World Diabetes Day Warning of the sugar epidemic

World Diabetes Day: Warning of the sugar epidemic.

(15.11.2010) Sunday was World Diabetes Day. As of this day, diabetes experts, public health officials and general practitioners wanted to increase public interest in the growing prevalence of the chronic disease. The extra counter at www.welt-diabetes-tag.de currently indicates more than 283.3 million diabetics and every five seconds one will be added. Every day 17,280 new patients develop diabetes.

Widespread disease diabetes
The spread of diabetes is on the rise worldwide, and especially in the industrial nations, the so-called diabetes has long been the status of a widespread disease. According to estimates by health authorities, Germany currently affects about eight million people in Germany, with experts predicting that around four million people live with unrecognized illnesses. In addition, about eleven million adults in this country have high blood sugar levels, which can manifest themselves in the next few years without medical treatment in diabetes. Although medication can make the daily life of those affected much easier, it can not stop the spread of civilization suffering with their help.

Prevention with exercise and healthy diet
The causes of most diabetes illnesses are lack of exercise and improper diet. There „eat a lot“ and „little exercise“ The experts also use World Diabetes Day to appeal for the use of psychologists to treat diabetes, rather than behaving as the organism's metabolic functions. Because with the help of psychological care, each individual can change his behavior permanently and thus reduce his personal diabetes risk. Although most high-risk patients know that losing weight and exercising regularly will help them, it usually fails to materialize. Prevention researcher Peter Schwarz summarizes the findings of previous studies in the conclusion that five to seven kilograms of weight loss, a good two hours of physical activity per week and a daily diet with about 30 grams of fiber with less than 30 percent fat and 10 percent saturated fat, diabetes prevented or its outbreak at least delayed by up to 20 years. Implementing these relatively simple precautionary measures is, of course, extremely difficult for most high-risk patients.

Disease prevention more effective than pharmacotherapy
Peter Schwarz emphasized: „The problem lies in the implementation. (...) We know what to do, but we can not do it the way we want it to.“ He also aims at a problem that has been discussed controversially in this country among medical professionals for some time. Because „Disease prevention programs are more effective than any pharmacotherapy. But the pill is prescribed by the doctor, the lifestyle change is not.“ Health-sparing or encouraging behavior of individuals in the German health care system is sometimes far too low a position, as it does not involve cash flow. The motivation of individuals to appropriate behavioral changes must therefore emanate from the affected themselves and is often correspondingly low to the regret of the experts.

Diabetes risk lowered by behavioral changes
Peter Schwarz explained how difficult it can be to motivate overweight individuals to change their lifestyle if they do not experience symptoms such as excessive thirst or prolonged fatigue. But if the symptoms appear, the disease is usually already too far advanced and the medical profession can only continue with a corresponding drug treatment. For this reason, Schwarz has initiated numerous initiatives in Saxony to teach health-promoting behavioral changes in dietary habits and lifestyles to high-risk patients in three to six-month courses. „The greatest success was achieved by unemployed men, whom we persuaded in the corridors of the employment agency to participate“, emphasized the prevention researcher. With them, the „Waist circumference, which is crucial for the amount of stored belly fat, on average by seven inches“ diminished, she „lost seven percent in weight and lowered her systolic blood pressure by 13 mmHg.“ According to the expert, this means that 55 percent of the approximately 4,000 course participants have so far „permanently lowered their diabetes risk“.

Psychological support for behavioral change
Looking back on his studies, Schwarz explained: „The best results were obtained whenever psychologists carried out the programs“ and so is a consequence of the initiatives that in Saxony diabetics are psychologically advised free of charge. Achim Peters from the University of Lübeck, developer of the Selfish Brain Theory, also supports the views of Peter Schwarz. Achim Peters assumes that type 2 diabetes is not primarily due to the loss of effect of the hormone insulin, but the actual cause is a disturbed energy supply in the brain. This sends a command for food intake in the case of a lack of glucose, even if the fat stores are full. As a result, more fat deposits and the blood sugar level rises, leading in the long term to a disease with type 2 diabetes.

Brain training to implement new behaviors
According to the expert, medicines can not help here, but psychological programs in which the patient learns to abandon habits and deal better with stress are an option, according to Achim Peters. Because with his „Train the brain“-Procedures, had succeeded in the study participants to train new behaviors at the level of the brain. „Participants have learned to cope with stressful demands without thinking about food. In many cases, there has been a persistent weight loss“, explained the expert. Therefore, psychologists, psychiatrists, nutrition and diabetes experts should work together as soon as possible to develop appropriate training programs and implement them across the board.

Drug treatment of diabetes
Despite the many possibilities for prevention, diabetes will not be able to survive as a disease in the future without medical treatment. Thus, the anti-diabetic tablets administered as tablets, which many type 2 diabetics must take, are an essential part of current treatment methods. If the tablets are no longer sufficient as the disease progresses, insulin therapy is usually used, which provides for an injection of the active ingredient. Also, more and more insulin pumps are being used to treat patients today. The approximately cigarette box-sized pumps are carried in the trouser pocket and are connected via a thin tube with a six to ten millimeter long needle, which is in the stomach of the patient. The insulin pumps regulate the blood sugar level continuously - even at night - to minimize the fluctuations and not endanger the health of the patient.

With the help of the various treatment methods, the different types of diabetes can be controlled relatively well and hinder those affected in their everyday lives only a little. Nevertheless, everyone should take adequate precautions to minimize the risk of personal illness. Because there is no prospect of recovery after the onset of the disease. Those who can not motivate themselves to prevent themselves, should not be afraid to seek psychological support from the expert, so the unanimous conclusion of the experts on the World Diabetes Day. (Fp)

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