Subjective with diabetes - unpredictable consequences

Dangerous complications

Over the past month, Mr. NHP in Tu Ky - a patient with type 2 diabetes - has had to go to a local medical facility three times to treat head injuries caused by falls. The most recent time, Mr. P. was cleaning when he fell and hit his head on the ground, bleeding profusely and losing consciousness. Luckily, he was taken to the emergency room in time. "He does not take his medication regularly, does not eat or drink according to the doctor's instructions, and occasionally drinks alcohol, so his blood sugar often drops. The family is very worried as this condition of his appears more and more often. The doctor told me from now on to always stay home to take care of my husband because if he accidentally falls and hits his head on a hard object, the risk of death is very high," Ms. NTT (Mr. P.'s wife) said sadly.

Mr. NVH in Hai Duong City discovered he had diabetes nearly 10 years ago. However, during the treatment process, he did not strictly follow the doctor's instructions, so the disease became more and more severe. As a result, for more than a year now, both of Mr. H's eyes have gradually become blurred, and the risk of blindness has become present. "In the first few years of my illness, I felt that my health was still normal, so I did not restrict my eating and drinking. Now that complications have occurred, it is too late to regret," Mr. H blamed himself.

In fact, it is not uncommon for diabetic patients to be re-hospitalized multiple times due to complications related to the heart, cerebral vascular occlusion, limb vascular occlusion, eyes, teeth, etc. Although these patients have been carefully advised by doctors, their awareness and consciousness of disease control are limited, making the disease increasingly severe and difficult to control.
Doctor Pham Tuan Thang of the Department of Endocrinology (Hai Duong General Hospital) said that many patients often forget to take their medication. There are also many patients who take their medication regularly but still drink alcohol and skip meals, causing hypoglycemia, resulting in falls, fainting, and coma. If these cases are not detected and taken to the emergency room in time, the risk of death is very high...

In fact, many patients understand the dangers of diabetes very well, but because of the nature of their work, they do not follow the doctor's instructions properly. Ms. TTT from Ninh Giang district, who was recently hospitalized for the second time due to diabetes, shared: "I know that eating a lot with this disease is not good for my health. But because I am a worker, I have to eat to have the energy to work. After having this disease, I realized that controlling it is not easy."

Patient awareness is very important

Diabetes is a chronic disease and is one of the most worrying non-communicable diseases today. There are nearly 600 million people in the world suffering from this disease, in Vietnam there are 5-6 million people. The number of patients with diabetes may be 3-4 times higher than the current number because many people do not have regular health check-ups, only when the disease develops and they are forced to go to a medical facility is it discovered.

The number of diabetic patients in Hai Duong is also increasing and getting younger. Since the beginning of the year, the provincial General Hospital alone has received about 150 diabetic patients for treatment each month, double the number of the same period in previous years. Currently, many children as young as 10 years old have diabetes - something that was very rare in the past.

Currently, experts have not found the specific cause of diabetes, but have identified unscientific lifestyle, diet, and activities as the main causes. Uncontrolled eating and lack of exercise increase the risk of diabetes in all ages. The situation of people being lazy to go for regular health check-ups is quite common, when the disease is discovered late, combined with limited awareness, it is very difficult to control the disease, easily leading to serious complications.

Doctor Pham Tuan Thang said that the world has not yet found a cure for diabetes. This disease will haunt people for life if they are unlucky enough to get it. Worryingly, the complications caused by diabetes are very serious. “Medications to support treatment only play a 50% role, the patient's actions will decide the remaining 50% of whether or not the disease can be controlled. Saying that to see that the awareness of diabetic patients is very important, they must really persevere in following the instructions to live safely with the disease”, Doctor Thang emphasized.

Doctors recommend that diabetic patients take medication as directed. Absolutely do not listen to online advertisements and buy medication on your own. Diet does not require too much abstinence, but it needs to be stricter with yourself. Patients need to limit eating sweets, foods high in fat, blood pudding, animal organs, reduce starch, increase fiber... Eating many meals a day is best and should not eat too much. Young people need to maintain a stricter diet control than the elderly. Everyone should have a blood glucose meter at home to support better disease control.

Along with maintaining a scientific diet and lifestyle, and actively exercising, regular health check-ups will help people proactively prevent diabetes better.