Diabetes

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes mellitus, also known as diabetes, is a disease that causes serious problems due to insufficient or deficient insulin produced by the pancreas. Diabetes, which is common today, is known in medicine as “diabetes melltus”.

Contents

The body constantly needs some glucose (sugar) in the blood. Glucose in the cells is the energy source for daily life, insulin transports glucose from the bloodstream into the cells.

The body usually converts all simple sugars into glucose, the sugar that circulates in the blood and is taken up by the cells is glucose, blood sugar stands for “blood glucose”.

Most cells in the body use lipids (fats), carbohydrates (sugars) and proteins from food as energy sources, but some cells can only take and use glucose (sugar) as an energy source. These are brain cells, nerve cells and red blood cells in the blood.

Ask a Doctor

For diagnosis and treatment, you can get detailed information from 0533 527 91 46 - 0544 552 76 44 phone numbers and ask questions to Metabolic Surgery Specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kerim Güzel.

What are the Types of Diabetes?

Until recent years, diabetes was known to exist in two forms: type 1 and type 2. However, recent research has also revealed the existence of an intermediate form of diabetes called type 1.5. In addition, some sources suggest that there is also a so-called type 3 diabetes, which is caused by diseases such as pancreatitis or surgical interventions. More precisely, it is called type 1 diabetes if the patient’s body does not produce insulin and type 2 diabetes if it does but cannot use it. In the intermediate form of type 1.5 diabetes, while insulin production is present, especially at the beginning, insulin stores are depleted in most patients, insulin production stops, and at this stage it turns into type 1 diabetes.

What is Type 1 Diabetes?

The body’s energy needs are provided by the basic nutrients in our food: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The most important of these nutrients, which are broken down into their smallest parts for absorption, is sugar called “glucose”. Glucose is an important source of energy for all organs of the body, especially the brain. Cells use the glucose they need with the help of a hormone secreted by the pancreas gland at the back of the stomach. If the hormone, known as insulin, is not made in the body, food intake cannot be used as energy. Diabetes caused by a deficiency of the hormone insulin is called type 1 diabetes. Although it can be seen at any age, it often starts in childhood and adolescence. This is why it is also called juvenile diabetes. In our country, 10 percent of the more than 4 million diabetics, approximately 400 thousand, have this type of diabetes.

Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes

Blurred or unclear vision and problems with vision
Fatigue and exhaustion
Increased hunger and thirst
Dehydration (Fluid Loss)
Weight loss for no apparent reason

How is Type 1 Diabetes Treated?

There is no way to prevent type 1 diabetes!

People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin several times a day because the body cannot produce this hormone. They will need to take insulin for the rest of their lives.

If type 1 diabetes is not kept under control, it can lead to life-threatening conditions. Many people with type 1 diabetes live long and healthy lives. However, good health is only possible if blood sugar levels are kept within the limits prescribed by the doctor.

Change in Lifestyle

Exercise is important in type 1 diabetes, but it is not as simple as just running. It is necessary to balance the dose of insulin, what is eaten and any activity, whether at home or outdoors.

If you know the role that carbohydrates, fats and proteins play, you can create a healthy eating pattern where your sugar is at the level it should be, and your dietitian can help you with this.

What is Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is a type of sugar disease that occurs in adults. The pancreas produces insulin, but the body cannot use it properly because of insulin resistance, and it occurs mostly in people over the age of 40.

Diabetes is a lifelong disease that prevents the body from using glucose, a type of sugar in the blood.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition that affects the metabolism of glucose (metabolized sugar), an important fuel source for the body.

In Type 2 diabetes, the body either resists the action of insulin, the hormone that regulates the transport of sugar into cells, or does not produce enough insulin to maintain normal glucose levels.

Type 2 diabetes used to be known as adult onset diabetes, but more children are now being diagnosed with the condition, which is thought to be linked to the rise in childhood obesity.

