Around 1.2 million adolescents and children worldwide live with type 1 diabetes while 550 million people have type 2 diabetes
A hopeful message for those who have type 2 diabetes mellitusgives an injectable treatment that is in phase 3 clinical trials and targets weight loss.
According to the latest guidelines, the primary goal for the management of type 2 diabetes is weight loss. This treatment is a GLP-1 analogue that is given by injection once a week and is indicated for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus and for people with obesity. This drug creates a feeling of satiety, slows down gastric emptying and thus achieves glycemic control and weight loss.
It should be noted that the percentage of people with diabetes in the general population, according to estimates, amounts to 10% worldwide between the ages of 20 and 79, while in Greece the number of diabetics is estimated at 1,200,000.
Around 1.2 million adolescents and children worldwide live with type 1 diabetes while 550 million people have type 2 diabetes. Globally, 3,700-4,000 new diabetes diagnoses are made every day, while one in two diabetics do not know it because they are undiagnosed.
The above mentioned by president of the Hellenic Association for the Study and Education of Diabetes Mellitus, specialist pathologist-diabetologist, Dimitrios Skoutas, speaking to APE-MBE on the sidelines of the Society’s 35th Panhellenic Annual Conference, which is being held in Thessaloniki.
“The latest guidelines, recently announced, have set as a primary goal the reduction of body weight in people with diabetes, as well as cardiorenal metabolic shielding. There are pharmaceutical agents that can increase survival and improve both kidney function and heart function and metabolic control. We are talking about type 2 diabetes, because the majority of people with type 2 diabetes are also obese.
For the future we expect pharmaceutical agents and antidiabetic treatments, and not only that, that can manage both diabetes and obesity with very good results. There are molecules that are expected, they are now in phase 3 and in fact they are circulating in America, and they have very good results.
It’s an injectable treatment, a GLP-1 analog, given once a week, and studies have shown that if a person with diabetes loses 10 pounds of body weight, it can have a big benefit, about a 64% reversal of diabetes. This treatment reduces body weight because it creates a feeling of satiety, slows down gastric emptying and thus we have good glycemic control and weight loss. Therefore it is a hopeful message” explained Mr. Skoutas.
Regarding the treatment of diabetes, Mr. Skoutas mentioned that there is the bariatric approach and bariatric intervention with operations such as gastric bypass or gastric sleeve, in cases of people with comorbidities and morbid obesity. “Weight loss through these methods has therapeutic effects and can also reverse/eliminate diabetes,” added Mr. Skoutas.
Technology in the management of diabetes mellitus
“Technology in the management of the person with diabetes offers a lot, both in their quality of life and in the therapeutic approach. The correct training and its rational use are necessary for health therapists and a way of life for people with diabetes” pointed out Mr. Skoutas and added:
“We can very easily, very simply with the help of technology, have a very good picture of the person with type 1 diabetes. And clearly the quality of life of people with diabetes has changed with the hybrid systems that exist and the closed ones circuits that are in development and one is already in circulation in our country.
There are sensors that are placed on the hand and measure the sugar, there are insulin pumps and these often communicate with each other, they read each other, and without the intervention of the patient, through algorithms, it gives him the necessary insulin without having to make injections . Life for people with type 1 diabetes has changed with the advancement of technology that is truly leaps and bounds. There are also smart watches that measure sugar, but they are not yet available in Greece”
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
As a seasoned news journalist, I bring a wealth of experience to the field. I’ve worked with world-renowned news organizations, honing my skills as a writer and reporter. Currently, I write for the sports section at News Bulletin 247, where I bring a unique perspective to every story.
