Diabetes – Facts and myths

We all believe that we are sure of what diabetes really represents.
People who suffer from diabetes are taking insulin on a daily basis, and they have a special diet for diabetics.
However, that’s not the real picture. The time has come to see the facts and myths for this disease.

1. Diabetes? Well, it’s an incurable disease.

True and false. It’s true that diabetes is also known as a sugar disease. This second name came out of the fact that the urine of people whose diabetes is not treated has sweet smell. This comes as a result of overrated amounts of sugar in the blood, so the body is not able to filtrate that and as a consequence the kidneys are forced to work overtime.

Diabetes can be kept under control. However, we cannot say that this chronic disorder is not harmful either. High blood pressure, heart attack or even brain attack are some of the possible consequences. There can be also a negative effect on kidneys and eyes. Every sixth second in the world one diabetic dies.

2. Everyone who consumes a lot of sweets will get diabetes. Or?

Not really. It’s important to emphasize that there are various types of diabetes that have different mechanisms of appearance. In diabetes type 1, the body creates insufficient amount of insulin as a result of genetic disorder. In diabetes type 2, the body is not able to properly elaborate the insulin. Apart from these types, there are less common ones like pregnancy diabetes.

Diabetes type 2 is inherent and 90% of all diabetics have this. This type appears in combination of overweight, insufficient physical activity and irregular diet i.e diet rich in sweets that contain bad fats and bad ?? So, the interaction of all these factors results in the occurrence of diabetes, and the sugar itself is not the main cause.

3. Only people who are overweight can get diabetes.

This information is not accurate at all. It is true that the risk of getting diabetes (when we are talking about type 2) is twice bigger in people who are overweight. In obese people this risk is three times bigger. However, the metabolism of more than one fourth of the people who are overweight stays healthy. In other words, this means that there are also other factors that influence on the appearance of diabetes, such as genetic predispositions and age.

4. Diabetes is a disease of the rich countries

Completely false. This disease is a worldwide problem that is constantly increasing. It especially applies to type 1 diabetes. The reasons are unclear. The International Association of diabetics in 2014 had 387 millions members, 80% of them lived in medium developed countries in development.

5. Only old people can get diabetes

False. It is true that diabetes meditus is more common in old people, but diabetes 1 and 2 is present in all age groups. Approximately 2000 new cases of diabetes type 1 in children of age up to 14 are registered on an annual level.

6. All diabetics must intake insulin on a daily basis

True and false. Diabetics from type 1 must intake insulin every day since their bodies are not able to produce this hormone. In diabetics type 2 it is not necessary at the moment of diagnosis because the body can compensate the insulin resistance for some time, by producing more amounts of the hormone. After several years, the pancreas gets tired and the amount of the hormone drastically decreases. That’s the moment when diabetics type 2 must start taking insulin.

7. When there is not enough insulin it gets dramatic.

The lack of insulin is not so dramatic as it is presented in the movies. The scenes of crumps as a consequence of not taking insulin which are usually presented, are actually hyperglycemia i.e lack of glycose in the blood. Hyperglycemia, a pathologically increased level of glycose in the blood, causes thirst, headaches, fatigue and feeling of sickness in the stomach of diabetics.

8. People who suffer diabetes must stick to a special diet

Wrong. Recently, we have the chance to notice products labelled: for diabetics, no sugar, no fats on the supermarket’s shelves. None of these products is recommended for a person who is a diabetic. In some countries is forbidden by the law to label certain products (for diabetics) because in that way they are having a delusion. The same rules for a healthy diet apply to the diabetics: consummation of much water and fruit whereas the salt and sugar should be consumed in reasonable amounts.

9. Diabetes cannot be cured

True. People who suffer from diabetes type 1 are insulin addicted until the end of their lives. The situation in type 2 is different. The overweight and insufficient physical activity speed up the disease, but the healthy diet can really slow it down. It means that by having self control the diabetes can be put in a condition of rest. However, surgical interventions and a complete stop to the disease are not possible yet.