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Studies gender factor in diabetes is of considerable importance
More than six million people in Germany suffer from diabetes, most of them type 2. Management of the disease takes into account various factors such as age or concomitant health conditions, but not the sex. However, experts believe that the treatment of diabetes should be gender specific.
Millions of people suffer from diabetes
According to the German Diabetes Society, over six million people in this country suffer from diabetes. In other countries, the metabolic disorder has long since become a common disease. Diabetes is differentiated into Type 1 and Type 2. In Type 1, the body produces virtually zero insulin. The cause of the disease is a disorder of the body's immune system. In type 2, obesity or obesity and physical inactivity contribute to insulin not being fully effective in the cell membranes. Stress is also a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Most patients with diabetes suffer from type 2.
Since women and men have a different risk of diabetes and suffer different diseases, the treatment should also be gender specific. (Image: Andrey Popov / fotolia.com) Personalized treatment of metabolic disorder
According to the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), the primary treatment for type 2 diabetes is diet and exercise. At least at the beginning of diabetes, supplemental therapy with oral antidiabetic drugs would make use of the body's own insulin production and insulin present. Only in the further course of an insulin therapy may be necessary. Which therapy in the individual case is the right one, but must be decided individually, the experts write. Experts from MedUni Vienna are also likely to agree. In her opinion, the treatment of diabetes should be personalized.
Men and women carry a different risk
According to a statement from the university, the international guidelines for the management of diabetes mellitus (type 2) stipulate that factors such as age, social environment, duration of illness or concomitant health complaints should be taken into account. The gender is not included. However, that is exactly what the Austrian experts say is becoming ever more important - because men and women are at different risk and suffer and suffer from diabetes differently. Therefore, the treatment should be increasingly gender-specific and thus personalized.
Women are long protected from diabetes
This is the most important finding of a worldwide comprehensive review on the state of gender-specific differences, to which the MedUni Wien researchers Alexandra Kautzky-Willer and Jürgen Harreiter have now been invited. The review has appeared in the journal "Endocrine Reviews". According to the statement, the facts speak clearly for a gender-specific view and treatment of diabetes mellitus. Biologically, men have a fundamentally higher risk of developing diabetes mellitus. Women are "protected" for a long time, among other things, by the increased release of the hormone estrogen - until menopause leads to a hormonal change and this protection abates. It also states that the risk for men is usually increased because they have more belly fat and more liver fat and lower insulin sensitivity, even if they are not overweight. In them, a testosterone deficiency is a risk factor, while in women higher male sex hormones are associated with a greater risk.
Thigh fat can be protective
"On the other hand, it has been shown that the fat on the thighs, which is more common in women genetically and estrogen-related, even protective. On the other hand, their abdominal circumference has a better predictive power for diabetes than men, "said Kautzky-Willer, diabetes expert and Austria's first female professor of gender medicine. "In addition, psychosocial stress and stress in the job and lack of decision-making skills in case of high work pressure or lack of sleep are more common in women than in men. Often also exacerbated by weight gain. "However, men are more at risk of developing diabetes later when their mothers have suffered from malnutrition during pregnancy.
Gender-specific factors should be incorporated into the practice
According to the scientists, there are also gender-specific differences in the biomarkers that can help to detect the risk of diabetes at an early stage. Thus, the hepatic-derived protein fetuin-A and copeptin are promising biomarkers in women, but not in men. Accordingly, the hormone leptin, which emits chemical messages to stop eating and extract energy from the stores, such as fat deposits, is considered a strong biomarker. "Endocrine disruptors, ie endocrine disruptors, are becoming increasingly important," said Jürgen Harreiter. For example, scientific studies have shown that synthetically produced substances such as bisphenol A or phatalates (plasticizers), which are contained in many plastic articles, are considered to be risk factors for diabetes. Here, too, there are different effects on men and women depending on age. In addition, regional differences were noted: more and more women are diagnosed with diabetes in Oceania, South and Central Asia and the Middle East, while the disease affects more and more men in richer areas of the Asia-Pacific region, but also in Central Europe. The gender-specific factors in diabetes should, according to the university in the future, even more than in practice. (Ad)