Among the most common chronic diseases, diabetes mellitus is far from the last place in the modern world. This disease is expressed in an increase in the level of glucose in the blood cells. In healthy people, the corresponding level is always normal, regardless of the amount of sweets consumed. It's all about the presence in the body of insulin - a special hormone secreted by the pancreas. It is he who breaks down glucose.
Diabetic patients also have insulin in the blood, but it is either insufficient, or it cannot cope with its function due to the special pathology of the blood cells. The statistics are disappointing: many people skip the early stages of the disease's development, start its journey, and turn to a specialist only when the symptoms become so severe that they interfere with normal life and work.
Type of disease
This disease is manifested by various symptoms. Different forms of the disease occur for different reasons and have different pathogenesis. By itself, the concept of "diabetes" is quite broad. Experts distinguish 2 types of disease.
type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is insulin dependent. It is most often diagnosed in young people, whose age does not exceed 40 years. This is a disease in which the blood cells are filled with sugar. The reason is the antibodies that destroy insulin. Diseases, the occurrence of which is associated with the presence of such antibodies, are not completely cured.
Diagnosis of this disease involves conducting serious laboratory tests. Such a diagnosis is not made from a photo, so you cannot trust people who try to tell someone about his illness without seeing the test results. At the first suspicion of illness, you should immediately contact a medical institution.
People with type 1 diabetes tend to have a thin physique. They require regular insulin injections from the time the disease is diagnosed until the end of their lives. The medical history of such patients is standard. This disease is hereditary.
Those who have diabetes in their family have a genetic predisposition to the disease. The chronic variant of this type of disease occurs in them under certain conditions. It can be provoked by various viruses and bacteria, as well as strong or long-term stress. Due to these negative factors, antibodies are formed that can destroy the cells responsible for the presence of insulin.
type 2 diabetes
Insulin-free, the second type of the disease is often diagnosed in older people. This is a variant of the disease, which is characterized by the inability of insulin to cope with its main function. Sugar cannot be broken down by itself and accumulates in the blood. Gradually, the body's cells develop an "addiction" to insulin. The hormone itself is produced, there is no deficiency in it, but the glucose in the cells is not broken down.
The insulin-free variant of the disease has its own progressive course. As a rule, this disease is detected in people over the age of forty, but sometimes it is found even in children. Patients with this type of diabetes mellitus are overweight. The blood cells of such people can no longer see any effect of insulin.
Characteristics of type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is the result of insufficient secretion (release) of insulin by the pancreas. Experts show characteristic symptoms that make it possible to suspect the presence of this disease in a person even at an early stage. Among them: constant thirst, excessive urination, fatigue, chronic weakness. It is necessary to determine the level of glucose and insulin in the blood. If the diagnosis is confirmed, immediate treatment is prescribed, otherwise the patient may suffer from ulcers and various other complications.
Why does type 1 diabetes develop? The classical school of medicine gives a clear answer to this question. The main cause of this disease is a pancreatic disorder, where the production of insulin stops or slows down significantly. It should also be noted that pregnant women have what is called gestational diabetes, which is associated with the risk of developing an insulin-dependent form of the disease.
Don't forget to discuss very specific topics and symptoms. Type 1 diabetes is often accompanied by the formation of acetone odor in the oral cavity. This is the first bell of the body, which should warn and encourage a person to contact a specialist. The sooner in this case the patient gets to the doctor, the more likely the disease can be detected at an early stage. However, often people, and especially men, neglect to visit a specialist and live for a year or several years, not even knowing about their diagnosis, until it becomes completely unbearable.
Indirect signs of type 1 diabetes mellitus include:
- Complications in the treatment of infectious diseases;
- Poor wound healing;
- Heaviness in the legs;
- Pain in the calf muscles;
It is also important to remember that people suffering from this disease must constantly monitor their own blood pressure and maintain its normal condition with modern medicines. Specific drugs should be prescribed exclusively by a specialist, based on the diagnosis and individual characteristics of the patient.
How to detect type 1 diabetes?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined the procedures that people should go through if they suspect the presence of this disease. Their list includes:
- Blood test for glucose;
- Glucose tolerance studies;
- Detection of glucose levels in urine;
- Calculation of the percentage of glycosylated hemoglobin;
- Detection of insulin and C-peptide in blood.
You should know that blood must be taken for analysis on an empty stomach. The results of the study are compared with the value of the glucose level in a special table. If this level:
- Not reaching 6. 1 mmol / l - no hyperglycemia, the disease is excluded;
- It is in the range from 6. 1 to 7. 0 mmol / l - the level of glycemia is close to the maximum allowed;
- More than 7. 0 mmol / l - the presence of the disease is very likely, but an accurate diagnosis requires additional confirmation.
