Among the most common chronic diseases, diabetes mellitus is far from the last place in the modern world. This disease results in an increase in the level of glucose in the blood cells. In a healthy person, the corresponding level is always normal, regardless of the amount of sweets consumed. It all depends on the presence in the body of insulin - a special hormone that secretes the pancreas. It is he who breaks down glucose.
Diabetic patients also have insulin in the blood, but either it is not enough or it is not able to cope with its functions due to a particular blood cell pathology. The statistics are disappointing: many people skip the early stage of the development of the disease, starting its course, and turn to specialists only when the symptoms become so severe that they interfere with normal life and work.
Types of diseases
The disease is manifested by multiple symptoms. Different forms of this disease occur for different reasons and have different pathogenesis. In itself, the concept of "diabetes" is quite broad. Experts distinguish 2 types of the 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 antibodies that destroy insulin. The disease, the appearance of which is associated with the presence of such antibodies, is not completely cured.
The diagnosis of this disease involves the performance of serious laboratory tests. Such a diagnosis is not established from the photo, so you should not trust people who try to tell a person about his illness without even seeing the test results. At the first suspicion of a disease, you should immediately contact a medical institution.
People with type 1 diabetes tend to have a lean physique. They need regular insulin injections from the time the disease is diagnosed until the end of their life. The medical history of these patients is standard. The disease is hereditary.
Those who have had diabetes in their family have a genetic predisposition to this disease. A chronic variant of this type of disease occurs in them under certain circumstances. It can be brought on by a variety of 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
Independent of insulin, the second type of the disease is often diagnosed in the elderly. This is a variant of the disease, characterized by the inability of insulin to cope with its main function. Sugar cannot break down on its own and builds up in the blood. Gradually, the body's cells develop an "addiction" to insulin. The hormone itself is produced, it is not missing, but the glucose in the cells is not broken down.
The insulin-independent variant of this disease has its own progressive development. As a rule, this disease is detected in people over the age of forty, but sometimes even in children. Patients suffering from this type of diabetes mellitus are overweight. The blood cells of these people stop perceiving the effects of insulin.
Characteristics of type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is the result of insufficient secretion (release) of insulin by the pancreas. Specialists indicate characteristic symptoms that make it possible to suspect the presence of this disease in a person even in the early stages. Among them: a constant feeling of thirst, excessive urination, fatigue, a chronic feeling of weakness. It is necessary to determine the level of glucose and insulin in the blood. If the diagnosis is confirmed, treatment is immediately prescribed, otherwise the patient may develop ulcers and a wide range of other complications.
Why does type 1 diabetes develop? The classical medical school gives an unequivocal answer to this question. The main cause of this disease is a disorder of the pancreas, in which the formation of insulin stops or slows down significantly. It should also be noted that pregnant women suffer from so-called gestational diabetes, which is associated with the risk of developing an insulin-dependent form of the disease.
Let's not forget to address specific topics and symptoms. Type 1 diabetes is often accompanied by the formation of the smell of acetone in the oral cavity. These are the first bells in the body, which should alert and prompt a person to contact a specialist. In this case, the sooner the patient goes to the doctor, the more likely it is that the disease can be detected at an early stage. However, often people, and especially men, neglect to consult a specialist and live for a year or several years, without even knowing their diagnosis, until it becomes completely unbearable.
Indirect signs of form 1 diabetes mellitus include:
- Complications in the treatment of infectious diseases;
- Poor healing;
- Heaviness in the legs;
- Pain in the calf muscles;
It is also important to remember that people suffering from this disease need to constantly monitor their own blood pressure and maintain its normal state with modern drugs. Specific drugs should be prescribed exclusively by a specialist, depending on the diagnosis and the individual characteristics of the patient.
How to detect type 1 diabetes?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has outlined the procedures people should follow if they suspect the presence of this disease. Their list includes:
- Blood test for glucose;
- Glucose Tolerance Study;
- Detection of urine glucose levels;
- Calculation of the percentage of glycosylated hemoglobin;
- Detection of insulin and C-peptide in the blood.
