Ways of diagnosing diabetes

In Panama, according to the Ministry of Health, diabetes is among the 10 causes of death, and diagnoses are increasing every year due to risk factors such as obesity and overweight.

It is estimated that these two conditions affect more than 50% of the population, but fortunately, the treatment of diabetes has advanced and allows a good quality of life for the patient, in addition, it can stop or delay the systemic damage caused by the disease.

The main option of treatment for patients consists of wearing a Healthy lifestile and do trainingtwo recommendations that are also a fundamental pillar for the prevention of diabetes.

Guadalupe Pérez, a specialist in endocrinology at Paitilla Hospital, explained that on disease It is preceded by prediabetes, a sign of dysfunction in sugar regulation (glucose) into the blood via the pancreas leading to blood glucose results. glucose impaired fasting (glucose between 100 and 125 mg/dl, normal is less than 100).

When glucose is greater than or equal to 126 mg/dl, it is already diabetes. chronic metabolic disease which is characterized by an increase in glucose in blood and that it is associated with resistance to the action of insulin and increased production of sugar in the liver.

In order to determine whether a patient is prediabetic or diabetic, the test “glycosylated hemoglobin“, because it shows what the sugar level is on average in the last three months, he said e-mailPerez.

(…) If the results show values ​​between 5.7% to 6.4%, this is indicative of prediabetes (normally it is less than 5.7% i diabetes is greater than or equal to 6.5%)”, said the specialist.

Examination oral glucose tolerancewhere the patient drinks a sweet liquid and glucose is measured after two hours to know how the patient has processed and eliminated sugar from the system, another possibility is to know if it is prediabetes (if the result is 140 to 199 mg/dl). ) or diabetes (normal would be less than 140, and if it is greater than or equal to 200, it is diabetes).

It is worth mentioning that there are two types of diabetes, type 1 (predominant in children and young adolescents), associated with genetic problems and some trigger factor that includes a change in carbohydrate metabolism such as an autoimmune disease or process Viral infectionand type 2 (found in adults and older adolescents), its main cause is obesity, high intake of simple sugars and a sedentary lifestyle.

Type 2 diabetes can also be present in people with family origin of diabetes, women with a history of gestational diabetes, women with polycystic ovary syndrome and patients who use certain antipsychotic drugs.