The pre-diabetic state of a person is indicated by a violation of glucose tolerance - an increase in glycemia, which, however, has not exceeded the permissible limit. Patients with such findings require further monitoring and prophylaxis.
How is type 1 diabetes treated?
There are the following treatments for this disease: special diet, exercise, medications.
A properly selected nutritional system helps reduce the main symptoms of diabetes. The main task of the diet is to limit the intake of sugar into the body as much as possible.
How to treat the disease? In situations with type 1 disease, in most cases, regular insulin injections are absolutely necessary. Experts determine the optimal daily dose of this hormone for each patient individually.
Preparations containing insulin are absorbed into the blood at different rates and act for different times. It is necessary to choose a suitable place for injection. There are several types of these hormones:
- Short-acting insulin: the effect can be seen almost immediately;
- Intermediate insulin is delivered to the body through a special preparation that contains substances that slow down the absorption of the hormone. This medicine works for about 10 hours;
- Long-acting insulin. It is supplied to the body through some special drugs. It should take about 14 hours to reach peak effectiveness. Hubbub is valid for at least a day and a half.
As a rule, patients make the introduction of drugs themselves, after learning how to give injections themselves under the guidance of a specialist.
Doctors build a treatment regimen in a special way based on the patient's presentation, reflecting factors such as:
- Growth;
- Heavy;
- age;
- Sensitivity to insulin.
If a diabetic patient is overweight, then a mandatory treatment and prevention measure is to reduce the percentage of high-calorie foods in the menu. It is dangerous to use canned food, fatty meat, smoked food, sour cream, mayonnaise, nuts, and many fruits. We need to forget sweets. This is especially difficult if the disease is diagnosed in children or in women who tend to indulge themselves.
We need to find ways to reduce the amount of high-calorie foods. There is an energy deficit, and the body uses adipose tissue. However, keep in mind that you should not bring yourself to energy exhaustion.
Physical activity helps lower blood sugar levels. Moderate workload required. Exercise should be done regularly, dosed. No need to tire yourself with heavy loads. Adequate aerobic exercise.
The so-called insulin pump can significantly improve the patient's quality of life. These are devices from the electronic world that accurately determine the level of sugar in the blood, and based on the readings received, they independently carry out dosed insulin injections. They make treatment more effective and minimize the risk of complications.
How to store insulin supplies?
Opened bottles can be stored at room temperature for no more than six weeks. They should be kept in a place where sunlight or artificial light does not penetrate. Do not store preparations containing insulin near heat sources.
The unacceptability of using the drug is indicated by the formation of a characteristic film or clot in the bottle, visually similar to debris. These signals play an important role. The use of expired drugs threatens to increase the problem with this disease and can even lead to fatal consequences.
type 2 diabetes mellitus
The pancreas of those with type 2 diabetes produces enough insulin on its own, but the body cannot absorb this hormone due to dysfunctional cell receptors. Glucose is not processed properly, as a result, blood vessels are damaged, as well as internal organs. This can be especially dangerous during pregnancy. However, the non-insulin-dependent form is typical for older people.
The second type of diabetes is formed for certain reasons, the main ones are considered to be overweight and genetic predisposition to the disease. According to statistics, about 80% of type 2 diabetes patients are obese. Can you recover completely by losing weight on your own? The answer here will be negative, but as a preventive measure, this measure can be very effective. According to the generally accepted scientific concept, excess fat cells prevent the body from using insulin.
Symptoms and complications of type 2 diabetes
The symptoms of the first and second types of the disease are similar in many respects: strong thirst is accompanied by excessive urination, a person always feels unwell - weakness and fatigue, bouts of irritability, sometimes nausea and vomiting.
Particular attention should be paid to possible complications. According to the latest International Classification of Diseases (MBC 10), their list is quite extensive and causes significant concern to patients. If the blood is full of glucose, then pathological changes in almost any internal organ cannot be avoided. In advanced stages of the disease, patients are also given disabilities.
In patients with type 2 diabetes, the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke, all types of kidney disease, and visual impairment is significantly increased. Even small wounds do not heal for a long time. Sometimes this disease can lead to gangrene, which may require amputation of the injured limb. List of complications for men complete impotence. Such a serious list of negative aspects obliges experts to continue to search for the most effective therapy today.
What should be done when you find signs of illness?
