Diabetes mellitus is a disease that develops due to the immunity of body cells to sugar-lowering hormone. If the pancreas does not produce insulin at all, then type 1 diabetes is diagnosed. In other cases - 2 types. How to cure diabetes and is it possible to get rid of it forever?
diet therapy
It is possible to cure diabetes at an early stage with the help of fasting and dietary treatment. Doctors recommend fractional nutrition. A diabetic should eat as often as possible (ideally 5-6 times a day) in small portions. Based on body weight, the number of calories per day is calculated in the ratio of 25 kcal / kg.
- stop drinking alcohol and smoking;
- minimize the amount of salt consumed;
- make a diet so that half of the fats are of vegetable origin;
- limit foods with sugar: cakes and sweets, ice cream, jam, soda, fruit juices;
- exclude fatty broths, muffins, red fish, sausages, hard cheeses, rice and semolina from the menu;
- eat foods rich in vitamins and minerals: nuts, vegetables, fruits.
Typically, the menu includes sub-calorie foods with a minimum carbohydrate content. However, it is impossible to do without them completely. It is the source of energy in the body. Complex slow carbohydrates will bring benefits. They gradually increase blood glucose levels without overloading the pancreas.
It is desirable that foods rich in fiber are present in the diet of a diabetic patient. This substance is useful for violations of metabolic processes in the body. Vegetable fiber slows down the absorption of excess glucose in the small intestine, reduces its concentration in the blood. It also removes toxins, toxins and excess water. If the patient needs to lose weight, then vegetable cellulose is an excellent choice. The substance swells in the stomach and provides a feeling of satiety. A diabetic does not suffer from severe hunger. At the same time, fiber is low in calories.
A fifth of the food consumed by a diabetic should be protein. Proteins of plant and animal origin are involved in the restoration of the body. Along with this, animal proteins impair kidney function, so do not exceed their amount.
The diabetic diet also includes fats. They are found in meat products, fish, eggs.
insulin therapy
Treatment for type 1 diabetes involves injecting insulin. Shortly after the start of therapy, the so-called honeymoon begins. During this period, blood sugar is kept within normal limits without regular injections. After a while it rises again. If you do not lower the glucose level with insulin, then a state of coma and death occurs.
To extend the favorable period for several years, it is required to administer insulin in low doses (1-3 IU per day). There are 4 main types of insulin: ultrashort, short, medium and extended. Ultrashort is considered the fastest.
Insulin therapy is prescribed individually. The self-monitoring records of the diabetic are taken into account. The doctor studies how blood glucose changes throughout the day, at what time the patient has breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Insulin-containing preparations are administered by injection and with the help of an insulin pump. The last way more convenient: the pump is ideal for controlling diabetes in a child, because due to his age he cannot give himself injections.
Unlike traditional syringes, this device provides better control of diabetes. This is a small device with a needle connected to a thin long tube. The needle is inserted under the skin, most often in the abdomen, and remains there. The pump is worn on the belt. It provides a continuous flow of the drug into the blood at a given rate. Change it every 3 days.
Medical treatment
Medications other than insulin injections play a minor role in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. Nevertheless, they facilitate the course of the disease. This is especially true for the drugs Glucofage and Siofor, the active ingredient of which is metformin.
For hypertension, patients with type 1 diabetes are prescribed angiotensin II receptor blockers or ACE inhibitors. These pills not only lower blood pressure, but also slow down the development of complications in the kidneys. It is advisable to take them with blood pressure indicators of 140/90 mm Hg. Art. and higher.
Cardiologists and physicians often prescribe aspirin for diabetics. The substance is taken daily in small doses. It is believed to reduce the risk of a heart attack.
It has been proven that both type 1 and type 2 diabetes simultaneously increase sugar and bad cholesterol. Therefore, the patient is shown taking statins. However, these medicines cause side reactions: memory problems, increased fatigue, functional disorders of the liver. A good alternative to statins would be a low-carbohydrate diet. It normalizes blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Physical activities
Exercise is an effective way to control type 1 diabetes. Patients need aerobic and anaerobic exercise. In the first case, it is cross-country skiing, swimming, jogging, cycling. In the second - strength training in the gym. Combine aerobic activities with anaerobic activities every other day. Adults need at least 5 half-hour sessions per week. Children - daily for 1 hour of training.
Start exercising only after consulting your doctor. Make sure that the heart can withstand such loads. To do this, take an EKG. If complications have already developed in the legs, kidneys or vision, this imposes restrictions on the choice of types of physical activity.
