 diabetes.” Weng Jianping said.

　　"With the development of the economy and society and the acceleration of the pace of life, people's lives and occupations are under greater pressure, sleep time and sleep quality are reduced, and the body is in a stressful environment for a long time." Tong Xiaolin said, increased stress, mood swings, long-term anxiety, etc. Both are important factors that induce diabetes.

　　"From the observation of outpatient clinics, in the past few years, most of the patients with type 2 diabetes were middle-aged and elderly people over the age of 40 or 50, and the young people mostly suffered from type 1 diabetes, which was basically unrelated to lifestyle. Nowadays, many type 2 diabetes The patients were relatively young when they were diagnosed, and they often have features such as obesity, unhealthy diet, and little exercise." said Luo Yingying, deputy chief physician of the Department of Endocrinology, Peking University People's Hospital. This is a common feeling between her and many clinicians.

Prevention is the key, early detection and early treatment are important

　　Statistics show that in 2019, my country's health expenditure on diabetes exceeded US$100 billion, which has brought a huge burden to society and families.

　　"A complete diabetes education and management system should be established, and the public can use mobile phones or the Internet to popularize diabetes health education related information." Tong Xiaolin said that once diagnosed with diabetes, they should receive comprehensive diabetes health education to master diabetes and its complications. Symptom-related knowledge and self-management skills.

　　"Healthy living habits not only help prevent diabetes, but also help reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and other diseases." Weng Jianping suggested that people over 40 years old are sedentary, overweight and obese, have a history of gestational diabetes, and have a family history of diabetes. People who are in high risk of diabetes should go to the hospital for diabetes screening as soon as possible.

　　Weng Jianping said that for patients with prediabetes, the results of a number of intervention studies on prediabetic populations at home and abroad have all suggested that active lifestyle intervention can prevent or delay the occurrence of diabetes.

　　Tong Xiaolin said that many diabetic patients have insufficient knowledge or misunderstandings about this disease, which brings certain challenges to the early diagnosis and early treatment of diabetes.

　　"Early detection and early treatment can control blood sugar to the greatest extent and delay the emergence of complications." Luo Yingying said that for a healthier future, the prevention and treatment of diabetes must be moved forward, especially for high-risk populations to regularly check blood sugar.

"Although diabetes is difficult to cure, many patients have undergone standardized treatment and still have no complications after being diagnosed with diabetes for decades."