Today is World Diabetes Day.
On this same day in 1891, Professor Frederick Grant Banting was born, who 30 years later, together with chemist Charles Best, isolated insulin, changing the story for people with diabetes mellitus, enabling their survival.
Such pioneering work earned him the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1923, and he demonstrated that insulin injection could significantly reduce blood sugar levels in diabetic patients. Banting also devoted himself to wartime surgery during World War II, dying in a plane crash in 1941.
Worldwide today, about 537 million people (one in ten adults) live with diabetes. Deaths related to diabetic disease and its complications are estimated at 6.7 million in 2021 globally, while total health spending on diabetes is projected to be around US$966 billion in 2021.
Research is constantly evolving; there are ever-new frontiers in disease management. Up-to-date drug options, personalized therapies, continuous blood glucose monitoring technologies are emerging. So much has been done and still much more will be done.
Today, mainly three types of diabetes are recognized:
- type 1 diabetes-caused by the destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic cells by the immune system due to genetic and environmental factors;
- Type 2 diabetes-associated with genetic and lifestyle factors, such as obesity and lack of physical activity; and
- gestational diabetes-which develops during pregnancy in women who did not previously suffer from the condition.
Nutrition is a key aspect of diabetes management; a balanced diet can help keep blood sugar levels under control. Key guidelines suggest controlling portions, balancing carbohydrates, protein and fat, limiting added sugars, choosing foods high in fiber and spreading meals throughout the day.
Prevention remains key. Early diagnosis and ongoing clinical management of diabetes involve different types of easy and quick examinations and tests such as monitoring of blood glucose values, glycated hemoglobin, and complete urine examination. Multi-organ complications, a predictable and unfortunately expected development, will have to be closely monitored over the years involving all specialists as is done in diabetes care centers up to, for example, the management of diabetic foot clinics.
Dr. Maurizio Dal Maso
Medical director Fanfani Diagnostics and Health