Consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle: About type 2 diabetes
The chronic metabolic disease diabetes mellitus in its forms type 1 and type 2 affects more than 350 million people worldwide, in Germany alone there are more than 7 million diabetics - and the trend is rising. While type 1 diabetes is hereditary, several factors come together in the onset of type 2 diabetes, some of which can be influenced by lifestyle.
What influence does an unhealthy lifestyle have on the onset of type 2 diabetes? Can a healthy lifestyle perhaps even prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes?
Is prosperity making us sick?
Obesity and lack of exercise characterize the image of the Western affluent society. But it is precisely this unhealthy lifestyle that lays the foundation for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
Currently, about 7.2% of Germans live with diabetes, and more than 95% of them suffer from type 2 diabetes. German scientists predict an increase to up to 12 million people who could suffer from type 2 diabetes by 2040.
The future development of new disease rates, significantly influenced by an unhealthy lifestyle, plays a decisive role in this.
What is diabetes mellitus?
Diabetes mellitus refers to a chronic metabolic disease whose main characteristic is chronic hyperglycemia (high blood sugar). The disease is therefore also referred to as diabetes. The cause of diabetes is a disturbed release of the vital metabolic hormone insulin, which controls carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism.
In the autoimmune disease diabetes type 1, the immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, so that no or too little insulin can be released. Insulin must be supplied externally to reduce blood glucose levels. The disease is genetically predisposed and is influenced by environmental factors. Type 1 diabetes is the most common metabolic disease in children and adolescents.
In type 2 diabetes, the effect of insulin in the body's cells is reduced to the point of insulin resistance. The predisposition for diabetes type 2 is hereditary, but the onset of the disease is significantly influenced by an unhealthy lifestyle.
Type 2 diabetes is an insidious disease that can lie dormant in the patient for years before its onset, as the symptoms are usually non-specific. Often the disease is discovered by chance during the treatment of another disease. If the blood glucose levels are only slightly elevated and have not yet reached the threshold for diabetes, prediabetes is diagnosed.
Intact insulin production
The hormone insulin is produced in the pancreas, it controls the uptake of glucose from the blood and its transfer to the body cells. The blood glucose level is regulated by the removal of the glucose. If, for example, a meal consists of a large amount of quickly digestible carbohydrates, the blood glucose level rises rapidly. As a result, the pancreas secretes more insulin to remove the glucose from the blood and thus lower the blood glucose level.
Impaired insulin production
In type 2 diabetes, the cells respond less and less to insulin over a longer period of time, culminating in insulin resistance. Glucose is only absorbed very slowly from the blood and distributed to the organs. Meanwhile, digestion of the carbohydrate-rich meal continues, blood glucose rises, and the pancreas continues to secrete insulin, many times more than is needed. This results in insulin overproduction, hyperinsulinemia. This condition can go unnoticed for years until the pancreas becomes nonfunctional due to overuse and stops producing insulin altogether. A chronically elevated blood glucose level and thus the development of type 2 diabetes are the consequences.
The cause of impaired insulin production can be, for example, that the body's own intestinal hormones such as GLP-1 are not produced in sufficient quantities. GLP-1 normally ensures that the body responds appropriately to the intake of carbohydrates by stimulating insulin production. If there is a deficiency of GLP-1, this process can no longer function correctly.
What risk factors promote the onset of type 2 diabetes?
The main risk factors for the onset of type 2 diabetes are obesity and lack of exercise.
Although type 2 diabetes is also based on a genetic predisposition, it is an unhealthy lifestyle that leads to the onset of the disease.
Metabolic syndrome, or fatal quartet, is the term used to describe the coincidence of several symptoms:
- Obesity
- disturbed fat metabolism
- elevated blood sugar levels
- increased high blood pressure
These risk factors are favored by Western lifestyles and increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis]
Overweight
Being overweight or obese (adiposity) are significant risk factors for type 2 diabetes. In particular, increased fat deposits in the abdomen, visceral adipose tissue, significantly increase the risk of developing the disease. A significant excess of visceral adipose tissue is reflected in increased abdominal girth, which is why abdominal girth is used to assess risk in addition to body mass index. An increased risk exists for women from an abdominal circumference of 88 cm, for men from 102 cm. These values are guidelines and can vary depending on body size and muscle percentage.
Lack of exercise
Obesity usually occurs in conjunction with a lack of exercise. If you move a lot, you actively fight obesity. However, a large proportion of people spend most of the day sitting: in the car or on the train, at their desk, at the lunch table and in the evening on the couch in front of the TV. People move 2/3 less today than they did 100 years ago.