If there is the first suspicion of diabetes in the second form, it is urgent to undergo a medical examination. People who are aware of their genetic predisposition to this disease should regularly monitor the sugar content in the blood and urine. This is especially true for people over the age of 50, as well as all those who are overweight.
If the diagnosis has been established, the patient should be under medical supervision and visit a specialist regularly.
For people with type 2 diabetes, doctors prescribe:
- Controls glucose and cholesterol levels, as well as body weight;
- Change your own diet by adding low-calorie foods to the menu, where there should be as little sugar as possible. You need to eat more complex carbohydrates and foods with vegetable fiber;
- Exercise regularly.
Patients need to learn how to determine the level of glucose in the blood independently. Today, there are special devices that make it easy to do this at home. They are called glucometers.
It is necessary to always observe strict self-control. Treatment is closely related to diet and exercise therapy. This point effectively complements therapy based on the use of sugar-lowering drugs, which are called in medicine as incretin mimetics. Most often, these are tablets, not injections, as is the case with drugs containing insulin.
Certain drugs should be prescribed exclusively by the doctor, based on all the data he has about the patient. He must individually determine the frequency of subsequent visits. It is necessary to carry out many tests, to determine the general condition of the patient, whether there is a risk of complications, prevention that requires additional treatment.
With the help of the results of many scientific studies, experts were able to find that, along with weight loss, the disease becomes weaker. As a result, the symptoms are less painful for patients, and their quality of life improves significantly.
Recently, a new drug, Chinese diabetes patch, has been widely advertised in the media. The manufacturer promises an almost magical effect, urging you not to save money and buy their products. However, conventional medical practitioners are skeptical about this treatment option. If you read the reviews on the Internet about this patch, they are very contradictory. Some wrote that they supposedly helped. Others are really disappointed with this drug.
Preventive measures
Competent experts in the medical field have long proven that stress is a factor that provokes the development of many diseases. It can also contribute to the onset of diabetes, so you should avoid anxiety and try not to overreact to any problems in life.
As mentioned above, you should exercise and monitor your own diet. There are specially designed diets that are beneficial for the health of such patients. If you strictly follow the doctor's recommendations, you can significantly improve your quality of life, getting rid of most of the symptoms that accompany this disease.
It is necessary to exclude certain products from the menu. Often, experts prescribe a diet called 9. The goal is to minimize the consumption of foods that contain a large amount of carbohydrates. It has been proven that in patients who use this diet, the work of the pancreas improves significantly.
What products are allowed to eat? Their list includes: low-fat types of meat and fish; cabbage, cucumber, eggplant, tomato and zucchini; buckwheat, barley, cereals and oats. Apples and strawberries are also allowed, but in moderation. Dairy products can only be eaten low-fat. After such a meal, the blood sugar level will not rise to an unacceptable level.
In the medical selection of the menu, the structural composition of the food must be taken into account. The diet should include:
- 55% animal grade protein (80-90 grams).
- 30% vegetable fat (70-80 grams).
- 300-350 grams of carbohydrates.
- 12 grams of table salt
- One and a half liters of liquid.
Do not consume more than 2200-2400 kcal per day. You need to eat 5-6 times a day, evenly "spreading" the consumption of carbohydrates over time. Sugar needs to be eliminated. Sweet treats are provided in small quantities, and only with sugar substitutes such as stevia, sorbitol or xylitol.
Salt intake should also be limited. The cooking method is important. Boiled and baked dishes should be prioritized in the diet. Fried and boiled foods are acceptable to eat in minimal amounts. There are recipes designed specifically for diabetics. Following them, you can cook delicious dishes that will not harm your health.
During the day you need to adhere to a certain menu. So, diet number 9 can be represented by:
- In the morning: tea, buckwheat porridge, fat-free cottage cheese, milk;
- Second course: wheat bran (boiled);
- Lunch: cabbage soup with sunflower oil (vegetarian), fruit jelly, boiled meat with milk sauce;
- Afternoon snack: a small number of apples;
- Dinner: stewed fish baked in milk sauce, as well as a cabbage dish.
What they eat all week
Table number 9 is the result of the work of Soviet nutritionists. They create a selection of foods suitable for specific sanatoriums. The ninth schedule significantly increases the effectiveness of complex therapy.
The menu for this week looks like this:
Monday
- Breakfast: chicory, fat-free cottage cheese with milk, porridge (buckwheat).
- Lunch: 200 ml of milk.
- Lunch: vegetarian cabbage soup, white bird breast, fruit jelly.
- Afternoon: apple.
- Dinner: boiled fish, tea, cabbage dish.