Tip 2 Diyabetin Başlıca Belirtileri

Increased feeling of thirst
Frequent urination
Increased feeling of hunger
Weight gain or weight loss
Fatigue
Blurred vision
Wounds that do not heal
Frequent infections
Tingling and numbness in the hands and feet
Recurrent fungal infections
Dark areas on the skin, usually in the armpits and neck

Other Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

Dry mouth
Fatigue
Delayed healing of wounds on the body
Dry and itchy skin
Frequent infections
Blurred vision
Sexual problems
Numbness, tingling in the hands, feet or around the mouth

Conditions Leading to Diabetes

The pancreas produces a hormone called insulin, which turns glucose from food into energy in the cells. People with type 2 diabetes produce insulin but cannot use it properly, doctors call this insulin resistance.

Initially, the pancreas produces more insulin to transport glucose into the cells. It produces more insulin to move glucose into the cells, but it cannot sustain this and the level of sugar in the blood rises.

The exact cause is not known, but genetic and environmental factors, such as being overweight and a sedentary lifestyle, may be among the causes.

Diabetes Risk Factors

Factors that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes can be listed as follows:

Weight: Being overweight is a major factor for type 2 diabetes, but being overweight is not essential for type 2. Being overweight or obese can cause insulin resistance, especially if there is excess fat in the midsection… Type 2 diabetes affects children and adolescents with obesity as well as adults.

Metabolic Syndrome: Those with insulin resistance are a group that usually have high blood sugar, excess fat around the waist, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides (the most common type of fat in the blood).

Production of Too Much Glucose in the Liver: When blood glucose drops, the liver produces glucose and transmits it, after a meal the blood seeks glucose, usually the liver slows down and stores the glucose for later use, but some people’s liver cannot do this, it continues to produce sugar.

Fat Distribution: If body fat is concentrated in the abdomen instead of the hips or legs, the risk of type 2 diabetes is higher. If the waist circumference is more than 101.6 cm in men and 88.9 cm in women, the risk of type 2 diabetes increases.

Inactivity: The more sedentary you are, the greater your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Physical activity facilitates weight control, helps turn glucose into energy and makes cells sensitive to insulin.

Family history: The risk of type 2 diabetes increases depending on whether it occurs in parents and siblings.

Race: Although the cause is not clear, people of certain races, such as blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asian-Americans, are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than Caucasians.

Age: The risk of type 2 diabetes increases with age, especially after 45. This may be due to people exercising less and less, decreased muscle mass and weight gain, but type 2 diabetes is also increasing in children, adolescents and young adults.

Prediabetes: Prediabetes is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not classified as diabetes, when left untreated, prediabetes often develops into type 2 diabetes.

Gestational diabetes: If gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy, the risk of type 2 is high. Giving birth to a baby weighing more than 4 kilograms also increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is associated with irregular menstrual periods, excessive hair growth and obesity, have an increased risk of diabetes.

Darkening of the skin color under the buttocks and on the neck: It is generally considered an indicator of insulin resistance.

The Place of Metabolic Surgery in Type 2 Diabetes Treatment

In type 2 diabetics, insulin resistance is both pre-cellular and intracellular. In this case, resistance hormones, especially from the digestive system, surround the cells like armor and prevent insulin from entering the cell. As a result of metabolic surgery applications, resistance hormones originating from the digestive system are extinguished, the armor around the cell is opened and insulin enters the cell easily. Similarly, as fat, protein metabolism, fatty liver and liver damage also improve 2-3 months after surgery, intracellular signal transduction mechanisms are reversed. As a result, after metabolic surgery, patients’ blood sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride levels as well as problems such as high blood pressure, excess weight, fatty liver, eye-kidney damage and foot wounds are eliminated with a single operation.

Who is a Candidate for Metabolic Surgery?

Patients who cannot control their blood sugar despite appropriate treatment
Patients experiencing signs and symptoms of organ damage such as eyes, heart, kidneys, liver, feet
Patients with serious weight problems