You should know that blood must be taken for analysis on an empty stomach. The results of the study are compared with the values of the glucose level in a special table. If this level:
- Does not reach 6. 1 mmol / l - there is no hyperglycemia, the disease is excluded;
- It is between 6. 1 and 7. 0 mmol / l - the blood sugar level is close to the maximum allowed;
- Exceeds 7. 0 mmol / l - the presence of a disease is very likely, but an accurate diagnosis requires additional confirmation.
The pre-diabetic state of a person is indicated by violations of glucose tolerance - increased blood sugar levels, which, however, have not yet exceeded the permissible limits. A patient with such findings requires additional monitoring and prophylaxis.
How is type 1 diabetes treated?
There are the following treatments for this disease: a special diet, exercise, medication.
A correctly selected nutrition system helps relieve 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 type 1 disease situations, in most cases, regular insulin injections are essential. 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 at different times. It is necessary to choose the right places for injections. There are several varieties of this hormone:
- Short-acting insulin: its effect can be noticed almost instantly;
- Intermediate insulin is delivered to the body through a special preparation containing substances that slow down the absorption of the hormone. This medication works for about 10 hours;
- Long-acting insulin. It is supplied to the body by a number of special drugs. It should take about 14 hours to reach peak efficiency. The hubbub is valid for at least a day and a half.
As a rule, patients carry out the introduction of drugs on their own, having learned how to give themselves injections under the guidance of a specialist.
The doctor builds a treatment regimen in a special way depending on the patient's presentation, reflecting such factors as:
- Growth;
- The weight;
- Age;
- Insulin sensitivity.
If a diabetic patient is overweight, a mandatory measure of treatment and prevention is to reduce the percentage of high-calorie foods in the menu. It is harmful to use canned foods, fatty meats, smoked foods, sour cream, mayonnaise, nuts and many fruits. We will have to forget the sweets. This is especially difficult if the disease is diagnosed in children or in women who tend to be pampered.
We need to look for ways to reduce the amount of high calorie foods. There is an energy deficit and the body consumes fatty tissue. However, it should be remembered that you cannot bring yourself to energy depletion.
Physical activity helps lower blood sugar levels. Moderate workload required. Exercises should be done regularly, dosed. No need to wear yourself out with heavy weights. Enough aerobic exercise.
So-called insulin pumps can significantly improve the quality of life of patients. These are devices from the world of electronics that accurately determine the level of sugar in the blood and, based on the readings received, independently perform dosed injections of insulin. They make the treatment more effective and minimize the risk of complications.
How should insulin preparations be stored?
Opened vials can be stored at room temperature for up to six weeks. They should be kept in places where sunlight or artificial light does not penetrate. Do not store preparations containing insulin near heat sources.
The inadmissibility of using the drug is indicated by the formation of a characteristic film or clots inside the vial, visually similar to flakes. This signal plays an important role. The use of an expired medicine risks aggravating the problems of the disease and can even have fatal consequences.
type 2 diabetes mellitus
The pancreas of people with type 2 diabetes produces enough insulin on its own, but the body is unable to absorb this hormone due to malfunctioning cell receptors. Glucose is not processed properly, which damages blood vessels, as well as internal organs. It can be especially dangerous during pregnancy. However, the non-insulin dependent form is typical of the elderly.
Diabetes of the second variety is formed for certain reasons, the main of which are considered to be overweight and a genetic predisposition to this disease. According to statistics, about 80% of patients with type 2 diabetes are obese. Can you fully recover by reducing your own body weight? The answer here will be negative, but as a preventive measure, this measure can be very effective. According to the generally accepted scientific concept, an excess of fat cells prevents the body from using insulin.
Symptoms and Complications of Type 2 Diabetes
Symptoms of the first and second types of the disease are similar in many respects: strong thirst is accompanied by excessive urination, a person constantly 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 long and causes significant concern among patients. If the blood is full of glucose, pathological changes in almost all internal organs are inevitable. In advanced stages of the disease, patients are even disabled.
In patients with type 2 diabetes, the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke, all kinds of kidney disease and visual impairment is greatly increased. Even minor wounds do not heal for long. Sometimes the disease becomes capable of leading to gangrene, which may require the amputation of the injured limb. The list of complications for men complete impotence. Such a serious list of negative aspects forces specialists to continue to find ways for the most effective therapy today.
