Well-treated diabetes allows for an active life. However, Lech Wałęsa, who suffers from it, is waiting for a revolution in medicine. The former president hopes that he will still be able to eat sweets without restrictions.
Lech Wałęsa found out that he had diabetes 20 years ago during a blood test. However, doctors suspect that he got sick earlier. Unfortunately, although this disease wreaks havoc in the body, it does not give any symptoms and that is why half of diabetics do not even know that they are ill. The time between getting sick and starting treatment is three to ten years. – The patient begins to feel symptoms only when the blood sugar level exceeds 200. Meanwhile, the norms are 90–110 – explains prof. Krzysztof Strojek is a national consultant in the field of diabetology. Therefore, everyone should have their blood sugar tested every three years. If, on the other hand, he is obese, he has high blood pressure, too high cholesterol or there has been a history of diabetes in his family – once a year.
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Wałęsa admits that he always tried to avoid doctors. Meanwhile, had he been tested more often, the disease would have been diagnosed in him earlier. Fortunately, she didn’t have time to do much damage. Professor Strojek explains that diabetics die mainly as a result of complications of this disease. It is the first cause of blindness in adults, dialysis and limb amputation. It shortens life by 5-6 years. Unfortunately, half of the people diagnosed with diabetes already have complications.
Recommendations in diabetes
Lech Wałęsa believes that diabetes teaches discipline. You must remember to measure your blood sugar level and take insulin every day. In addition, it is extremely important to follow dietary recommendations. As emphasized by prof. Leszek Czupryniak, president of the Polish Diabetes Association, everything we do has an impact on blood sugar levels. Lech Wałęsa admits that he likes sweets very much. – I am from a generation that in childhood could not eat sweets, and now, when I can afford it, I cannot – complains the Polish Nobel Prize winner. – Diabetes was similar to politics. I did not want to be a politician, but I had to. I didn’t want to have diabetes either, and she came – he jokes. However, he adds that if you stick to discipline, you can lead an active lifestyle with this disease. He travels a lot himself. He also emphasizes that he has a very good doctor who helps him keep his disease in check.
Dr. Elżbieta Orłowska-Kunikowska, who cures the former president, says that it took her a long time to discipline the patient. – He has a garden and there are fruit trees that he loves. Sometimes it’s hard to resist not trying all these fruits. The most important thing, however, is that he can admit his mistakes. After all, we all commit them, says Orłowska-Kunikowska. Prof. Strojek explains that in the case of the former president, overweight is an additional problem. – A diabetic who is not obese can afford 2-3 fruits a day, he can also eat a cookie if he takes the appropriate additional dose of insulin – explains the national consultant.
However, Lech Wałęsa hopes that doctors will manage to make a revolution in medicine. – Perhaps it will be possible to transplant the pancreas in order to get rid of the disease completely – says Wałęsa. Prof. However, Strojek explains that a pancreatic transplant or an artificial pancreas can only be a solution in the case of type I diabetes. – Meanwhile, the future of medicine in type II diabetes, which Lech Wałęsa suffers from, is to control the obesity epidemic – he explains. prof. Outfit. He says that he recently trained diabetologists in the Arab Emirates. There, since the discovery of oil deposits, the number of diabetics has increased from 2% to 25%. – This is the effect of the Western lifestyle – driving everywhere and excessive amounts of too caloric food – explains prof. Outfit. An epidemic awaits us.
Diabetes epidemic
Unfortunately, there will be more and more diabetics. The obesity epidemic awaits us, and thus – a twofold increase in the number of diabetics. If we do not change our lifestyle, the prevalence of diabetes among adult Poles will increase from 25% to 6% in the next 12 years. Therefore, it is extremely important to prevent this disease. You need to eat properly and not get overweight, be physically active at least three times a week for 45 minutes and stop smoking. It is also necessary to test blood sugar levels regularly – every three years – in order to quickly start diabetes treatment before it wreaks havoc on our body. That is why the Polish Diabetes Association is planning several educational campaigns next year. He wants – following the example of Lech Wałęsa – famous Poles suffering from diabetes to start talking about their disease. It also intends to carry out a campaign popularizing the prevention of diabetes through physical activity 10 steps further from diabetes. As explained by prof. Czupryniak, if walking is to have a positive effect on our body, it must be about 10 steps, or several kilometers. Meanwhile, people working in an office or behind the wheel sometimes do not even cover 2 steps a day.