Early treatment and early prevention, don't be a "sugar man"

Early treatment and early prevention, don't be a "sugar man"

——Doctors from the Endocrine and Metabolic Center will help you understand type 2 diabetes

"My blood sugar indicators have been within the normal range in recent months. After this follow-up visit, I will stick to a healthy lifestyle when I go back." On October 7, Mr. Liu, who suffers from type 2 diabetes, came to the Endocrine and Metabolic Center of the Municipal Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (Municipal People's Hospital) for a follow-up visit. The director of the center, Wu Shengli, put forward specific requirements on how to maintain blood sugar stability in the later stage.

Mr. Liu, 34 years old this year, is 170 cm tall and weighs 83 kg. He needs to sit for a long time at work, and has an irregular diet and rarely exercises. In a physical examination one year ago, it was found that his fasting blood sugar reached 10.8mmol/l. He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at the Endocrine Metabolism Center of the Municipal Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (Municipal People's Hospital). The expert team of the center developed a "type 2 diabetes relief treatment" plan for Mr. Liu on a "one-to-one" basis. Through this treatment plan, Mr. Liu's weight dropped to 74 kg after 3 months, and his fasting blood sugar dropped to 5.8mmol/L after reexamination. He also adjusted the hypoglycemic drugs under the guidance of the doctor. Mr. Liu saw the results of the reexamination, and his confidence increased greatly. He continued to manage his diet and exercised every day. His weight gradually dropped to 75 kg. In the subsequent reexamination, Mr. Liu's examination results showed that diabetes had been relieved. The doctor told him that he could stop taking the medicine and only needed lifestyle management, but daily testing and follow-up were still necessary.

Common diseases need more attention

What is type 2 diabetes? Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. Because it often occurs in adults, it is also called adult-onset diabetes. The disease is caused by a variety of factors that lead to pancreatic dysfunction in the body, resulting in high blood sugar levels, which further damages large blood vessels, microvessels, nerves, heart, kidneys, eyes and other organs.

Who are the high-risk groups for type 2 diabetes? Wu Shengli pointed out that the following groups are prone to the disease: first, people over 40 years old. As they age, their physical functions decline, and the probability of problems with their body metabolism increases. Second, people who are overweight, obese, and/or have central obesity are the high-risk groups, because obesity is an important cause of type 2 diabetes. Third, sitting for a long time can also cause the disease: because patients sit still for a long time without exercising, it may cause sugar metabolism disorders, which will accumulate in the body for a long time and cause diabetes.
In addition, genetic factors cannot be ignored. Since diabetes may be affected by genetic factors, patients whose parents have diabetes are more likely to develop the disease. Finally, patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and polycystic ovary disease may also become ill due to the disorder of sugar metabolism caused by the disease.

If treatment is not timely, there will be many harms

In recent years, the prevalence of diabetes in my country has continued to rise. The "2020 China Type 2 Diabetes Prevention and Treatment Guidelines" show that the prevalence of diabetes in my country is as high as 11.2%, with more than 100 million people suffering from the disease, and it has become the second largest chronic disease.

Insulin plays an important role in human metabolism. When you eat, the sugar in the food enters the blood, and the pancreas secretes insulin to convert the sugar into cellular energy. Insulin also stores excess sugar in the liver for future use. Under normal circumstances, the insulin level of ordinary people will fluctuate with blood sugar levels, but when the function of the pancreas in the body decreases, insulin can no longer regulate blood sugar normally.

Why is type 2 diabetes so harmful? Diabetes is clinically divided into type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes, of which type 2 diabetes is more common and more harmful. Because type 2 diabetes has a higher blood sugar level, it is easy to cause serious complications such as infectious diseases, diabetic ketoacidosis, diabetic nephropathy, diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic foot.

New dawn: "Remission therapy for type 2 diabetes"

What is remission therapy for type 2 diabetes? Remission therapy for type 2 diabetes is also commonly called reversal therapy for type 2 diabetes. It means that after the treatment and comprehensive management guidance of a doctor, blood sugar levels of type 2 diabetes can still be at the target or normal state when hypoglycemic drugs are discontinued. Generally, the standard for remission of type 2 diabetes is that the glycosylated hemoglobin index is less than 6.5% after the patient stops taking hypoglycemic drugs for at least 3 months.

What is the scientific basis for the remission treatment of type 2 diabetes? According to the article "Chinese Expert Consensus on Remission of Type 2 Diabetes" published in the 9th issue of Volume 29 of the "Chinese Journal of Diabetes" in September 2021, "diabetes can be remitted (reversed)" is clearly defined and explained; at the same time, it points out that multidisciplinary experts such as endocrinology, nutrition, and exercise need to jointly manage and integrate personalized professional nutrition and exercise prescriptions into daily management, so as to help more patients achieve remission.

Can “type 2 diabetes remission therapy” make patients “rest assured”?

In order to achieve the goal of alleviating the disease, early detection, early diagnosis and standardized treatment of type 2 diabetes are very important. "Since diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease that is closely related to lifestyle, it is recommended that young people stay up less late, drink less sugary drinks, exercise appropriately and live a regular life, keep a happy mood, stay away from obesity, and avoid becoming a 'small sugar man'." Wu Shengli said that after the patient is diagnosed, he must join the chronic disease management, and the "diabetes specialist and nutritionist" will formulate a control treatment follow-up plan. At the same time, patients also need to face their condition, maintain confidence, and actively adjust their lifestyle on the basis of treatment to maximize the role of comprehensive treatment, so as to achieve the alleviation of type 2 diabetes.