In type 1 diabetes, exercise has an ambiguous effect on health. In some cases, they lower sugar for a long time, up to 36 hours from the end of the session. In others, on the contrary, they increase. Therefore, every 30 minutes, check the level of glucose in the blood with a glucometer. Gradually you will understand how physical activity affects it.
Folk methods
Folk remedies are also used to treat diabetes. Below are popular recipes.
Lemon and egg. The first component normalizes blood pressure and lowers blood glucose levels. The second - supplies the body with essential vitamins and minerals. Mix 50 ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice with 5 quail or 1 chicken egg. Take the remedy once 30 minutes before meals. Treatment regimen: 3 days of taking the therapeutic composition, then 3 days off. The duration of therapy is 1 month.
The recipe of the healer Lyudmila Kim. Required ingredients: 100 g lemon zest, 300 g parsley root (leaves will do), 300 g peeled garlic. Rinse the parsley roots thoroughly, peel the garlic and pass everything through a meat grinder. Stir the resulting mixture and transfer to a glass container. Put it in a dark place for 2 weeks. Take 1 tsp. 30 minutes before meals. Frequency of application - 3 times a day.
Lemon, parsley, oak acorns, walnut leaves, burdock root, cinnamon can be used to treat diabetes.
Oak acorns. The composition of oak fruits includes a valuable substance tannin. It actively fights inflammatory processes in the body, strengthens the cardiovascular system. Peel the acorns. Dry the core in a hot oven. Grind the raw materials in a coffee grinder into powder. Fill with boiled water and take 1 tsp. on an empty stomach before lunch and dinner. The end of the course of therapy is determined by blood tests.
A decoction of walnut leaves. To prepare a drink, you need 1 tbsp. l. dried and crushed leaves. Fill them with 500 ml of boiled water. Then boil the mixture for 15 minutes over low heat. Let it cool down and infuse for 40 minutes. After that, strain and take 0.5 tbsp. 3 times a day.
Cinnamon. Pour cinnamon powder 1 tbsp. boiling water. Let it brew for 30 minutes. When the mixture has cooled, add honey (2 parts honey to 1 part cinnamon). Place the product in the refrigerator for 3 hours. After the specified time, divide the infusion into two parts. Drink one 30 minutes before breakfast. The second is before bed. The duration of the course of treatment is no more than 7 days.
Burdock juice. The plant effectively lowers blood glucose levels. Dig up the root of young burdock. Wash thoroughly and grind the raw materials in a blender. Wrap the gruel in several layers of gauze and squeeze out the juice. Take the drug 3 times a day, 15 ml. Pre-dilute it with 250 ml of boiled water.
What not to do
The first and basic rule: take responsibility for your treatment. Follow a low-carb diet carefully. After eating, try to keep sugar no higher than 5.5 mmol / l. If necessary, supplement the diet with low doses of insulin.
Don't limit your calorie intake. Eat hearty and tasty, but do not overeat. Stop eating with a slight feeling of hunger.
Don't skimp on glucometer test strips. Measure your sugar levels 2-3 times a day every day. Periodically check the accuracy of your glucometer. Check their blood sugar levels 3 times in a row. Differences in the results should not be more than 5-10%. Also, a blood test for sugar can be carried out in the laboratory, and then check your glucometer. The permissible deviation of a portable device is no more than 20% (with sugar values of 4.2 mmol / l).
Delaying the start of insulin therapy is a gross mistake. Complications of diabetes occur even if the glucose level on an empty stomach in the morning or after a meal is 6.0 mmol/L. Learn how to calculate dosages and how to safely inject insulin.
Do not be lazy to control the disease under stress, on business trips and other non-standard life situations. Keep a self-control diary. Mark the date, time, blood sugar levels, what you ate, what physical activity was, what insulin and how much you injected.
In the early stages, diabetes can be cured. Swimming, cycling, jogging and other types of physical activity are measures that will help with this. They are no less effective than sugar-lowering drugs. A low-carbohydrate diet works just as well. In some cases, it helps to get rid of the disease. The exception is complicated type 1 diabetes. This is a lifelong diagnosis requiring regular high doses of insulin.
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3.3 (4 ratings)According to statistics from the World Health Organization, the number of diabetic patients in the world is now approaching half a billion people. The number is impressive. Every fifteenth inhabitant of the planet lives with this diagnosis.
It is not surprising that the question “how to cure diabetes forever” sounds almost everywhere: in the print media, on television, on the Internet.
Nor should it be surprising that diabetics are grasping at every straw and trying out dubious therapies that promise to overcome the disease forever and in a short time.
So can diabetes be cured?
To understand this issue, you must first remember the essence of this disease.
Diabetes is a disease in which a person has trouble regulating blood sugar levels. This is done by the hormone insulin, which is secreted by the pancreas. Depending on the type of disease, insulin may be insufficiently produced or used inefficiently by the vital systems.
