Type 2 Diabetes: Lifestyle Adapted as a Medication? | Now

In the Netherlands, 1.2 million people suffer from type 2 diabetes. Scientists and doctors around the world are seeking a cure for the disease. Wednesday is World Diabetes Day.

"New Potential Remedy for Diabetes", headline from Volkskrant three weeks ago, and other media reports about "good news for type 2 diabetes patients." Reason was a European research conducted by Annieke van Baar, doctor-researcher on gastrointestinal and liver diseases at the UMC of Amsterdam.

Burning of the mucous layer of the duodenum can cause the body to become sensitive to the insulin hormone. Some diabetic patients would therefore no longer need to inject insulin.

This is the latest research in diabetes research Since the discovery of insulin in 1922, many new discoveries have been made about the disease.Wednesday 14 November is World Diabetes Day.Every year, attention is focused on the diabetes and di patients

Type 2 Diabetes was an Old Age Disease

It was called Old Age Sugar if someone was suffering from type 2 diabetes. According to endocrinologist and internist Hanno Pijl, who led Diabetes research at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), this reality has been catching up with us for a long time. Among patients, there are more and more children.

What is wrong with type 2 diabetes is the action of insulin hormone. Normally, our body makes this hormone to transport glucose in the blood to the tissues. Glucose is used as food for the muscles. In diabetes 2, you do it, but the hormone does not work properly. The result: Glucose can not excrete your bloodstream and because of this the glucose level in your blood gets too high.

This excessively high glucose level is harmful to Arrow; your body wants to balance the sugar level too high. Because it does not work by the normal route, a low-intensity chronic inflammatory process occurs. These inflammations damage the blood vessels. This is harmful in the long run; diabetes increases the risk of aging diseases such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, eye and kidney problems and dementia

To make the body more insulin sensitive, the general practitioner almost always prescribes pills. Then follow the other medicines to increase insulin. Many diabetic patients must therefore inject insulin. It often works well.

Nevertheless, Professor Pijl has doubts. High concentrations of insulin have many side effects, they increase blood pressure. In addition, there are indications that they promote the growth of cancer cells.

Many diabetics need to inject insulin to increase insulin. rain dripping. In addition, they do not address the heart of the problem: "you indirectly lower blood sugar by increasing insulin, but it does not do anything to fight inflammation".

Good news that new remedies are under way, as in Amsterdam. UMC? Yes and no, said Arrow. Research conducted in Amsterdam seems to suggest that the intervention could delay the use of insulin in people who should take it.

After one year, 90% of the 19 subjects in the study did not need insulin. This could be a way to stop the progression of diabetes, thinks Arrow. But the long-term results are not there yet. In addition, the intervention does not improve the health of the subjects.

Type 2 diabetes needs to be reduced and reversed

That is why the teacher asks for more lifestyle advice from the attending physician. Improving health is indeed possible. Type 2 diabetes has always been considered a chronic disease that you never got rid of once you had it. But this is not true. According to Pijl, it is one of the greatest discoveries of recent years; diabetes must be reduced and even reversed. With good nutrition, lots of exercise, stress management and healthy sleep, many patients are able to reduce their sugar levels.

How is this possible? According to Pijl, lifestyle is one of the main reasons why the number of patients with type 2 diabetes has increased so dramatically in recent decades. We came to live very differently from our ancestors from whom we inherited genes. We eat a lot more unhealthy and we are much bigger.

The problem at the root

Being overweight causes type 2 diabetes by hand. According to scientists, this is probably due to the fact that the immune system responsible for the inflammatory process focuses on adipose tissue, especially on the abdomen. In addition, fat cells as glands also produce hormones that neutralize the effects of insulin.

Weight loss often helps a lot. Because the fewer fat cells there are, the fewer inflammatory reactions, the better insulin works. The risk of diabetes is immediately reduced if you lose weight. Even a few pounds.

Eat a lot of vegetables and good fats, and leave products rich in salt, sugar and bad fats. Then you prevent low grade inflammation. The move also helps. Sometimes it is also necessary to better manage stress, and regular sleep also helps.

Several studies suit him. Patients with type 2 diabetes who adopt a healthy lifestyle no longer need to spray glucose, or at all. According to Pijl, the cure for type 2 diabetes, because with a lifestyle-oriented intervention, one tackles the problem at the root.

What is the difference between type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes?

• In type 2, the body produces less insulin and the body does not respond well to insulin insensitivity to insulin.
• Type 1 diabetes is an immune disease: it often occurs in a short time in children under 30 years of age. The immune system becomes unbalanced and attacks the insulin-producing cells.
• One in ten diabetic patients has type 1 diabetes, the other nine have type 2 diabetes.