“These bodies are not mature enough to handle type 2 diabetes”

prices are in effect Diabetes are dangerous in Puerto Rico, a study by the Abarth Health Laboratory, in collaboration with the Puerto Rican Association of Diabetes in which it was found that nearly half of the population (48%) has or may have Diabetes on the island.

Specifically, studies report that 20% of the population suffers from the disease and the remaining 28% are prediabetic patients, with a higher incidence in children and adolescents.

In an exclusive interview for Revista de Medicina Y public healthWe spoke with Dr. Margarita Ramirez Vic, director of the department endocrine The University Hospital for Adults of the Campus of Medical Sciences on this subject and assured that “we see a lot of obesity and sedentary lifestyle in children”.

a generational problem

The experts assure that: “The problem is that we see that these children who start Diabetes development of type 2 complications, in childhood or early adolescence Diabetes a long time ago (…) these bodies are not mature enough to face a Diabetes Type 2,” he says.

These complications are on the increase and Martinez specifies that they directly affect the following generations: “We are going to have a whole generation of young people who will not reach 50 years old, or they will be on dialysis with amputations. Some are (. . .) This is very sad. This is very serious and parents do not realize the magnitude of the problem, and the future children will be disabled, which is the worst, they will not be able to lead an active life normal. Or won’t be able to be productive,” he said.

This can be directly seen as a problem public health To which the administration and the common people should pay attention.

Why is the incidence observed in the infant population?

Doctor. Martinez points out that these have to do with cultural shifts, ensuring earlier populations were more active and now evidence shows that child and adolescent populations are exposed to mobile devices and social media and limit their activity. We do.

“In our time, we were always in the street, the mothers had to shout three times at five o’clock in the afternoon to come and eat. It’s not something we see these days…kids via cellphones doing everything, via handheld games, no physical activity, other than the diet we’re on right now, we know it’s terrible” , says Martinez.

parental responsibility?

Data from the American Association of DiabetesIt is estimated that around 600,000 people suffer from one type. Diabetes in Puerto Rico, and more than a third of these patients Diabetes Kind 2.

“Unfortunately parents, you see how they take them to Burger King after school is over, so that makes those kids more prone to obesity, which makes them Diabetes Type 2″, points out Martinez.

Now it is important to mention that Diabetes Type 2 was not evident in the children who had type 1 in the majority of them. Dr. Martinez comments that this marked a marked change in pediatrician case management: “Paediatricians must learn to manage Diabetes type 2 because they had never seen it,” he says, adding that this incidence and the incidence in said population, “have been seen for about 15 years.”

Complications of Diabetes: Heart

Much has been said about the complications and effects of treatment in diabetic patients. we know that Diabetes This causes effects on the heart, nervous, renal and nervous systems. A lack of sugar or a dysfunction of the body is decisive in the production and regulation of insulin.

However, according to Dr. Martinez, the greatest complication in diabetic patients is clearly in the cardiovascular system: “The greatest mortality is not in renal complications, but in cardiac complications, because at that time, a person can die of a heart attack. In kidney problems, dialysis can usually prolong a patient’s life, but a person can die prematurely from cardiac causes,” he says.

Martinez points out that in the case of diabetic patients, “it’s no different than any other patient with heart disease,” he adds, “They already have a higher risk, so it’s important that every patient, including the prediabetes, also includes regular treatment and appointments with a cardiologist, because you don’t necessarily feel like a non-diabetic patient,” he says.

For his part, he explains that the non-diabetic patient: “Generally when he begins to suffer from the heart disease called angina pectoris, he gets tired more easily, he gets tired. In diabetic patients, it does not necessarily give normal chest pain and becomes atypical. Especially if the patient has diabetic neuropathy, he will not experience chest pain like a patient without DiabetesSo it can fall to the ground without prior warning, ”explains the expert.

Complications of diabetes: neuropathy

In the case of neuropathy, it is clear to explain that some people may experience discomfort in the feet and loss of sensation in the lower limbs, loss of balance and frequent falls without warning: “Neuropathy can occur at the level of the heart where you will not feel chest pain,” says Martinez.

Therefore, it is important not only to have good control DiabetesBut control blood pressure and cholesterol and make lifestyle changes: exercise, take care of your diet: “People don’t understand the importance of at least 20 minutes of walking a day and it can avoid falling into these “Can processes”, he explains.

However, it is important to mention that during a check-up, the first thing that a specialist will look for is a change in blood sugar: “When our blood sugar is too high, the person will have the impression that his legs are sleeping , runny nose, or like they are stuck with pins, and may get better once it is under control DiabetesSo for normal sugars one shouldn’t have neuropathy unless the patient has been controlled for so many years that they already have irreversible neurological damage, and even if that patient is controlled they may still have neuropathy. “, he clarified.

As if that weren’t enough, one of the hallmarks of neuropathy is the development of diabetic foot, a fairly common derivation of the disease to be guessed by the doctor. “60% of the time it can happen and it will be related to a lack of sugar control. That’s why an uncontrolled patient will usually have a problem with this sensation,” he says.

Complications of diabetes: retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness and visual impairment in Puerto Rico and many parts of the world. “The diabetic patient needs multidisciplinary and team-based treatment and supervision,” says Martinez: “The problem of retinopathy, which affects most of the ocular area in diabetics, begins from the stage of prediabetes .”

This is how endocrinologists generally recommend that “patients, since they are diagnosed as prediabetic, go to an ophthalmologist annually”, underlines the expert. He says that “it’s somewhat gradual, and it’s a condition that if you’re well controlled (sugar) from the start, it shouldn’t happen; or if so, it happens much later,” he concluded.

Watch the full interview here: