What is Diabetes?
According to recent estimation, in 2030 the number of patients with diabetes will have risen to 366 million. In Hong Kong, diabetes is one of the top ten causes of death.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.
Types of diabetes
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes (previously known as insulin-dependent, juvenile or childhood-onset) is characterized by deficient insulin production and requires daily administration of insulin. In 2017 there were 9 million people with type 1 diabetes; the majority of them live in high-income countries. Neither its cause nor the means to prevent it are known.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes affects how your body uses sugar (glucose) for energy. It stops the body from using insulin properly, which can lead to high levels of blood sugar if not treated.
Over time, type 2 diabetes can cause serious damage to the body, especially nerves and blood vessels.
Type 2 diabetes is often preventable. Factors that contribute to developing type 2 diabetes include being overweight, not getting enough exercise, and genetics.
Early diagnosis is important to prevent the worst effects of type 2 diabetes. The best way to detect diabetes early is to get regular check-ups and blood tests with a healthcare provider.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes can be mild. They may take several years to be noticed. Symptoms may be similar to those of type 1 diabetes but are often less marked. As a result, the disease may be diagnosed several years after onset, after complications have already arisen.
More than 95% of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes was formerly called non-insulin dependent, or adult onset. Until recently, this type of diabetes was seen only in adults but it is now also occurring increasingly frequently in children.
Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes is hyperglycaemia with blood glucose values above normal but below those diagnostic of diabetes. Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy.
Women with gestational diabetes are at an increased risk of complications during pregnancy and at delivery. These women and possibly their children are also at increased risk of type 2 diabetes in the future.
Gestational diabetes is diagnosed through prenatal screening, rather than through reported symptoms.
| Blood glucose level [mmol/L] (Fasting*) | Blood glucose level [mmol/L] (2 hours after meal) | |
| Normal blood glucose | Below 6.1 | |
| Impaired Fasting Glucose |
6.1 - 6.9 |
Below 7.8 |
| Impaired Glucose Tolerance |
Below 7 |
7.8 to 11.0 |
| Diabetes |
7 or above |
11.1 or above |
*Fasting means no food intake for 8 hours or more.
Prevention
Lifestyle changes are the best way to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
To help prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications, people should:
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Reach and keep a health body weight
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Stay physically active with at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise everyday
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Eat a healthy diet and avoid sugar and saturated fat
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Not smoke tobacco
Most diabetes’s patients are without any symptoms or signs at all, while some of them may have the following sign(s) or symptom(s). If you have the following sign(s) or symptom(s), please contact your doctor and check your blood glucose regularly.
- Thirsty
- Tiredness
- Blurred vision
- Pain
- Burning sensation in oral cavity
- Frequent urination
- Increased volume of urine (especially at night )
- Unexplained weight loss
- Tingling and numbness in extremities
- Itching skin (some women may have genital itchiness)
- The number of people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. Prevalence has been rising more rapidly in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.
- Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.
- Between 2000 and 2019, there was a 3% increase in diabetes mortality rates by age.
- In 2019, diabetes and kidney disease due to diabetes caused an estimated 2 million deaths.
- A healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and avoiding tobacco use are ways to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
- Diabetes can be treated and its consequences avoided or delayed with diet, physical activity, medication and regular screening and treatment for complications.