MILAN (ITALPRESS) – Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by hyperglycemia, that is, by increasing blood glucose levels: hyperglycemia is manifested when the organism does not produce a sufficient amount of insulin, the hormone synthesized by the pancreas that allows the glucose to enter the cells, where it is used as a source of energy; when this mechanism does not work, the sugar accumulates in the blood and time.
Diabetes manifest in two main forms, 1 and 2: Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, which often appears in childhood or adolescence and which is caused by the attack of the immune system to the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin; destroyed the factory, you will have to take insulin throughout your life. Type 2 diabetes is the most widespread form, linked to insulin resistance and reduced hormone production: it is often associated with overweight, obesity and sedentary lifestyle and appears more frequently in adulthood. “For more than forty years we have been trying to figure out what the cause of type 1, diabetes is, but it is still not very clear: we know that it is an autoimmune disease, in which lymphocytes begin to react against the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin by ending to destroy them; it is not known what is to unleash this autoimmune reaction, despite so many years of studies”, said Raffaella Buzzetti, ordinary professor of Endocrinology at the Sapienza University of Rome and president of the Italian Society of Diabetology (Sid), interviewed by Marco Klinger for Top Medicine, TV format of the Italpress press agency.
“There is not only one type of type 1, but different parts of the genome can determine a greater risk in some individuals than others: after that, from time to time, ethical factors such as viruses, infections, cow’s milk protein in the diet of the newborn have been taken into consideration; however, this possible etiological agent has never been confirmed,” he added.
In recent years, he added, the increase in weight “has definitely anticipated the onset of type 1 diabetes in children and young people or in any case caused an increase of prevalence: regarding symptoms, the most characteristic ones are an increase of thirst and the amount of urine, weight loss, fatigue, nausea, vomiting or much more serious symptoms that require hospitalization. It is an increasing disease, as well as type 2 diabetes, both in the Western world and in developing countries: the mechanisms that determine this increase are not clear, but surely among the causes of type 1 increase there is an increase in the cases of obesity and weight surplus. Until now, it has been dealt with with insulin therapy: lymphocytes destroy their cells that produce endogenous insulin, so it has been used that esogena, that is, produced in the laboratory and administered from the outside. Since its discovery in 1921 it has been possible to deal with insulin people with type 1, diabetes who would otherwise have died: with time the types have improved as before the bovine insulin was used, then the swine, then the human one and finally similar forms increasingly functional”.
The current therapy, Buzzetti explains, “prevents administration or tools similar to pens, then subcutaneously, or with the so-called microinfusors that are devices that erode insulin: some provide a cannula that sits at the abdominal level, others adhere to arms or abdomen and dialogue with sensors that monitor glycemia continuously. The evolution has been really important, thanks to companies that have produced increasingly efficient and suitable devices to improve the quality of life of the patient: all this allows to exercise to those with type 1 diabetes”.
As for treatment, on the other hand, “there is a drug called Teplizumab and it is a monoclonal antibody approved by the EMA: we hope it is soon approved by the Aifa; it is aimed at preventing type 1 diabetes so that anyone who does not yet have the conclaimed disease but only the autoantibodies can through the drug spread or prevent the onset of diabetes. Italy is the only country in the world to have a type 1 diabetes screening law: this will be implemented in all Italian regions, so far only in four has had an initial project and has already given results for the identification of children at risk; preventing diabetes is very important to avoid complications that require hospital admissions, which risk also determining the death of the child”.
In conclusion, in percentage terms “type 1 diabetes represents about 10% of all forms of the disease: it has an onset in childhood and adolescence, but in 50% of the cases it arrives after thirty years; in the future there will also be the possibility of transplanting betacells. Type 2 diabetes is the most prevalent form, we are 90%: lifestyle is fundamental, as well as physical activity and a proper diet”
-Photos taken from video Top medicine
(ITALPRESS).
