Diabetes, which affects over 2 million Poles, may cause serious complications – heart and kidney diseases, blindness, amputation of the limbs, and premature death. Patients who control its course themselves live longer and have fewer complications, experts remind.
The importance of the patients themselves in the effective treatment of diabetes was discussed by diabetologists, nutritionists and physiotherapists at the Wednesday press conference in Warsaw. An educational program called Compass of Self-Control in Diabetes, which is aimed at patients with this disease, people at risk of it, and general practitioners and nurses who treat diabetes patients on a daily basis.
As explained by the vice-president of the Polish Diabetes Society (PTD), Dr. Leszek Czupryniak, the main goal of the program is to make people with diabetes aware that everything they do – eat, sleep, walk, exercise – has an impact on blood glucose levels and show what actions they can take to better control the disease and reduce the risk of its complications.
The program popularizes four simple rules: Check your blood sugar regularly !, Eat consciously !, Live actively! i Follow the doctor’s instructions !.
Dr. Czupryniak reminded that over 2 million Poles suffer from diabetes in Poland, of which 750 he doesn’t know about it. In 90 percent. of cases, it is type 2 diabetes, which mainly affects middle-aged and elderly people. It is closely related to overweight and lack of exercise. Type 1 diabetes mainly affects children and adolescents. It is caused by the destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas by the immune system.
Both forms of the disease are manifested by elevated blood glucose levels. It has a detrimental effect on all tissues and organs of our body. Therefore, untreated or poorly treated diabetes leads to serious complications, recalled Dr. Krzysztof Dęmbe, diabetologist and sexologist from the Medical University of Warsaw (MUW). These include diseases of the cardiovascular system, damage to eyesight, kidneys and the nervous system, and poorly healing foot ulcers (the so-called diabetic foot), often leading to amputation. Unfortunately, at the time of diagnosis, as many as half of diabetic patients already have complications. Very often the symptom of diabetes is erectile dysfunction. Therefore, a man who comes to a doctor with them should have his blood glucose level determined, said Dr. Dęmbe.
As Dr. Czupryniak recalled, 10-year research conducted by prof. Krzysztof Strojk from the University of Silesia in Zabrze, showed that patients who take control of diabetes and often measure blood glucose levels at home, live longer and have fewer complications than patients who do not.
According to dr hab. Małgorzata Myśliwiec, a diabetologist from the Medical University of Gdańsk, measuring glucose levels allows patients to better understand their body and its reactions to various foods and exercise. This is especially important in diabetics who receive insulin and need to choose their dose accordingly. But it should also be done by type 2 diabetics using oral medications or lifestyle modification only.
After eating a meal, the patient can then better assess how much his glucose level has increased, and if it is very high, get on a bicycle or go for a walk – said the diabetologist.
As she recalled, there are already such glucometers that allow blood to be collected from alternative puncture sites – such as the arm, thigh, forearm – and not just from the fingertip, which for some people is quite painful.
A very important element in the treatment of diabetes is lifestyle change – that is, implementing a healthy diet and regular physical activity, recalled Dr. Czupryniak.
According to Dr. Witold Rongies, a physical rehabilitation specialist from the Medical University of Warsaw, the best for diabetics are moderate-intensity aerobic exercises, such as a half-hour walk, cycling, swimming (PAP).