The SDDH Medical Counseling Center in collaboration with the Zagreb Dystrophy Society (DDZ) was held this month on the topic "Diabetes and Neurological Complications"

Dr. Davorka Vranješ explained that diabetes is the name for disorders of glucose metabolism in the body. Most of the food we eat is converted into glucose, which our body uses as a source of energy. The pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels by allowing sugar to enter cells where it is converted into energy.

Excess sugar is stored in the muscles and liver with the help of insulin, but if there is no insulin or it is lacking, sugar cannot enter the cells, it remains in the blood, leading to elevated blood sugar levels and the development of disease.

Diabetes is divided into two types: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 is characterized by the pancreas not producing insulin, or rather, due to a disorder of the immune system in Type 1 diabetes, antibodies are created that destroy the pancreas' own cells that produce insulin. This type of diabetes occurs in children and younger people.

In Type 2, the effect of the insulin produced is reduced, and the need for it is increased. It is usually detected in older age and in an advanced stage of the disease, when complications have occurred in other organs.

Symptoms of diabetes include unexplained weight loss, increased hunger and thirst, excessive urination, fatigue and exhaustion, dry mouth, dry skin, slow-healing wounds, a tendency to more frequent infections, vaginal infections, sudden vision problems, blurred vision, tingling in the feet and sexual problems, and neurological disorders such as distal symmetrical polyneuropathy and mononeuropathies with tingling and pain in the hands and spreading to the forearm may also occur.

Most of these symptoms occur when blood sugar levels are very high. If they are mildly elevated, as is often the case with prediabetes, symptoms may not be present for years.

Treatment for Type 1 diabetes requires insulin therapy, while almost a third of people with Type 2 can control the disease with proper diet and physical activity alone. Other people with Type 2 diabetes require medication, and in the most severe forms of the disease, insulin.

The counseling session was held on March 27, 2024, and 20 people participated online.