With an increase in blood sugar levels - hyperglycemia, there is a gradual disruption of many systems. The nervous and cardiovascular systems are most seriously affected.
Diabetes is a chronic disease. It is impossible to completely get rid of it. First of all, this applies to type 1 diabetes, since the causes of insufficient insulin production by the pancreas remain unknown.
In the case of the second type of disease, the causes are studied more deeply: insufficient tissue sensitivity to insulin is associated with slow metabolic processes caused by insufficient physical activity. Also, type 2 diabetes has genetic causes, and doctors have not yet learned how to influence them.
Treatment of the disease involves the fight against problematic metabolism and more often does without drugs. But external lightness is opposed by the need to strictly monitor the state of the body all life, since the disease returns with the slightest indulgence.
Medicine offers effective treatments that stop the disease and make invisible its impact on the standard of living. It takes a lifetime to heal. Refusal of it leads to relapses, which can be very dangerous.
What happens if diabetes is not treated?
Lack of insulin or insufficient sensitivity of vital systems to it will lead to an increase in blood sugar levels - hyperglycemia. This condition is very dangerous and in a short period of time can cause hyperglycemic coma or death.
It is impossible not to treat diabetes mellitus.
This diagnosis requires constant and complete treatment, which will compensate for the causes of its development.
If we are talking about insulin-dependent diabetes, then the patient needs regular injections of insulin to regulate blood glucose levels.
If the diagnosis is non-insulin dependent diabetes, then the patient needs complex treatment. Physical activity improves metabolic processes and, accordingly, the sensitivity of tissues to insulin. And drugs regulate blood glucose levels, which increase due to reduced insulin resistance.
Lack of adequate therapy can lead to serious complications, which can be conveniently divided into two groups:
- microvascular;
- macrovascular.
Microvascular complications of diabetes are:
Macrovascular complications are diseases caused by damage to large blood vessels. These include:
- other diseases of the cardiovascular system.
Diabetes treatment
The goal of treating this disease is to return to normal blood sugar levels by compensating for dysfunctional bodily functions.
In the case of the first type of illness, this is insulin therapy, the second type is a radical change in lifestyle. Compensation of disturbed functions of the body is the main direction of the treatment of the disease. If it is not used or used insufficiently, diabetes mellitus will begin to progress and lead to irreparable consequences.
It is impossible to radically cure the disease. So far, there is not even an exact understanding of the causes of the development of problems with insulin secretion. And this is the main reason that this diagnosis is one of the most common on the planet.
The treatment of diabetes in all standard cases is quite simple: in type 1 diabetes, these are regular injections of insulin throughout life, which compensate for the lack of natural production of this hormone. There is no way to activate the natural production of insulin.
In type 2 diabetes, complex treatment is necessary:
- due to physical activity, the sensitivity of tissues to insulin improves;
- a strict diet helps fight excess weight (the main cause of this form of the disease) and regulates sugar intake;
- taking medications regulates blood glucose levels. The indicator that should be regulated by insulin.
These theses completely cover the topic of diabetes treatment. There are features in each case, but the general methodology does not change.
And most importantly: therapy does not completely overcome the disease. It stops its manifestations and makes the patient's life quite comfortable and long.
Can diabetes be cured permanently?
The answer to this question is an unequivocal no.
This disease is chronic. And do not rely on innovative techniques and grandmother's recipes, which are generously offered to us from all sides.
There are cases when it was possible to stop the disease to the level of a healthy person. And often they are presented as a full recovery. But it's not. This is the effect of adequate therapy and lifestyle attitudes.
Any deviation from the strict rules of life with diabetes will lead to jumps in glucose levels and the development of the disease.
Most recently, the authoritative organization "Rusmedserver Discussion Club", which includes hundreds of doctors, issued an open letter regarding " innovative methods full recovery with this diagnosis. Here is a short extract from it:
This statement was about the materials and methods of complete recovery using alternative methods of diabetes treatment. From the text it becomes clear that with an insulin-dependent form of the disease, it is impossible to compensate for the lack of insulin production by anything other than external injections of this hormone. With insulin-independent physical activity plays a significant role, but even here they are not a panacea when used independently. This is the opinion of an authoritative team of experts.
Diabetes mellitus in pregnancy
In order for no one to reproach this material with inferiority, it is impossible not to touch on the third type of disease that is being treated - diabetes mellitus in pregnant women (gestational).
This phrase is understood as a disease (often referred to not as a disease, but as a condition) manifested by hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) during pregnancy. The disease is not massive and after childbirth, glucose levels stabilize on their own.
