In the last thirty years, the percentage of people who suffer from diabetes in the world has almost doubled: in Italy, in particular – on the basis of ISTAT data – the prevalence of diabetes has been estimated at 5.3% of the population, equal to more than 3 million people, with a slightly decreasing trend in recent years.
In an interview, Dr. Marco Mirani, from the Diabetology section of Humanitas, spoke more about diabetes.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a result of increased blood sugar and blood sugar levels. “In normal physiological conditions our body maintains levels in a limited range – explained Dr. Mirani -: this is due to insulin, a hormone that is produced by the cells of the pancreas.
When insulin is produced in defect or there is a malfunction, sugar levels rise and compare the disease of diabetes.
Different types of diabetes
Medicine distinguishes between different types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes obeys mainly at a young age and during adolescence, while type 2 diabetes obeys at a later age and is more linked to lifestyle, so overweight, obesity and even stress, for example, have a major influence.
Other forms of diabetes are gestational diabetes that occurs during pregnancy and to which we must pay close attention “because it could generate negative consequences for both mother and child,” clarified Dr. Mirani. Finally, there are also rarer and more secondary forms of diabetes triggered by the use of drugs such as cortisone.
Symptoms and diagnosis
There are three main symptoms in people who suffer from diabetes: “the most common triad is polydipsia, or the increase in thirst that is a consequence of polyuria, ie the ‘increase in diuresis and weight loss, then weight loss.
To understand if this is really about diabetes, the doctor will prescribe blood tests, which will measure the blood glucose values: it is diabetes if the blood glucose level is higher than 200 mg and that of glycated hemoglobin is higher than 6.5.
