Master diabetes knowledge and control blood sugar well

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a syndrome of metabolic disorders of sugar, protein, fat, water and electrolytes caused by various pathogenic factors acting on the body, leading to pancreatic islet dysfunction and insulin resistance. Clinically, high blood sugar is the main feature, and typical cases may show polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia and weight loss, namely the "three mores and one less" symptom. Diabetes is a very old disease, which is called "xiaoke" in traditional Chinese medicine, which means weight loss and thirst.

The dangers of diabetes

As the disease progresses, blood sugar levels exceed the upper limit of the normal range for a long time, and diabetic patients will develop peripheral vascular and peripheral neuropathy, gradually developing multi-system damage, and easily causing chronic progressive lesions of tissues and organs such as the eyes, feet, cardiovascular system, kidneys, and nerves. In severe cases, functional impairment and failure will occur, which can lead to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, blindness, renal failure, amputation, etc., seriously endangering people's health.

Types of diabetes

Diabetes is usually divided into two types: type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes often develops in adolescence. The pathogenesis may be the destruction of pancreatic β cells, which leads to an absolute lack of insulin or a significant reduction. Peripheral tissues cannot properly utilize glucose, resulting in hyperglycemia, which in turn causes diabetes. The typical clinical manifestations are "three mores and one less", namely, more drinking, more urination, more eating, and weight loss.

Type 2 diabetes often develops in adults, and is mainly caused by insulin resistance or insufficient secretion, or both. Typical symptoms are obesity, especially abdominal obesity, and polydipsia and polyuria.

Diagnosis of diabetes

The typical symptoms of diabetes patients are "three mores and one less", that is, "eating more, drinking more, urinating more" and weight loss, but these symptoms cannot be used as the basis for diagnosing diabetes. In other words, the absence of typical symptoms of diabetes cannot rule out the presence of diabetes. In addition, the diagnosis of diabetes is based on venous blood sugar concentration, not urine sugar. In other words, positive urine sugar does not necessarily mean diabetes, and negative urine sugar cannot rule out diabetes. Although the name of this disease is diabetes, it must be determined based on blood sugar results.

If there are typical symptoms of "three mores and one less", plus random blood sugar ≥ 11.1mmol/L, or fasting blood sugar ≥ 7mmol/L, or blood sugar ≥ 11.1mmol/L two hours after an oral glucose tolerance test, diabetes can be diagnosed. If there are no typical symptoms, blood sugar needs to be rechecked on another day, that is, blood sugar values ​​must reach the above values ​​at least twice in two days to diagnose diabetes. When a routine physical examination finds that the blood sugar concentration is elevated but does not meet the diagnostic criteria for diabetes, a further glucose tolerance test is required to determine whether you have diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance.

Scientific treatment

Nutritional therapy, exercise therapy, drug therapy, health education and blood sugar monitoring are five comprehensive treatment measures for diabetes. Self-monitoring of blood sugar should be carried out under the guidance of professional medical staff. Go to the hospital regularly for blood sugar and heart, kidney, fundus and other functional tests to prevent and treat various complications in time. Diabetic patients can significantly reduce the risk of diabetic complications by taking measures to lower blood sugar, lower blood pressure, adjust blood lipids and control weight, correct bad living habits such as quitting smoking, limiting alcohol, controlling oil, reducing salt and increasing physical activity. Actively treat diabetes, steadily control the disease, and delay complications, so that diabetic patients can enjoy life like normal people.

About the Author

Gu Xiulian, Tiantan Xiaotangshan Rehabilitation Center

Chief physician, graduated from PLA Medical College, Master of Clinical Medicine. Specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of common and frequently occurring diseases in internal medicine, and has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of common diseases of the cardiovascular, respiratory and endocrine systems.