The pathogenesis of gestational diabetes is a decrease in glucose uptake by tissues against the background of an increase in the concentration of pregnancy hormones in the blood.
It is believed that gestational diabetes is a precursor to type 2 diabetes. However, there is no evidence to support this assumption by mass studies. There is only an analysis of statistics with a small sample, which showed that women who had gestational diabetes during pregnancy, in every second case, suffer from the second type of the disease in the future.
Prognosis of treatment of diabetes mellitus
The question naturally arises: what can be achieved with the necessary treatment?
The results of therapy should be evaluated depending on the type of diabetes.
In the first type, regular injections of insulin effectively regulate blood glucose levels and return the patient to an almost full life. Someone will say that constant lifelong injections do not correlate with the concept of a full life. Yes, it is often inconvenient. But if we compare the likely problems without injections and the inconvenience of using them, it turns out that this, in this particular case, is only a slight inconvenience.
Constant injections of insulin allow the patient to live a long and happy life. The disease no longer affects its duration, since the lack of insulin is compensated from the outside.
Diabetes mellitus type 2 also gives a favorable prognosis with the proper approach. The combination of physical activity, diet and drugs to regulate blood glucose levels, relieves all manifestations of the disease and returns the patient to normal life. Life expectancy in patients of mature age exceeds ten years, which is an excellent result for this type of disease.
According to statistics, the life expectancy of patients with diabetes is 60 years. With a disease of the second type, they live longer: 76 years for women and 70 years for men.
These figures show that with the proper approach, the diagnosis is practically life-threatening. With it, you can fully live to a ripe old age.
By the way, in Russia there is a medal "For 50 Courageous Years with Diabetes". It has already been awarded to 40 Russians. A worthy indicator and a good incentive for all diabetics.
Today, all physicians can confidently say that this is one of the most common diseases of the pancreas.
Despite the fact that today the causes and diseases have been studied, the treatment of the type still raises questions among specialists, and today the disease is recognized as incurable.
How to help the body in the fight against the disease and what treatment is most effective, read the article.
Over the past few decades, little has changed in the treatment of type 1 diabetes.
The only way to fight the disease is supportive insulin therapy, as well as strict nutrition rules and lifestyle control.
However, there are several modern methods that can make life easier for the patient, the development of which continues today.
The insulin pump is a device that is gaining popularity in many countries around the world.
This device is attached to the belt, and allows you to adjust the injection of insulin into the abdomen at a given time. The advantage of the device is that there is no need to constantly monitor the time of injections. However, the pump is expensive and has a complex system that is difficult to master;
Recently, transplantation of the pancreas and the islets of Langerans has been actively developed. To date, it has not been possible to get rid of the diagnosis of any patient in this way - some time after the procedure, one again has to resort to insulin injections.
How to cure type 1 diabetes completely?
Many people are concerned about the question - can it be cured? Unfortunately, today this disease is incurable. Doctors are actively developing drugs. Emphasis is placed on the possibility of transplantation or implantation of an artificial pancreas, genetic therapy. However, the most effective remedy is insulin injections and metformin tablets for patients who need a large dose of the hormone.
Due to the fact that it is impossible to get rid of the disease, the entire responsibility for health lies entirely with the patient and his physical condition depends entirely on the fulfillment of the doctor's instructions.
The answer to the question: how to treat type 1 diabetes mellitus lies in constant replacement therapy.
The dose of insulin and additional drugs are prescribed depending on the level of glucose in the blood and the presence of side symptoms.
At the first stage of therapy, short-acting insulin is selected to evaluate its effect on the body. Thereafter long-acting insulin.
Important!
In addition to injections that support the functioning of the pancreas, medications are prescribed that relieve side symptoms. These are numerous vitamins, lipotropic agents, steroids, enzymes and analgesics.
Insulin shots
The standard of care for type 1 diabetes involves medication and insulin therapy.
Injections of the drug are administered with a special syringe into the subcutaneous fat layer (abdomen, thigh or buttocks).
According to its effect, the drug is distinguished into three types:
- short action- it is almost always administered before meals. The duration of the drug action is from 4 to 6 hours;
- Medium or intermediate action- the duration of the drug from 10 to 18 hours;
- Long acting insulin- the duration of the work of such insulin is from 24 to 36 hours.
The injections depend on the meal. Typically 40% daily allowance administered after sleep, 30% before dinner and 30% before the last meal.
Often a multiple injection regimen is prescribed. This is an individual injection scheme that is developed by the doctor, depending on the characteristics of the patient's life. It consists in a competent combination of injections of different durations.
How to treat type 1 diabetes with proper nutrition
Diabetic diet- one of highlights maintenance therapy.