What to do when you find signs of illness?
If there are first suspicions of diabetes of the second form, it is urgent to undergo a medical examination. People aware of their genetic predisposition to this disease should regularly monitor the sugar content in blood and urine. This is especially true for people aged 50 and over, as well as for all overweight people.
If the diagnosis is already established, the patient should be under medical supervision and periodically consult a specialist.
For people with type 2 diabetes, doctors prescribe:
- Control glucose and cholesterol levels, as well as body weight;
- Change your own diet by adding low-calorie foods to the menu, in which there should be as little sugar as possible. You need to eat more complex carbohydrates and foods with plant fiber.
- Regular exercise.
Patients should learn to independently determine the level of glucose in the blood. Today, there are specialized devices that make it easy to do this at home. They are called glucometers.
It is necessary to constantly adhere to strict self-control. Treatment is inextricably linked to diet and exercise. These points effectively complement the therapy based on the use of hypoglycemic drugs, called in medicine mimetics of incretins. Most often, these are tablets and not injections, as is the case with medicines containing insulin.
A specific drug should be prescribed exclusively by a doctor, based on all the data available to him about the patient. He must individually determine the frequency of subsequent visits. It is necessary to carry out a lot of tests, to establish what the general condition of the patient is, whether there is a risk of developing complications, the prevention of which will require additional treatment.
Using the results of numerous scientific studies, experts were able to see that along with weight loss, the disease takes on a weaker form. As a result, its symptoms are less tormenting for patients, and their quality of life improves significantly.
Recently, a new remedy, the Chinese Diabetes Patch, has been widely publicized in the media. Its manufacturers promise an almost miraculous effect, urging you not to spare money and buy their products. However, conventional medical practitioners are skeptical of this treatment option. If you read reviews on the Internet about this patch, they are extremely contradictory. Some write that they would have helped. Others are completely disappointed with this remedy.
Preventative measures
Authoritative experts in the field of medicine have long proven that stress is a provoking factor in the development of many diseases. It can also contribute to the onset of diabetes, so you should avoid worries and try not to react less to life's problems.
As mentioned above, you should exercise and watch your own diet. There are specially designed diets that are beneficial to the health of these patients. If you strictly follow the doctor's recommendations, you can significantly improve the quality of your life, getting rid of a significant part of the symptoms that accompany this disease.
It is necessary to exclude certain products from the menu. Often, specialists prescribe the so-called 9 diet. Its goal is to minimize the consumption of foods containing a large amount of carbohydrates. It has been proven that in patients using this diet, the work of the pancreas improves significantly.
What products are allowed to be consumed? Their list includes: low-fat varieties of meat and fish; cabbage, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes and zucchini; buckwheat, barley, millet and rolled oats. Apples and strawberries are also allowed, but in moderation. Dairy products can only be consumed low in 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 is necessarily 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
- A liter and a half of liquid.
Do not consume more than 2200-2400 kcal per day. You need to eat 5-6 times a day, evenly "distributing" carbohydrate consumption over time. The sugar will have to be eliminated. Sweet dishes are prepared 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 prevail in the diet. Fried and stewed foods are acceptable for consumption in minimal quantities. There are recipes specially designed for diabetics. Following them, you can cook delicious dishes that will not harm your health.
The day you have to adhere to a certain menu. Thus, diet number 9 can be represented by:
- In the morning: tea, buckwheat porridge, fat-free cottage cheese, milk;
- Second meal: wheat bran (boiled);
- Lunch: cabbage soup with sunflower oil (vegetarian), fruit jelly, boiled meat with milk sauce;
- Afternoon snack: a small amount of apples;
- Evening meal: boiled fish cooked in milk sauce, as well as cabbage dishes.
What do they eat during the week
Table number 9 is the result of the work of Soviet nutritionists. They have created a food option suitable for specialized sanatoria. The ninth table significantly increases the effectiveness of complex therapy.
The weekly menu 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 paste.
- Afternoon: apple.
- Evening meal: boiled fish, tea, cabbage dishes.
- Before going to bed: a glass of low fat yogurt.
