Aunt Zhao was recently diagnosed as a diabetic patient. She felt very anxious. She heard others say that diabetes is incurable and cannot be cured. So she quickly asked her neighbor Xiao Li, a doctor. After Xiao Li explained in detail, Aunt Zhao Only then did I understand that diabetes is the root of all diseases, not an incurable disease.
1. Diabetic eye disease
Diabetic retinopathy is a highly specific microvascular complication of diabetes and is the most common cause of new blindness in adults aged 20 to 74 years. The main risk factors for diabetic retinopathy include duration of diabetes, hyperglycemia, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Other related risk factors include pregnancy and diabetic nephropathy. Since diabetic retinopathy may not have any symptoms in the early stages, diabetic patients must have regular fundus examinations.
2. Diabetic nephropathy
Diabetic nephropathy, which occurs in 20% to 40% of diabetic patients, is the main cause of renal failure in diabetic patients. Early onset diabetic nephropathy is characterized by a slight increase in urinary albumin excretion (microalbuminuria), which gradually progresses to large amounts of albumin. Urinary and serum creatinine levels rise, and renal failure eventually develops, requiring dialysis or kidney transplantation.
3. Diabetic foot
The relative risk of lower limb amputation in patients with diabetes is 40 times higher than in patients without diabetes. The basic causes of diabetic foot disease are neuropathy, vasculopathy, and infection, which together can lead to tissue ulceration and gangrene.
4. Diabetic neuropathy
Diabetic neuropathy is one of the common chronic complications of diabetes, which can affect the central nervous system and peripheral nerves, such as abnormal sweating. Generally, the duration of diabetes is more than 10 years, and there are often obvious symptoms of diabetic neuropathy. The risk of its occurrence is related to the duration of diabetes and poor blood sugar control.
5. Diabetic lower limb vascular disease
Diabetic lower extremity vasculopathy mainly refers to lower extremity arterial lesions. Although it is not a specific complication of diabetes, the risk of lower extremity arterial lesions in diabetic patients is significantly increased compared with non-diabetic patients, and the age of onset is earlier, the condition is more severe, and the lesions are more extensive. , the prognosis will be worse.
6. Oral lesions
The saliva volume and flow rate of diabetic patients decrease, the glucose concentration in the saliva increases, and the pH value of the saliva decreases, which reduces the self-cleaning ability of the oral cavity and changes the oral environment, which can easily cause the growth and reproduction of various pathogenic microorganisms, leading to oral Various diseases occur such as glossitis, oral mucositis, dental caries, etc.
7. Various concurrent infections
Diabetes is prone to complications of various infections, and infections are more common and severe in patients with poor blood sugar control. Diabetes complicated by infection can form a vicious cycle, that is, infection leads to uncontrollable hyperglycemia, and hyperglycemia further aggravates infection. Infection can induce acute complications of diabetes, and infection is one of the important causes of death in diabetes.
8. Depression
The prevalence of depression in diabetic patients is significantly higher than that in non-diabetic people. Some diabetic patients are prone to psychological problems due to their heavy psychological burden. It is difficult for diabetic patients with depression to obtain satisfactory blood sugar control, and they are at high risk of microvascular and macrovascular complications. for ordinary diabetic patients.
Finally, Dr. Xiao Li mentioned that as long as diabetic patients can control blood sugar and other indicators, they can prevent or delay diabetic complications. Therefore, diabetes is not an incurable disease, but the root of all diseases.