The pancreas reacts sharply to food, so seizures and even insulin coma can be avoided by following the basic recommendations:
- Necessary restrict consumption of easily digestible carbohydrates these are pastries, sweets and flour;
- Eating should be as often as possible, in small portions. This allows you to distribute the load on the pancreas throughout the day;
- The menu should include products that have a lipotropic effect.- seafood and fish, cottage cheese, eggs, as well as vegetable fiber;
- The following rule must be observed: The diet should consist of 20% carbohydrates, the rest is proteins and fats.
Purpose of therapy
According to statistics, life expectancy with this disease is significantly lower than the average. Almost half of patients die approximately 30-40 years after diagnosis.
Purpose of maintenance therapy- normalize the functioning of the pancreas in order to prolong human life and improve its quality. To do this, you must adhere to the instructions of the doctor using the type 1 diabetes treatment protocol, be attentive to the preparation of the menu, administer injections on time and avoid severe stress.
Important!
To control the level of glucose in the blood, it is not enough to follow the readings of the glucometer, it is necessary to calculate all products for the content of carbohydrates, as well as evaluate them on the Bread Unit (XE) scale, which is equivalent to 12 grams of sugar or 25 grams of bread.
Useful video
All the features of the treatment are described in detail in the video:
You must remember that type 1 diabetes is a serious disease, the treatment of which will take one of the most important roles in life, as it has a strong impact on all aspects of human life.
If you adhere to competent therapy, you can significantly reduce the risk, slow down the severity of the disease for a long time.
Type 1 diabetes is a disease that has been known since ancient times. However, if during Ancient Greece and Rome, the doctors did not really know what it was, and there were no methods of treating the disease, but now the situation has changed for the better. However, type 1 diabetes remains a disease that claims many human lives every year.
Description
What is it - diabetes? Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a disease associated with the pancreas. Many do not know anything about this body, about why it is needed. Meanwhile, one of the functions of the pancreas is the production of insulin peptide, which is necessary for the processing of glucose entering the body through the gastrointestinal tract, which belongs to the class of simple sugars. More precisely, insulin is produced only by part of the pancreas - the islets of Langerhans. Such islets contain several types of cells. Some cells produce insulin, while others produce the insulin antagonist, the hormone glucagon. The cells that produce insulin are called beta cells. The word "insulin" itself comes from the Latin insula, which means "island".
If there is no insulin in the body, then the glucose entering the blood cannot penetrate into various tissues, primarily into the muscle. And the body will lack the energy that glucose gives it.
But this is far from the main danger. "Restless" glucose, not processed by insulin, will accumulate in the blood, and as a result, it will be deposited both on the walls of the blood vessels themselves and in various tissues, causing their damage.
This type of diabetes is called insulin dependent. The disease affects mainly young adults (up to 30 years). However, it is not uncommon for children, adolescents and the elderly to become ill.
Causes of the disease
What can stop insulin production? Although people have been researching diabetes for more than 2000 years, the etiology, that is, the root cause of the disease, has not been reliably determined. True, there are various theories on this.
First of all, it has long been established that many cases of type 1 diabetes are caused by autoimmune processes. This means that the cells of the pancreas are attacked by their own immune cells and are destroyed as a result. There are two main versions of why this happens. According to the first, due to a violation of the blood-brain barrier, lymphocytes, which are called T-helpers, interact with the proteins of nerve cells. Due to a malfunction in the foreign protein recognition system, T-helpers begin to perceive these proteins as proteins of a foreign agent. By an unfortunate coincidence, pancreatic beta cells also have similar proteins. The immune system turns its "anger" on the cells of the pancreas, and in a relatively short time destroys them.
The virus theory tends to give a simpler explanation of the reasons for the attack of lymphocytes on beta cells - the effect of viruses. Many viruses can infect the pancreas, such as rubella viruses and some enteroviruses (Coxsackieviruses). After the virus settles in the beta cell of the pancreas, the cell itself becomes a target for lymphocytes and is destroyed.
It is possible that in some cases of type 1 diabetes there is one mechanism for the development of the disease, and in some cases there is another, or perhaps they both contribute. But often the root cause of the disease cannot be established.
In addition, scientists have found that diabetes is often caused by genetic factors that also contribute to the onset of the disease. Although the hereditary factor in the case of type 1 diabetes is not as clear as in the case of type 2 diabetes. However, genes have been found whose damage can trigger the development of type 1 diabetes.
There are other factors that favor the development of the disease:
- decreased immunity,
- stress,
- malnutrition,
- other diseases of the endocrine system,
- skinny body,
- alcoholism,
- smoking.
