Since 2000, the number of people with diabetes worldwide has tripled, and about half of the more than 460 million patients have not been diagnosed.
To deal with the health threat of diabetes, non-diabetic patients focus on "prevention" and diabetic patients focus on "treatment". There are similarities in this, let's learn together.
01
Lifestyle choices
It is the key to preventing diabetes
Currently, the focus of diabetes prevention is on type 2 diabetes, which accounts for more than 90% of diabetes cases. Type 2 diabetes is usually more common in older people, but as lifestyle changes, its incidence increases in young people and even adolescents.
Many factors affect the development of type 2 diabetes, such as age and family history. But the most influential and potentially modifiable factors are lifestyle choices, which include eating habits and physical activity. There have been a large number of studies that have shown that optimizing lifestyle through regular physical activity and healthy eating habits can play a role in preventing or delaying the development of diabetes.
The internationally renowned Daqing diabetes research has revealed that people who also have impaired diabetes tolerance, who adopt a healthy diet and increase physical activity, have a 30% to 50% lower risk of developing diabetes within 6 years than those who do not adjust their lifestyle, and this benefit can last for life.
Increase physical activity and physical exercise
Regular physical activity is essential to prevent diabetes and control blood sugar levels. The most effective form of exercise is to combine aerobic exercise (e.g., jogging, swimming, cycling) with resistance training (e.g., dumbbell lifting, push-ups, elastic bands).
Physical activity is recommended for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. If you can't do 30 minutes of continuous physical activity in a day, you can also accumulate the exercise time, but it should be noted that the exercise time should reach more than 10 minutes each time.
Ensure a healthy diet and optimize the structure of the diet
Balanced diets and food types should be diversified. Reduce your intake of saturated fat, choose lean, white, poultry or aquatic products, and eat less red meat and processed meat products.
Ensure adequate fresh vegetables and fruits to increase dietary fiber intake. Reduce sugar intake and skip or drink fewer sugary drinks. Limit the consumption of alcoholic beverages and avoid alcohol when necessary.
Stick to eating and moving in balance to maintain a healthy weight
The two-pronged approach of increasing physical activity and healthy eating choices can help us reach and maintain weight in the healthy range.
Avoiding overweight or obesity is also an important part of preventing type 2 diabetes. The longer the long-term regulation of energy balance established early in life through physical exercise and dietary control helps prevent the development of overweight and obesity, and reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Avoid tobacco use and avoid exposure to second-hand smoke
Tobacco use increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Smoking is associated with an increased risk of diabetic macrovascular disease, microangiopathy, and premature death. Smokers should now quit. Non-smokers should also be careful not to be exposed to second-hand smoke.
02
Enjoy health management
Early diagnosis and early treatment maintain stable blood glucose
There is no cure for diabetes. For people with diabetes, it is important to get treatment early in the disease and to control normal and stable blood sugar levels. The longer diabetes goes undiagnosed and untreated, the worse the health outcomes are likely to result. Early diagnosis and intervention is the starting point for a good life for people with diabetes.
Studies have shown that if blood glucose control can be strengthened in patients with diabetes early in the disease, it can significantly reduce or delay the occurrence and development of diabetic complications and reduce the risk of death. Regular physical activity, reasonable balance of diet, maintenance of a healthy weight, smoking cessation and alcohol restrictions of a healthy lifestyle can not only prevent diabetes, but also the focus of disease management for every type 2 diabetic patient.
However, when lifestyle interventions alone are not enough to control blood sugar, people with diabetes also need to rely on oral medications or insulin injections to control blood sugar levels.
Patients need to strictly follow the doctor's instructions to take drugs, strictly control blood glucose and other underlying diseases, such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia. In addition, blood glucose should be monitored regularly, foot care should be done, retinal and kidney examinations should be carried out regularly, and complications should be detected and treated in a timely manner.
bibliography
[1] International Diabetes Federation. Diabetes prevention. https://www.idf.org/aboutdiabetes/prevention.html
[2] International Diabetes Federation. Access to diabetes care: if not now, when? https://worlddiabetesday.org/about/key-messages/
Contributed by: Chronic Disease Institute of the Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Edit: Suki
The image comes from the Internet