Diabetes is even more dangerous during the coronavirus epidemic

The SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus pandemic continues, shaking our daily lives and obscuring other health concerns. However, we must not forget that in its background, for several decades, another, dangerous epidemic, which is diabetes, has been developing.

Diabetes mellitus – the first non-infectious epidemic

The WHO more than 10 years ago identified diabetes as the first non-communicable epidemic. 463 million people around the world struggle with it. There are over 3 million people suffering from diabetes in Poland. What is most dangerous in this disease is the lack of symptoms in its initial stage, especially in type 2 diabetes. The fight against this invisible enemy must therefore focus on prevention and keeping blood sugar under control.

Experts warn that diabetics with poorly controlled glycaemia are patients at high risk of a severe course of infection if they develop COVID-19. This proves that even more so now, during the coronavirus pandemic, the course of diabetes and glycaemia should be particularly monitored.

1. See also: What diseases increase the risk of death from coronavirus infection?

Diabetes – how many people are sick?

The number of diabetics continues to grow. Experts estimate that the number of patients increases by an average of 2,5% annually. Data from IDF (International Diabetes Federation, organizer and promoter of the World Diabetes Day celebration) are alarming: by 2030, the number of people with diabetes could rise to 578 millionand these are data for adult patients only.

Half of the currently estimated 463 million patients remain undiagnosed, which means that 232 million people worldwide are unaware that the disease, while developing asymptomatically, wreaks progressive destruction in their bodies.

Type 2 diabetes is the most dangerous

The vast majority of people with diabetes are patients with type 2 diabetes. Poland does not differ from these statistics. After the age of 60, every fourth person has diabetes. After 80, every second. It is a very common disease, so it is so important that after the age of 45, everyone with risk factors for developing diabetes, i.e. overweight, sedentary lifestyle, high blood pressure or family history of diabetes, should check their blood sugar once a year. .

– Diabetes mellitus is for some time invisible. It affects a huge number of people, and at the same time develops asymptomatically for a long time, and even when it is diagnosed, it may not cause significant symptoms for several years. For these reasons, it is underestimated in the context of preventive measures. And the key to not getting diabetes is, on the one hand, leading the healthiest lifestyle possible, and on the other hand, reacting quickly as soon as blood sugar levels start to rise., reaching values ​​characteristic of pre-diabetes. At this stage, it is relatively easy to return to the proper regulation of blood glucose levels by increasing physical activity and modifying the diet, says Prof. dr hab. n. med. Krzysztof Strojek, National consultant in the field of diabetes.

Recommendations for Diabetes Patients During the Coronavirus Pandemic

During the coronavirus pandemic, it is more common than before that civilization and chronic diseases, such as diabetes are neglected. It is more difficult to obtain medical advice and it is more difficult to maintain the current regime in everyday life without constant medical and nursing supervision.

But with the pandemic, medical recommendations for diabetes control have not changed.

– We constantly appeal to patients to maintain correct levels of sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol. Pandemic stress, changes in the rhythm of life, and sometimes quarantine-induced diets are indications for more frequent sugar measurements. The situation requires even greater mobilization from patients: uncontrolled diabetes, in the case of falling ill with COVID-19, greatly exacerbates the course of the disease – appeals prof. dr hab. n. med. Dorota Zozulińska-Ziółkiewicz, President of the Polish Diabetes Society, Head of the Department of Diabetology and Internal Diseases at the Medical University of Poznań.

More information on the World Diabetes Day celebrations can be found on FB: https://www.facebook.com/10tysiecyKrokow and on Twitter: @ 1Krokow

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