Sometimes type 1 diabetes can be caused by oncological diseases of the pancreas, poisoning.
Stages and development of the disease
Unlike type 2 diabetes, which develops slowly over several years, type 1 diabetes progresses to a severe degree within a month, or even 2-3 weeks. And the first symptoms that indicate the disease usually appear violently, in such a way that it is difficult not to notice them.
In the very first stages of the disease, when immune cells are just beginning to attack the pancreas, there are usually no clearly visible symptoms in patients. Even when 50% of the beta cells are destroyed, the patient may not feel anything, except for a slight malaise. And the real manifestation of the disease with all its characteristic symptoms occurs only when about 90% of the cells are destroyed. With this degree of disease, the remaining cells can no longer be saved, even if treatment is started on time.
The last stage of the disease is the complete destruction of insulin-producing cells. At this stage, the patient can no longer do without insulin injections.
Symptoms
Type 1 diabetes is similar in its symptoms to type 2 diabetes. The only difference is the intensity of their manifestation and the severity of the onset of the disease.
The main symptom of diabetes is frequent urination associated with acute thirst. The patient drinks a lot of water, but it seems that the water does not linger in him.
Another characteristic symptom is sudden weight loss. Type 1 diabetes usually affects thin people, but after the onset of the disease, a person can lose a few more pounds.
At first, the patient's appetite increases, as the cells lack energy. Then the appetite may decrease, as the body becomes intoxicated.
If the patient encounters such symptoms, then he should immediately consult a doctor.
Complications
An increase in blood glucose is called hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia entails such severe consequences as impaired functioning of the kidneys, brain, nerves, peripheral and main vessels. The level of cholesterol in the blood may rise. The defeat of small vessels often leads to ulcers, dermatitis. Retinopathy may develop, eventually leading to blindness.
Severe, life-threatening complications of type 1 diabetes include:
- ketoacidosis,
- coma,
- gangrene of the extremities,
Ketoacidosis is a condition caused by poisoning with ketone bodies, primarily acetone. Ketone bodies occur when the body begins to burn fat stores in order to extract energy from fat.
If complications do not kill a person, they can make him disabled. However, the prognosis of type 1 diabetes without proper treatment is poor. Mortality reaches 100%, and the patient can live a year or two at the most.
hypoglycemia
This is a dangerous complication that occurs with type 1 diabetes. It is typical for patients undergoing insulin therapy. Hypoglycemia is observed at glucose levels below 3.3 mmol / l. It can occur when eating is disturbed, excessive or unplanned physical activity overdose of insulin. Hypoglycemia is dangerous with loss of consciousness, coma and death.
Diagnostics
Usually the symptoms of the disease are difficult to confuse with something else, so the doctor in most cases can easily diagnose diabetes. However, type 1 diabetes can sometimes be confused with its counterpart, type 2 diabetes, which requires a slightly different approach to treatment. There are also rare borderline types of DM, which have a set of features of both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
The main diagnostic method is a blood test for sugar content. Blood for analysis is usually taken on an empty stomach - from a finger or from a vein. A urine test for sugar content, a glucose load test, and a glycated hemoglobin test may be prescribed. To determine the state of the pancreas, an analysis is made for C-peptide.
Treatment of type 1 diabetes
Therapy is carried out only under the supervision of an endocrinologist. Currently, the only way to treat type 1 diabetes is with insulin injections. All other methods are auxiliary.
Insulin therapy for diabetes
There are several types of insulin depending on the speed of action - short, ultra-short, medium and long-acting. Insulins also differ in origin. Previously, they were mainly obtained from animals - cows, pigs. Now, genetically engineered insulins are mostly common. Long-acting insulins need to be injected either twice a day or once a day. Short-acting insulins are administered immediately before meals. The dosage should be advised by the doctor, as it is calculated depending on the weight of the patient and his physical activity.
Insulin is injected into the blood by the patient himself or by the person serving him with the help of syringes or syringe pens. Now there is a promising technology - insulin pumps. This is a design that is attached to the patient's body and helps to get rid of the manual injection of insulin.
Complications of the disease (angiopathy, nephropathy, hypertension, etc.) are treated with drugs that are effective against these diseases.
Diet for diabetes
Another treatment is diet. Due to the constant supply of insulin, insulin-dependent diabetes does not require such severe restrictions as type 2 diabetes. But this does not mean that the patient can eat whatever he wants. The purpose of the diet is to avoid sudden fluctuations in blood sugar levels (both upward and downward). It must be remembered that the amount of carbohydrates entering the body must correspond to the amount of insulin in the blood and take into account changes in insulin activity depending on the time of day.