What role does a healthy lifestyle play in treatment?
Depending on the progression of type 2 diabetes, there are various treatment methods that the physician specifically targets to the patient. In the early stages of prediabetes, simple dietary changes, exercise, and treatment with supplements and medications can prevent progression to diabetes.
If the patient already has type 2 diabetes, a basic therapy is started if possible, the aim of which is to lower blood glucose levels sustainably through a healthy lifestyle. Basic therapy is based on the two pillars of exercise and nutrition. Regular, moderate exercise of endurance, strength and coordination strengthens the heart and circulation and helps to reduce excess weight. But exercise also helps directly: muscles need glucose and take their energy from blood sugar. The more muscles are built up, the sooner and faster the blood sugar level drops.
A healthy diet not only helps to break down fatty tissue, but also reduces the risk of secondary diseases such as high blood pressure and vascular disease.
The German Nutrition Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung e. V.) has published evidence-based dietary recommendations for the treatment and prevention of diabetes mellitus, and detailed information is provided there on the appropriate composition of the diet. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/leitlinien/ und www.schmecktrichtig.de
If the basic therapy does not help to lower blood glucose, the physician selects an appropriate medication in consultation with the patient. If blood glucose levels are severely elevated, it may also be necessary to administer insulin, possibly only for a short time.
What role does a healthy lifestyle play in treatment?
Depending on the progression of type 2 diabetes, there are various treatment methods that the physician specifically targets to the patient. In the early stages of prediabetes, simple dietary changes, exercise, and treatment with supplements and medications can prevent progression to diabetes.
If the patient already has type 2 diabetes, a basic therapy is started if possible, the aim of which is to lower blood glucose levels sustainably through a healthy lifestyle. Basic therapy is based on the two pillars of exercise and nutrition. Regular, moderate exercise of endurance, strength and coordination strengthens the heart and circulation and helps to reduce excess weight. But exercise also helps directly: muscles need glucose and take their energy from blood sugar. The more muscles are built up, the sooner and faster the blood sugar level drops.
A healthy diet not only helps to break down fatty tissue, but also reduces the risk of secondary diseases such as high blood pressure and vascular disease.
The German Nutrition Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung e. V.) has published evidence-based dietary recommendations for the treatment and prevention of diabetes mellitus, and detailed information is provided there on the appropriate composition of the diet. https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/leitlinien/ und www.schmecktrichtig.de
If the basic therapy does not help to lower blood glucose, the physician selects an appropriate medication in consultation with the patient. If blood glucose levels are severely elevated, it may also be necessary to administer insulin, possibly only for a short time.
The easiest way to quickly lower blood glucose levels is to administer the prescribed dose of insulin. But exercise also helps, even a short walk can lower blood sugar levels. The intake of verdünntem apple cider vinegar, 2 Teelöffel vinegar on 200 milliliters of water, lowers also the blood sugar, must be discussed however necessarily with the physician, if already blood sugar-lowering medicines are taken. </p>
Blood glucose levels of 400 mg/dl or more are threatening; levels of 600 to 1000 mg/dl are called hyperglycemic emergencies, and here there is a risk of diabetic coma, which can end fatally. </p>
Anyone who feels the first signs of hypoglycemia after an insulin dose that is too high should immediately consume sugar in a form that can be consumed immediately: three packets of dextrose, a handful of gumdrops, a glass of lemonade, or six sugar cubes dissolved in water. These servings each equal 10 to 20 grams of glucose, which helps blood sugar levels rise again. Then check glucose levels regularly to respond immediately if they drop again. If someone is no longer able to absorb sugar on their own, emergency services must be called so that intravenous glucose solution can be administered. </p>
The aim of diabetes treatment is to bring blood glucose levels into line with those of healthy people. It should be below 100 mg/dl at night, i.e. 8 to 10 hours after the last meal, and below 140 two hours after a meal. The target values are discussed with the doctor on a person-specific basis and should be set at a level that minimizes the risk of long-term sequelae. </p>
Conclusion
Type 2 diabetes is based on a hereditary predisposition, but the onset of the disease is significantly influenced by an unhealthy lifestyle. A healthy diet and exercise can prevent the disease and form the basic therapy after the onset of the disease, so that permanent medication is not necessarily required for treatment. In the early stage of prediabetes, lifestyle changes can prevent the development to type 2 diabetes.
