Systemic education of patients with diabetes and expenditure on modern therapies are several times cheaper for the state than dealing with serious complications of the disease in poorly treated patients – said diabetologists on Thursday at a press conference in Warsaw.
Investments in diabetes prevention programs and good diabetes care are key not only to reducing human and social costs, but also economic costs. Poor treatment of people with diabetes is initially cheaper, but after three years, patients start to cost the state budget several times more due to such serious complications as amputation of the limbs, loss of vision, heart and kidney diseases – said Prof. Jan Tatoń from the Medical University of Warsaw.
As the specialist noted, it is especially important now, when the world and Poland are facing the diabetes epidemic. Experts estimate that in our country there are 2,6 million people suffering from this disorder of glucose metabolism, but as many as have a significantly increased risk of diabetes (the so-called pre-diabetes). The forecasts are even more pessimistic, as the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) predicts that by 2025 the number of diabetics in Poland will increase to approx. 4 million.
Unfortunately, in the ranking of the quality of diabetes care in the European Union countries, Poland ranks third from the end – reminded prof. Taton. It is related, inter alia, however, our country lacks a systemic education and care program for people with diabetes.
According to the diabetologist, good diabetes treatment involves not only controlling the level of glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin (i.e. related to glucose – HbA1c) in the blood, but also maintaining normal parameters such as blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, kidney health, weight body and the use of a proper diet, taking care of the feet.
Patients who do not do so much more often develop serious complications such as cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes, kidney damage requiring renal replacement therapy, vision loss, and diabetic foot syndrome, i.e. healing wounds on feet that may lead to amputation.
Access to modern diabetes treatments is of course very important, but the patient will not be able to benefit from them unless educated. Patient education is the foundation of the effectiveness of treatment in all diseases, especially in chronic diseases – said Prof. Anna Czech from the Medical University of Warsaw.
According to her, diabetologists do not have enough time to educate patients. During a 15-minute visit, it is even difficult for them to conduct a good medical interview. Therefore, it is important to develop systemic solutions that would allow the creation of special schools for diabetics, the specialist noted. Improvement in the field of education could also be brought about by creating an educator’s job in public health care institutions.
Experts also emphasized that there is no diabetes prevention program in Poland. As they assessed, thanks to it, the disease could be prevented in half of those at risk.
Diabetes occurs in several varieties, but nearly 90 percent. is type 2 diabetes, which – apart from genetic determinants – is strongly related to lifestyle, i.e. too caloric diet, overweight and lack of exercise. It develops when our body’s tissues stop responding properly to insulin, the hormone that manages glucose metabolism. As a result, the level of this blood sugar increases dangerously. This type of diabetes mainly affects middle-aged and elderly people, but is becoming more and more common in children.
The second most common type of diabetes is type 1 diabetes (up to 10% of cases). It is most common in children and adolescents and is associated with the destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Patients with type 1 diabetes must receive injections of this hormone from the very beginning (PAP).