As with type 2 diabetes, the patient must avoid foods containing fast carbohydrates - refined sugar, confectionery. The total amount of carbohydrates consumed should be strictly dosed. On the other hand, with compensated insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus combined with insulin therapy, it is possible not to sit on debilitating low-carbohydrate diets, especially since excessive carbohydrate restriction increases the risk of hypoglycemia, a condition in which blood glucose levels fall below life-threatening levels.
Physical exercises
May also be helpful in diabetes physical exercises. They should not be too long and exhausting. With hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia (blood glucose more than 15 mmol / l), exercise is prohibited.
self control
The patient should monitor his blood sugar level every day. This is where portable blood glucose meters with test strips can be helpful. It is important to use quality devices and use strips that have not expired. Otherwise, the results may differ significantly from the real ones.
Most diabetics fall into a black hole of helplessness with no idea how to reverse the condition. Of greatest concern is that more than half of people with type 2 diabetes do NOT know they have diabetes, nor do they know they have a condition, and 90 percent of people who are pre-diabetic.
Type 1 diabetes, also called “diabetes mellitus,” is a chronic condition traditionally characterized by elevated blood glucose levels, often simply referred to as “high blood sugar.” Type 1 diabetes or "juvenile diabetes" is relatively rare. It develops in people younger than 20 years of age and there is no cure. Most alarming is that the incidence of juvenile diabetes has been steadily increasing, as is the incidence of type 2 diabetes: over the past few decades, among non-Hispanic white children aged 10-14 years, rates increased by 24 percent. But for black children, the problem is much bigger: the increase was 200 percent! And, according to recent studies, by 2020 these figures will double for all young people. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The result is a loss of the hormone insulin. Type 1 diabetics need additional insulin for the rest of their lives, because its absence will quickly lead to death. There is currently no known cure for type 1 diabetes other than pancreas transplantation.
Type 2 diabetes can be cured
A much more common form of diabetes is type 2, which affects 90-95% of diabetics. In this type, the body produces insulin but is unable to recognize and use it properly. This is considered the advanced stage of insulin resistance. Due to insulin resistance, glucose levels in the body increase, which leads to many complications. All the signs of diabetes can be present, but what is often overlooked is the fact that type 2 diabetes is completely preventable and nearly 100 percent curable. Signs that you may have diabetes include:
How diabetes is misunderstood
Diabetes is NOT a blood sugar disease, but rather a disorder of insulin and leptin signaling, developing over a long period of time, initially from the stage of pre-diabetes, and then to full-blown diabetes, if not taken care of.
One of the reasons traditional insulin shots or pills not only fail to cure diabetes, but sometimes even make it worse, is precisely the failure to address the underlying problem.
In this matter, the key is sensitivity to insulin.
The task of the pancreas is to produce the hormone insulin and secrete it into the blood, thus regulating the level of glucose necessary for life.
The function of insulin is to be a source of energy for cells. In other words, insulin is REQUIRED for you to live, and normally the pancreas produces as much insulin as the body needs. But certain risk factors and other circumstances can cause the pancreas to stop doing its job properly.
Type 2 diabetes risk factors (Source: National Diabetes Education Program)
It is likely that if you have one or more of these risk factors, or if your blood glucose is high, you will be tested for diabetes and prescribed insulin, either by pill or injection, or sometimes both.
Your doctor will tell you that the purpose of these shots or pills is to lower your blood sugar. He may even explain to you that this is necessary, as insulin regulation is essential to your health and longevity.
He might add that elevated glucose levels are not only a symptom of diabetes, but also of heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, stroke, hypertension, cancer, and obesity. And, of course, the doctor will be absolutely right.
But will he or she go beyond this explanation? Will they tell you about the role of leptin in this process? Or that if you develop leptin resistance in your body, you are on your way to diabetes, if not there already? Probably not.
Diabetes, leptin and insulin resistance
Leptin is a hormone produced in fat cells. One of its main functions is to regulate appetite and body weight. It tells the brain when to eat, how much to eat, and when to stop eating – which is why it is called the “satiety hormone.” In addition, he tells the brain how to dispose of the available energy.
Recently it was found that mice without leptin become very fat. Similarly, in humans, when leptin resistance occurs, which mimics leptin deficiency, it is very easy to gain weight quickly.
The discovery of leptin and its role in the body are to be credited to Jeffrey M. Friedman and Douglas Coleman, two researchers who discovered the hormone in 1994. Interestingly, Friedman named leptin from the Greek word “leptos,” meaning “thin,” after he found that mice injected with synthetic leptin became more active and lost weight.
But when Friedman also found very high levels of leptin in the blood of obese people, he decided something else must be going on. This "something" was the ability of obesity to cause leptin resistance- in other words, in obese people, the signaling pathway for leptin is shifted, due to which the body produces leptin in excess, in the same way as glucose if insulin resistance develops.
