China News Service, Changsha, November 4 (Fu Jingyi) What can ordinary people do to stay away from diabetes? How do diabetic patients scientifically manage blood sugar on the basis of standardized medication? Xiao Yang, vice president of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University and chief physician of the Department of Metabolic Endocrinology, said on the 4th that the key to preventable and controllable diabetes lies in the word "morning", and statements such as "dietary alternative medicine", "stop taking medicine when blood sugar is normal" and "insulin is addictive" are all misunderstandings.
On the same day, the Hunan Provincial Health Commission held a press conference on "Seasonal Solar Terms and Healthy Hunan - Beginning of Winter" to focus on "sugar lovers" and their families. According to a research report released by the Chronic Disease Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of diabetic patients in China will reach 233 million in 2023, and they are getting younger and younger. The prevalence of diabetes among people under the age of 40 has increased approximately three times compared with 2005.
Xiao Yang said that the prevalence of prediabetes in China is as high as 35.2%, which is more than the number of diagnosed patients. However, about 60% of diabetic patients in Rio do not know that they have the disease because they barely feel it in the early stage. The imbalance of blood sugar can be summarized as a "three-step process" of insulin resistance, impaired pancreatic islet function, and complications.
Long-term caloric excess, obesity, especially abdominal obesity, and lack of exercise, the body's sensitivity to insulin decreases, and blood sugar begins to rise quietly without any feeling at this stage. In order to suppress blood sugar, pancreatic beta cells have to work overtime to secrete insulin. After years of overload operation, their functions gradually fail, and blood sugar begins to obviously get out of control. Long-term high blood sugar will cause lesions in various important organs of the human body.
Xiao Yang said that to stay away from the threat of diabetes, you need to keep your mouth shut, move your legs, control your weight, sleep well, and have regular check-ups. You should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise every week, control your body mass index (BMI) below 24 kilograms per square meter, and ensure 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night. People with a family history, overweight and obesity, high blood pressure, or dyslipidemia should get checked earlier and more frequently.
“Food therapy alternative medicines”, “stop taking medicine when blood sugar is normal”, “insulin is addictive”, these online myths are all misunderstandings. Foods such as bitter melon, okra, and corn silk are low-energy, high-fiber vegetables. As part of the daily diet, they are friendly to postprandial blood sugar. However, so far there is no reliable evidence that they can lower blood sugar as effectively as drugs. Dietary therapy is the basis of all treatments but cannot replace medications.
In view of the practice of some patients to stop taking medicine on their own when their blood sugar reaches the standard, Xiao Yang emphasized that reaching the blood sugar standard just means that the treatment is effective, but it does not mean that the disease has been cured. Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease. Blood sugar often rebounds quickly after stopping medication without authorization. Repeated fluctuations can aggravate oxidative stress and vascular damage. Whether medication needs to be reduced or discontinued must be comprehensively evaluated by a specialist and adjusted gradually.
Insulin is a hormone secreted by the body itself and has no addictive properties. Some patients require long-term use because their own pancreatic islet function has significantly declined and require external supplementation. There are also some newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients with significantly elevated blood sugar. They receive a period of intensive insulin treatment at an early stage to remove the toxicity of high glucose and allow the pancreatic beta cells to slow down and restore some functions. After that, they have the opportunity to switch back to oral medication.
Diabetics need to scientifically manage their blood sugar by regularly measuring blood sugar, checking averages, and managing complications. Those who only take oral medication and have relatively stable blood sugar should test fasting or postprandial blood sugar 2 to 4 times a week; those who use insulin should test more frequently and record the results so that the doctor can make informed adjustments. Check your glycated hemoglobin every 3 to 6 months. If your blood sugar is not up to standard or you are adjusting medication, you should check it every 3 months. Check your fundus, urine microalbumin, and feet once a year, and keep your blood pressure and blood lipids in check.
