DIABETES

Educational session for patients at

PEARL MEDICAL PRACTICE

Dr P Mehta

2nd July 2013

It’s a big problem!

Diabetes is an important medical condition that causes a lot of illness and deaths

Around 3.75 million people have it and approximately 7 million people are at a high risk of getting it.

Lots of people don’t know they have it.In the UK about 1 in 5 people over 65

have diabetes

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is when the level of sugar in your blood becomes higher than what is considered normal.

Mainly 2 types of diabetes Type 1: Less common, diagnosed mostly when

young, need insulin injections Type 2: More common, normally occurs later in

life, treated with tablets or insulin

Why does the sugar level go up?

The body makes a hormone called INSULIN. Insulin helps to keep our glucose levels within a safe range by making cells in the body take up glucose in the blood

In diabetes the following happens Type 1: The body doesn’t produced any insulin Type 2: The body doesn’t produce enough

insulin or the insulin doesn’t work properly.

Taken from www.humanillnesses.com

Type 2 Diabetes

More commonOnset is usually later in life (after 40) but

can happen at any timeThe body doesn’t make enough insulin or

the insulin it makes doesn’t work properly (insulin resistance).

Lots of risk factors that are in your control so you can do something to help reduce your risk.

Risk factors for Diabetes

Non-modifiable risk factors (things that are not in your control)

Genetics: increased risk if a 1st degree relative has diabetes

Ethnicity: more common in people from S.Asian and Afro-carribean backgrounds.

Risk factors continued

Modifiable risk factors (things that you can do something about) Weight; being overweight increased your risk

as does carrying weight around your middle Lack of exercise and physical inactivity Other medical problems like high blood

pressure, high cholesterol, previous heart attack or stroke

How would I know if I have diabetes?

Taken from made4all.com

Other symptoms

Blurry visionRecurrent skin infectionsWounds/cuts that are slow to healUnexpected weight lossLoss of feeling or burning in the feetSome people will have NO symptoms

Testing for Diabetes

Normally we do a fasting blood sugar level.

If the level is borderline you would be asked to do a glucose tolerance test to see if you are

1. Normal 2. Borderline (impaired fasting glucose) 3. Diabetic

Why must you get treatment?

Taken from reversediabetes2.com

Treatment

Depending on how severe your diabetes is when it is picked up

Diet only; if you diabetes is ‘mild’, then you can have a trial of trying to control your sugars by addressing your diet, doing more exercise and making lifestyle changes

Medications: If your diabetes is significant you will need to take medications

Medications

Medications There are many medications around which work

on the insulin that you still have in your body to try and make it more effective at controlling your sugar levels

Not everyone needs insulin, but if after maximising all oral treatments then insulin may be the only next best option

Monitoring

If you are diabetic we monitor you diabetes control by checking something call HBa1c. This gives us an indication of well your sugar control has been in the last 3 months.

If you do not have diabetes but were deemed to be borderline we would check this on a yearly basis unless you had symptoms in which case we would do it sooner.

Annual checks for diabetes

Bloods – check your sugar control, cholesterol and kidneys

Eye check – to see if there is any damage to the back of the eyes

Feet check – check that the blood supply and nerves to the feet are in tact

General health check; medications, lifestyle, diet, how you are coping

Urine check – to see if there is any sign of kidney disease

Must take the flu vaccination as you would be high risk of infections.

What can I do?

Eat well Cut down on fatty foods, sugary foods and drinks, fried

foods, foods high in fat content Eat more fruit and veg, pulses, lentils, fish, wholegrain

pasta’s and rice More exercise

Helps reduce blood glucose levels Aim for 20-30mins a day 5 times a week

Stop smoking Don’t add to the problems that you have. Smoking and

diabetes increase your risk of many serious problems like heart attacks, stroke.

Ive already got diabetes so theres no point?!

NO! Its never too late to make changesEven if you have diabetes, eating better,

increasing your physical activity levels, stopping smoking, taking medications and attending your check ups will- Help control your diabetes and stop it getting

worse and worse- Help prevent serious complications

References

Diabetes UK: www.diabetes.org.ukPatient.co.uk

THANK YOU

NOTES

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