The new therapies are coming
On the treatment front, there is good news. «For the treatment of diabetes – specifies Avogaro – new and effective therapies are available. Those soon to be introduced, such as monoclonal antibodies to be administered to children and adolescents at risk of type 1 diabetes, could modify the course of the disease and, in the not distant future, allow its remission. At the moment, however, we cannot let our guard down.
The alarm of the experts on «Diabetes»
Experts are also sounding the alarm about the higher incidence of cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes and the need to adopt a correct lifestyle, based on a balanced diet and daily physical exercise. These two factors are essential for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes, strongly correlated with excess weight and obesity to the point of being defined with the new term “diabesity”. “In Italy – specifies Avogaro – there are five million people with diabetes and six million people with obesity, two conditions between which there is a close correlation and both responsible for serious non-communicable chronic diseases that lead to a high number of deaths and years lived in poor health, such as cancers and cardiovascular diseases. Diet and exercise are essential for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes. An inappropriate lifestyle is closely related to obesity or simple excess weight, which affects more than 25 million people in our country: 46% of adults, equal to over 23 million people, and 26.3% among children and adolescents aged between 3 and 17, equal to 2 million two hundred thousand people».
You need 150 minutes of physical activity a week
A sedentary lifestyle is also a real threat to health. The joint WHO-OECD report ‘Step up! Tackling the burden of insufficient physical activity in Europe” highlights that, with an increase in physical activity to 150 minutes a week, 11.5 million new cases of non-communicable diseases would be avoided in the EU by 2050, including 3, 8 million cases of cardiovascular disease, one million cases of type 2 diabetes and over 400,000 cases of various cancers. In Italy, the cost of physical inactivity is estimated at 1.3 billion euros over the next 30 years.
Diet is crucial
Prevention of the disease is also implemented with a balanced diet which must include at least five portions of vegetables. Added to these are wholemeal pasta, which gradually supplies the body with energy, legumes, protein foods such as meat, favoring lean meat, fish, eggs or dairy products, limiting sausages, cured meats and cold cuts as much as possible, and low-fat consumption from dressing, with preference for olive oil. Complex carbohydrates and proteins must be present at every meal to ensure proper energy intake.
The controls
Periodic examinations should not be neglected, to be evaluated with the specialist and general practitioner. “In case of familiarity, blood fat values above the norm, sedentary lifestyle and high blood pressure – advises the professor -, it would be advisable to undergo blood tests such as glycemia and glycated hemoglobin once a year”.