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Mexico
Insulin is the most powerful therapy currently available for treat diabetes, but despite this, many patients still refuse to use it myths about this hormone, which makes it difficult to control the disease, said today a specialist in Efe.
"Many people have afraid of insulin because they believe that they can remain blind, they believe that only the very serious or simply afraid of the injections use it, "said Ana Segundo, a nutritionist at the Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico City (UMA).
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), this disease affects 62 million people in Latin America, of whom about 12 million are of Mexican origin.
The agency estimates that this number will reach 109 million diabetics in the region by 2040.
According to some estimates, among patients who use insulin, only 25% adhere to treatment.
Insulin, explained the specialist, is a hormone that occurs naturally "and helps maintain a normal glucose level in our body".
He added that food is converted to glucose and that to enter the body's cells, it needs insulin which, under normal conditions, is produced by the pancreas.
But in diabetes, the body is not able to produce this insulin effectively, said Ana Segundo, Master in Specialized Education in Management and Leadership at the Universidad del Valle de México (UVM).
There are cases in which this situation can be controlled with oral medications, but most patients should be controlled with injectable insulin.
"Unfortunately, some myths have caused people to be wary of insulin and therefore do not adequately control the disease," he said.
He explained that this has led to a saturation of health services, but the most worrying is that it causes acute complications, micro and macrovascular in the eyes, nerves and brain.
"The control needs to be done quickly to avoid long-term complications such as blindness, kidney damage, heart disease, neuropathy and amputations," he said.
The expert, who is part of the company Becton Dickinson, said that it had been shown that patients who, since the diagnosis, have better control, have a better life expectancy after five years.
"That's why it's important that in the first six months, patients achieve their control goals, that their glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels are adequate," he said. declared.
He also stressed the importance of ending myths.
"To say that diabetes is going to blind us is not true, because it only happens when the blood glucose level is very high and the eye cells are damaged, resulting in loss of sight" , did he declare.
He emphasized that it was important for diabetics to know that the application of insulin was not always painful.
"The good news is that there are already devices with very short needles, up to 6 millimeters in diameter for syringes, and 4 millimeter pen-type, with different technologies that make the injection more comfortable and virtually imperceptible, "he said.
It is recommended to keep it in the refrigerator five minutes before application, to leave it at room temperature to prevent the cold from burning.
In the same way, it is important to vary the areas of the body where it is applied "can be put on the arm, leg, abdomen, buttocks in addition to changing the needle at each application. it will help to not feel so much pain, "he added.
Finally, Segundo emphasized the importance of adhering to treatment, in addition to maintaining a healthy diet and constant physical activity.
"We can not live without insulin, it's a treatment that should not happen, it lasts a lifetime, it's a hormone that helps us live and a good diabetes treatment helps us to have a good quality of life, "he concluded.
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