Friedman and Coleman also discovered that leptin is responsible for the accuracy of insulin signaling and insulin resistance.
In this way, The main role of insulin is It's NOT about lowering your blood sugar, it's about is to store additional energy (glycogen, starch) for current and future consumption. Its ability to lower blood sugar levels is just " side effect» of this energy conservation process. Ultimately, this means that diabetes is both an insulin disease and a leptin signaling disorder.
That's why "treating" diabetes by simply lowering blood sugar levels can be unsafe. Such treatment simply doesn't address the actual problem of metabolic communication breakdown that takes place in every cell of the body if leptin and insulin levels are disrupted and stop working together as they should.
Taking insulin may even make things worse for some people with type 2 diabetes., as it worsens their leptin and insulin resistance over time. The only one known way restore proper leptin (and insulin) signaling - through diet. And I promise it will have a deeper impact on your health than any known drug or medical treatment. .
Fructose: driving the diabetes and obesity epidemic
An expert on leptin resistance and its role in the development of diabetes is Dr. Richard Johnson, head of the Department of Nephrology at the University of Colorado. His book TheFatSwitch dispels many of the outdated myths about diet and weight loss.
Dr. Johnson explains how fructose consumption activates a powerful biological switch that causes us to gain weight. From a metabolic point of view, this is a very useful ability that allows many species, including humans, to survive in times of food shortage.
Unfortunately, if you live in a developed country where food is plentiful and easily available, this fat switch loses its biological advantage, and instead of helping people live longer, it becomes a disadvantage that kills them prematurely.
You may be interested to know that "death by sugar" is not an exaggeration at all. The overwhelming amount of fructose in the diet of the average person is the main factor in the increase in the incidence of diabetes in the country. While glucose is meant to be used by the body for energy (normal sugar is 50 percent glucose), fructose is broken down into a range of toxins that can destroy health.
Diabetes drugs are NOT an option
Most conventional treatments for type 2 diabetes use drugs that raise insulin levels or lower blood sugar levels. As I said, the problem is that diabetes is NOT a blood sugar disease. Focusing on the symptom of diabetes (which is high blood sugar) rather than addressing the underlying cause is a monkey job and can sometimes be downright dangerous. Nearly 100 percent of type 2 diabetics can be successfully treated without medication. You may be surprised, but you can recover if you eat right, exercise and live.
Powerful Diet and Lifestyle Tips for Diabetes
I brought together various effective ways improve insulin and leptin sensitivity, and prevent or reverse diabetes, in six simple and easy steps.
Engage in physical activity: Contrary to current recommendations to stay safe and not exercise when you are sick, staying fit is very important for managing diabetes and other illnesses. In fact, it is one of the fastest and effective ways reduce insulin and leptin resistance. Get started today, read about Peak Fitness and High Intensity Interval Training - Less Time in the Gym, More Benefits.
Avoid grains and sugar and ALL processed foods, especially those with fructose and high fructose corn syrup. Treatment of diabetes with traditional methods has not been successful over the past 50 years, in part because of serious shortcomings in the principles of nutrition promoted.
Eliminate ALL sugars and grains, even "healthy" ones, such as whole, organic, or sprouted grains, from your diet. Avoid bread, pasta, cereals, rice, potatoes, and corn (which is also a grain). Until your blood sugar stabilizes, you can limit fruit too.
It is especially important to avoid processed meats. In a groundbreaking study that compared processed and unprocessed meat for the first time, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that eating processed meat was associated with a 42 percent increased risk of heart disease and a 19 percent increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Interestingly, the risk of heart disease or diabetes in people who ate unprocessed red meat such as beef, pork, or lamb has not been established.
In addition to fructose, avoid trans fats, which increase the risk of diabetes and inflammation by disrupting insulin receptors.
Eat plenty of omega-3 fats from high quality animal sources.
Keep track of your insulin levels. As important as fasting blood sugar, fasting insulin, or A1-C, should be between 2 and 4. The higher the level, the worse your insulin sensitivity.
Take probiotics. Your gut is a living ecosystem of many bacteria. The more beneficial bacteria in it, the stronger the immune system and the better your overall functionality. Optimize your gut flora by eating fermented foods like natto, miso, kefir, raw organic cheese, and cultured vegetables. Alternatively, you can take high-quality probiotic supplements.
Sun exposure holds great promise for treating and preventing diabetes—studies show an important link between high vitamin D levels and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome.published
© Joseph Mercola
P.S. And remember, just by changing your consumption, we are changing the world together! © econet