What is diabetes?

Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a metabolic disease that causes high blood sugar and is one of the biggest public health problems of the 21st century. The hormone insulin moves sugar from the blood into cells to use for energy or to store it. In diabetes, your pancreas cannot produce enough insulin or your body cannot use the insulin produced effectively. This causes your blood sugar to rise, and untreated high blood sugar from diabetes can damage your nerves, eyes, kidneys, and other organs.

There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 (Type I DM) and type 2 diabetes (Type II DM). The three main symptoms of diabetes are as following:

• polydipsia (frequent thirst)
• polyphagia (frequent hunger)
• polyuria (frequent urination).

In addition, diabetes can lead to the development of many complications such as diabetic foot, ketoacidosis, eye, kidney and nerve damage, nonketotic hyperosmolarity, delayed wound healing and various infections in the tissues.

DIAGNOSIS

Diabetes diagnosis according to Diabetes Mellitus and Complications Diagnosis, Treatment and Follow-up Guide of Turkish Endocrinology and Metabolism Society ;

Fasting plasma glucose ≥126 mg/dL,
2nd hour plasma glucose ≥200 mg/dL in 75 g oral glucose tolerance test,
Random plasma glucose ≥200 mg/dL with symptoms of diabetes,
Presence of one of the conditions such as HbA1C ≥ 6.5% is sufficient to diagnose diabetes. Good nutrition and regular physical activity are the most effective ways to manage diabetes. How you eat affects your cardiometabolic risk factors, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and inflammation in your body. Maintaining your blood sugar control prevents and slows down the development of diabetes-related complications. Therefore, it is very important to keep your blood sugar level at an optimal level.

The Mediterranean diet, DASH diet, vegetarian diet, and low-carb diet are recommended diets to control diabetes. It is stated that Mediterranean and DASH diets are effective in diabetes by affecting IR (insulin resistance), lipid profile, blood pressure and inflammatory markers. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American Heart Association recommend the Mediterranean diet to provide glycemic control and improve cardiovascular risk factors in individuals with Type II DM.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12020-016-1018-2

https://www.nature.com/articles/nrendo.2016.105

https://www.who.int/health-topics/diabetes#tab=tab_1

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