November 14 is World Diabetes Day, and this year’s theme is “Diabetes control, no time to lose”. Under the influence of many factors such as dietary disorders, reduced exercise, increased stress and viral infections, the number of diabetic patients in China is increasing, and the trend is becoming younger and younger, showing the three major characteristics that the onset of diabetes is 90% type II diabetes, 90% of the patients have no obvious symptoms, and more than 90% have complications.
Prof. Qian advocates grasping the two ends of the three phases of diabetes, namely “pre-diabetes, hyperglycemia, and chronic complications”, and then driving the middle, to “strive to lower and maintain blood glucose at the ideal level, prevent too high or too low; maximize the improvement of patients’ symptoms and signs, and improve the quality of life The three main goals are to “strive to lower and maintain the ideal level of blood sugar, prevent high or low; maximize the improvement of patients’ symptoms and signs, and improve the quality of life; and maximize the prevention and control of complications. In Professor Qian’s opinion, diabetic patients do the following five aspects to achieve these three goals, to achieve effective control of diabetes is not a difficult task.
1, scientific diet: “patients who can eat” islet no burden
A proper diet is a very important subject for diabetic patients. The right diet can not only supply the body with adequate nutrition, but also effectively reduce the burden on the pancreas.
It has long been recognized that improper diet is a major cause of diabetes. On the one hand, the balance of modern people’s diet is disturbed, and the structure of diet is extremely unreasonable. High-fat, high-protein, high-sugar food on the table, vitamin-rich food is hard to find; on the other hand, food mixed with hormones, antibiotics, pesticide residues, as well as coloring, additives, etc., resulting in the human body’s own immune function decline, probiotics reduced, their own resistance to disease weakened.
Therefore, for diabetic patients, their own diet regulation should pay extra attention, through the balance of diet to reverse their own nutrition and internal environment changes is very important, to reduce excessive intake of sugar, fat, vegetable protein, pay attention to more into the low-fat, high-quality protein, crude fiber, high vitamin diet. In this way, that can meet the patient’s nutritional and caloric needs, but also effectively reduce the burden on the pancreas.
2.Rational exercise: find a suitable exercise method for yourself
At present, it is generally believed that obesity is an important factor that induces diabetes. And the emergence of obesity is not only excess nutrition, but also an important factor is the reduction of exercise such as sedentary and less moving. Therefore, increasing exercise, like a sensible diet, can effectively control weight and reduce the occurrence of obesity, eliminating this important cause of diabetes from its roots. Another important aspect is that exercise not only promotes blood circulation and improves cardiopulmonary function; it also improves insulin resistance and increases insulin sensitivity, which is conducive to diabetes improvement.
However, since different patients have different condition characteristics and individual differences, choosing the right type of exercise and the amount of exercise is equally important for patients with different physiques. For example, patients with poor health are not suitable for climbing, winter swimming and other active and stimulating sports, but can choose to walk, play tai chi and other relatively soft sports. In addition, Professor Qian said that exercise should not only focus on physical condition, but also follow the theory of Chinese medicine to maintain health, pay attention to spring to avoid wind, summer to avoid heat, autumn to avoid dryness, winter to avoid cold.
3.Personalized medication: Chinese and Western medicine have unique advantages
As for the drug treatment of diabetes, Prof. Qian opposes to emphasize solely on the use of drugs to lower sugar, and believes that excessive intensive sugar lowering will bring adverse risks to diabetes treatment, which will easily lead to hypoglycemia and cause aggravation of macrovascular complications. He advocates the combination of drugs and non-drugs, and the combined application of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine, with complementary advantages, to achieve the balance of diet, exercise, drugs and internal organs, and to achieve the clinical purpose of effective control of diabetes.
In addition, Prof. Qian told the reporter that with the clinical observation in recent years, it has been found that the treatment of diabetes by combining Chinese and Western medicine has achieved very significant results. The combination of Chinese and Western medicine can achieve better individualized treatment for diabetic patients, reduce and prevent the risk of hypoglycemia, and can increase insulin sensitivity, shorten the course of treatment, and reduce the dosage of hypoglycemic drugs and insulin. In particular, it has unique advantages in preventing and treating chronic complications of diabetes. Clinical and experimental studies have confirmed the effectiveness of TCM in preventing and treating diabetic lower limb vascular lesions, cardiovascular lesions, fundus retinopathy, and renal lesions.
4. Diabetes education: making doctor-patient communication smoother
Professor Qian said that some patients, after finding out they have diabetes, sometimes have one or another incorrect attitude or idea due to lack of comprehensive understanding of diabetes. Some patients, because of the lack of awareness of the dangers of diabetes, pay very little attention to their disease, do not care, do not follow medical advice and do not insist on taking medication; some patients ‘pay too much attention’ and exaggerate the dangers of diabetes. Some patients are extremely fearful of the disease and believe that they have an incurable disease; some patients are once very afraid of using hypoglycemic drugs, especially insulin, and they are afraid that once they use insulin, they will become addicted. They often refuse to follow medical advice and refuse to use insulin, resulting in delayed illness and treatment. In fact, these ideas and perceptions are incomplete or even wrong, which are caused by the lack of knowledge about diabetes and poor communication between doctors and patients.
In this regard, Professor Qian believes that the popularization of diabetes knowledge should be strengthened and the communication between doctors and patients should be enhanced. To make patients realize that diabetes is not incurable, but can be prevented and controlled. For patients, on the one hand, to understand diabetes, they must have knowledge of the science of diabetes, to understand its common symptoms, aggravating conditions and complications, and the latest advances in treating diabetes. On the other hand, it is important to know what is the correct treatment and what is pseudoscience when faced with treatment. Likewise, doctors need to increase their knowledge of diabetes and keep up with new advances in diabetes research in order to better guide their patients and achieve a higher level of communication with them.
”I hope that patients will not just spend their money on drugs, but should properly invest in some scientific learning about diabetes, so that patients and non-patients can change from passive education to active learning, which is more beneficial to their health.” Professor Qian said.
5.Self-detection: the first line of defense to guard diabetic patients
Diabetes complications of death and disability rate is currently ranked only in cardiovascular disease, cancer, after the third major disease, therefore, to prevent the progress of diabetes, to prevent complications should be an important goal for diabetics. To achieve this goal, self-management of diabetic patients is especially important.
Diabetic patients should understand and grasp the characteristics, signs and clinical manifestations of diabetic complications. For example, when walking easily produce fatigue, legs numbness and soreness, intermittent claudication, you need to be alert and careful of combined with lower extremity vascular disease; feel chest tightness should consider whether there is myocardial ischemic disease and so on. It is important to go to the hospital in time to monitor the lower limb Doppler and electrocardiogram, and to collect their own health examination information and provide it to the doctor in time so that the doctor can make an accurate judgment and give the appropriate treatment plan.
Professor Qian reminded that diabetic patients must not judge their condition and guide their medication based on their self-perception alone, but should use blood glucose and other testing indicators as a basis to guide and adjust their medication. For people at risk with a family history of diabetes, it is best to test blood glucose regularly; for diabetic patients, it is best to test blood glucose daily; for diabetic patients with combined cardiovascular and cerebrovascular pathology, fundus retinopathy, renal pathology and renal failure, special attention should be paid to testing blood glucose at any time to detect hypoglycemia in time to avoid aggravating the disease.