Tuesday
- First meal: barley, chicken egg, chicory, stewed cabbage.
- Lunch: a glass of milk (only low-fat milk is suitable).
- Lunch: mashed potatoes, boiled beef liver, pickle soup, dried fruit compote.
- Afternoon snack: fruit paste.
- Evening meal: boiled chicken, stewed cabbage.
- Before going to bed: low-fat kefir.
Wednesday
- The first meal: fat-free cottage cheese and milk, chicory, oatmeal porridge.
- Lunch: a cup of jelly.
- Lunch: borscht, boiled meat, buckwheat porridge, tea.
- Afternoon snack: a pear or two.
- Evening meal: salad or vinaigrette, egg, tea.
- Before going to bed: a glass of low fat yogurt.
Thursday
- The first meal: buckwheat porridge, chicory, low-fat cottage cheese.
- Second breakfast: kefir.
- Lunch: lean borscht, dried fruit compote, boiled meat.
- Afternoon snack: unsweetened pear.
- For an evening meal: cabbage cutlet, boiled fish of low-fat tea varieties.
- Before going to bed: a glass of fat-free yogurt.
Friday
- First meal: egg, a little butter, vinaigrette without potatoes with sunflower oil, chicory.
- Lunch: apple.
- Lunch: sauerkraut, stew or porridge, pea soup.
- Afternoon snack: some fresh fruit.
- Evening meal: blood sausage with vegetables, boiled poultry meat, tea.
- Before going to bed: a glass of curdled milk.
Saturday
- First meal: millet porridge, chicory, a bit of doctor's sausage.
- Lunch: wheat bran.
- Lunch: boiled meat, mashed potatoes, seafood soup.
- Afternoon snack: a glass of low-fat kefir.
- Evening meal: low-fat cottage cheese, tea, oatmeal.
Sunday
- First meal: chicken egg, chicory, buckwheat porridge.
- Lunch: one or two apples.
- Lunch: beef cutlet, light vegetable soup, pearl barley porridge.
- Afternoon snack: skimmed milk.
- Evening meal: vegetable salad, boiled fish, mashed potatoes.
- Before going to bed: low-fat kefir.
Folk methods of treatment
In folk medicine, there are many recipes that, with varying degrees of effectiveness, help with high blood sugar. Board-certified doctors are often skeptical of these treatment methods, but do not prohibit patients from using them in conjunction 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 recipes:
- For prevention, an egg with the addition of lemon juice will help. Shake the contents of a raw egg, add the juice of one lemon. Reception 50-60 minutes before meals, 3 days, in the morning. After ten days, the course can be resumed.
- In the morning, eat baked onions for a month.
- A good way to lower your glucose levels is to consume mustard or flaxseed daily, as well as black currant leaf tea.
- Using freshly squeezed potato juice helps reduce sugar levels. Raspberries and white cabbage are also used.
- White mulberry tincture (2 tablespoons) is prepared by pouring boiling water (2 cups), the infusion time is 2-3 hours, taken 3 times a day.
- Do not forget about such a folk remedy as an oatmeal decoction. Pour a tablespoon of oat grains with water (one and a half glasses), then boil for 15 minutes, the course is 3 r / d 15-20 minutes before meals.
- Helps cinnamon - half a teaspoon per day. To be consumed with tea.
- Grind the oak acorns until a powder is obtained. Course - 1 h / l on an empty stomach in the morning, as well as immediately before bedtime for seven days.
- Pour walnut partitions (40 g) with boiling water (500 ml) and put on fire. Boil for ten minutes. Insist until tender, drink 1 tbsp / l half an hour before meals.
- Pour boiling water (half a liter) of 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 all night, drink three times a day exactly one third of a glass. Do not remove the used cloves, add another pinch to them in the evening, again pour boiling water, etc. The duration of treatment is six months.
- Prepare half a liter of boiling water 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 roots (20 g) with boiling water (one glass), boil in a water bath for about 10 minutes. The course is 3 times a day for a table / bed before meals.
All information provided to readers in the article is for informational purposes only. Before using the obtained information in practice, be sure to consult a competent specialist about the possible consequences!