- Before bed: a glass of low-fat yogurt.
Tuesday
- First course: barley, chicken egg, chicory, boiled cabbage.
- Lunch: a glass of milk (only low-fat is suitable).
- Lunch: mashed potatoes, boiled beef liver, orange soup, dried fruit compote.
- Afternoon snack: fruit jelly.
- Dinner: boiled chicken, boiled cabbage.
- Before bed: low-fat kefir.
Wednesday
- First course: fat-free cottage cheese and milk, chicory, oatmeal.
- Lunch: one cup of jelly.
- Lunch: borscht, boiled meat, buckwheat porridge, tea.
- Afternoon snack: a pear or two.
- Dinner: salad or vinaigrette, eggs, tea.
- Before bed: a glass of low-fat yogurt.
Thursday
- First course: buckwheat porridge, chicory, low-fat cottage cheese.
- Second breakfast: kefir.
- Lunch: lean borscht, dried fruit compote, stewed meat.
- Afternoon snack: unsweetened pears.
- For dinner: cabbage schnitzel, low-fat tea-type boiled fish.
- Before bed: a glass of fat-free yogurt.
Friday
- First course: eggs, a little butter, potato-free vinaigrette with sunflower oil, chicory.
- Lunch: apple.
- Lunch: sauerkraut, boiled or stewed meat, soup with beans.
- Afternoon snack: some fresh fruit.
- Dinner: pudding with vegetables, boiled chicken meat, tea.
- Before going to bed: a glass of condensed milk.
Saturday
- First course: cereal porridge, chicory, a little doctor's sausage.
- Lunch: wheat bran.
- Lunch: boiled meat, mashed potatoes, seafood soup.
- Afternoon snack: a glass of low-fat kefir.
- Dinner: low-fat cottage cheese, tea, oatmeal.
Sunday
- First course: chicken egg, chicory, buckwheat porridge.
- Lunch: an apple or two.
- Lunch: beef cutlet, light vegetable soup, pearl barley porridge.
- Afternoon snack: skim milk.
- Dinner: vegetable salad, boiled fish, mashed potatoes.
- Before bed: low-fat kefir.
Folk treatment methods
In folk medicine, there are many recipes that, with varying degrees of effectiveness, help fight high blood sugar. Certified doctors are often skeptical about such treatment methods, but do not prohibit patients from using them together with the main therapy. This "integrated approach" often gives positive results, allowing patients to reduce the manifestation of painful symptoms.
The most effective traditional medicine recipe:
- For prevention, eggs with the addition of lemon juice will help. Shake the contents of a raw egg, add the juice of a lemon. Reception 50-60 minutes before meals, 3 days, in the morning. After ten days, the course can be taken again.
- In the morning, eat grilled onions for a month.
- A good way to lower your glucose levels is to consume a small amount of mustard or flax seeds every day, as well as black currant leaf tea.
- The use of freshly squeezed potato juice contributes to a decrease in sugar levels. Raspberries and white cabbage are also used.
- White mulberry color (2 tablespoons) is prepared by pouring boiling water (2 cups), infusion time is 2-3 hours, taken 3 times a day.
- Do not forget about folk remedies such as boiling oats. Pour a spoonful of oatmeal with water (one and a half glasses), then boil for 15 minutes, the course is 3 r / d 15-20 minutes before eating.
- Helps cinnamon - half a teaspoon a day. Drink with tea.
- Grind the oak seeds until a powder is obtained. Course - 1 hour / l on an empty stomach in the morning, as well as immediately before going to bed for seven days.
- Pour walnut blocks (40 g) with boiling water (500 ml) and bake. Boil ten minutes. Insist until soft, drink 1 tablespoon / l half an hour before meals.
- Pour boiling water (half a liter) aspen bark (2 tablespoons), put everything on the fire and cook for about 10 minutes. After insisting, drink half a glass before eating.
- An effective infusion is prepared from a glass of boiling water, which is poured over cloves (20 pieces). Insist overnight, drink exactly one third of a glass three times a day. Do not remove the used cloves, add another pinch in the evening, pour more boiling water, etc. The course of treatment is six months.
- Mix half a liter of boiling water with two tablespoons of nettle mixture with rowan berries in the ratio: three to seven. Leave for about three to four hours. Take half a glass twice a day.
- Pour burdock root (20 g) with boiling water (a glass), boil in a water bath for about 10 minutes. The course is 3 times a day for the table / bed before meals.
All information provided to readers in the article is for informational purposes only. Before using the information obtained in practice, be sure to consult about the possible consequences with a competent specialist!