Diabetes School to Expand Awareness
14th of November is World Diabetes Day since 1991. So Turkiye Hospital organised a Diabetes School to create and expand awareness on the subject. Doctors from different specialties discuss diabetes and informed the guests of the school.
What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that develops when the pancreas is unable to produce sufficient amounts of insulin or when the insulin it produces cannot be used effectively. The first condition is called "type 1 diabetes" and the second condition is called "type 2 diabetes". Insulin allows sugar to enter the cell and be stored in the cell as glycogen. Diabetics cannot use the sugar, glucose, that passes into the blood from the food they eat and their blood sugar levels rise. This condition is called hyperglycemia in medicine and causes damage to many tissues and organs in the long term.
What Is the Prevalence in the World and in Our Country?
- 1 out of every 11 people in the world (463 million people) has diabetes.
- On the other hand, almost half of people with diabetes (232 million people) have not yet been diagnosed. In other words, 1 out of every 2 diabetics is not aware of their disease.
- Diabetes accounts for 10% of global health expenditure (US$ 760 billion).
- The number of adults aged 20-79 with impaired glucose tolerance is estimated at 374 million (approximately 1 in 13 people in this age group worldwide).
- 1 in 6 births (20 million) are affected by gestational diabetes.
- Three quarters of people with diabetes live in low- and middle-income countries.
- 1,110,100 children and young people under 20 years of age have type 1 diabetes.
- 1 person dies from diabetes every 8 seconds (approximately 4.2 million adults)
Turkey has the highest diabetes prevalence rate in Europe with 11.1%. There are over 6.6 million people with diabetes in Turkey. Turkey is also one of the European countries with the highest diabetes-related mortality rate. Diabetes is responsible for 23.8% of total health expenditures in Turkey. In 2045, it is estimated that there will be 10.4 million people with diabetes in Turkey and Turkey will be 1 of the 10 countries with the highest prevalence of diabetes in adults.
Why is the Number of Patients with Diabetes Increasing in the World and in Turkiye?
Today, with the deterioration of urban lifestyles, more food is consumed with less energy expenditure. As a result, obesity is increasing and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, which is seen in adults and whose main cause is insulin resistance, is increasing rapidly all over the world. Other main reasons for this increase are population growth and increasing life expectancy. While type 2 diabetes used to be a problem of adults, today it is being seen at an earlier age, even in childhood.
What is the Importance of Diabetes for Us?
Diabetes is a common public health problem that, if not kept under control, leads to serious health problems and death at an early age and negatively affects quality of life. If diabetes is not well controlled and monitored, it causes organ damage (complications) by adversely affecting many organs. These are; kidney failure, loss of vision, heart attack, stroke, gangrene in the feet. As it is a chronic disease, it requires lifelong treatment. However, when managed effectively, negative consequences of diabetes can be prevented. In the treatment of diabetes, it is very important to make the necessary lifestyle changes, including changing eating habits and increasing the level of physical activity, as well as regular medication use. Therefore, efforts should be made to prevent the disease, diagnose it early and treat it appropriately.
