DIABETES MELLITUS

Our service offer | PDF Diabetes mellitus

There are two main groups of diabetes mellitus: type 1 diabetes (which affects about 400,000 people in Germany) and type 2 diabetes (which affects about 7 million people in Germany, with an increasing tendency).

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The body's own immune system, which primarily serves to defend against pathogenic germs, suddenly turns against the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas and destroys them for reasons that are as yet unclear. As a result, insulin production stops within a few days or weeks. Type 1 diabetes often develops in childhood and adolescence.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease that results in elevated blood sugar levels. These damage blood vessels and nerves in the long term, which in turn can cause numerous organ problems. Treatment may involve lifestyle changes, medication and possibly insulin.

In contrast to type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes is not the result of an insulin deficiency, but of insulin resistance. This means that the cells no longer respond sufficiently to insulin, so that the hormone cannot channel the sugar into the cells. The blood sugar level rises. To compensate for this, the pancreas initially produces larger amounts of insulin. If this is no longer enough to overcome the insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes develops. The main causes of type 2 diabetes are hereditary predisposition, obesity and lack of exercise. While type 1 diabetes tends to develop at a younger age, type 2 diabetes often develops at an advanced age (retirement age). However, younger people are also increasingly developing this disease.

The most important secondary diseases are heart attacks, strokes, circulatory disorders of the legs up to amputation, kidney weakness up to the need for dialysis and retinal damage of the eye with possible blindness. These are often referred to as "late complications". Less well known are the nerve damage with sensory disturbances of the feet, gait instability, digestive disorders/ constipation and erectile dysfunction, as well as the wound healing disorders and more frequent infections.

Consequential diabetes diseases can occur at an early stage of diabetes - often even when there is only pre-diabetes (a pre-stage of diabetes).

The therapy of the chronic disease diabetes is a life task. It includes lifestyle changes, weight reduction, education, treatment with tablets and other medications and possibly also therapy with insulin.

Type 2 diabetes can be detected early on by blood and urine tests. Early diagnosis is important because the disease usually develops slowly without symptoms over several years. Organ damage can already occur at this stage. The earlier diabetes or prediabetes (early form with disturbed carbohydrate metabolism) is diagnosed, the gentler the therapy. The screening examinations that make sense depend on the family history and the individual risk factors. This is determined in the initial consultation

Our service offer

We offer diagnostics, therapy and support predominantly for patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (adult-onset/obesity diabetes). Patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 (juvenile diabetes) tend to benefit from the services of a diabetes specialist practice.

Diagnostic services for diabetes mellitus

• Fasting blood glucose
• Daily blood glucose profile
• Sugar load test (oral glucose tolerance test)
• Urine examination for sugar and protein excretion (early detection of kidney damage)
• Extended blood test for further metabolic values (cholesterol, neutral fats, etc.) and organ functions (blood cells, liver, kidney)
• Extended examinations for possible organ damage (heart, vessels, nervous system)
• Carrying out Doppler sonography of the carotid arteries and measuring the pulse wave velocity of the leg arteries to detect secondary vascular diseases/vascular calcification

Therapy offer for diabetes mellitus

• Lifestyle change counselling
• Nutrition tips and referral to nutritionists
• Free issue of a blood glucose meter with a short introduction
• Distribution of brochures on diabetes mellitus and nutrition
• Treatment with tablets
• Treatment/adjustment with insulin (mixed insulin and intensified insulin therapy)
• Treatment of the diabetic foot
• Co-treatment of cardiovascular diseases
• Cooperation with diabetes specialist practices
• Referral for diabetes training
• Referral to qualified ophthalmologists for examination of the fundus of the eye (retinoscopy)
• Referral to cardiologists for examination of the heart and coronary vessels
• Referral to a nephrologist (kidney specialist) for early detection of kidney damage and avoidance of dialysis.

DMP (Disease Management Program) Diabetes mellitus Type 2

We offer enrolment in the DMP/Curaplan programme for diabetes mellitus type 2. The programme is offered by all health insurance companies and offers you the following advantages:

• Continuous monitoring with physical examinations including laboratory every three to six months
• Early detection of secondary diseases such as cardiac insufficiency, polyneuropathy (sensory disturbances) of the feet or diabetic foot with hard-to-heal wounds.
• Access to free training programmes on referral
• The following contents are taught: Introduction to blood glucose self-monitoring, explanation of the disease as well as secondary diseases and complications, dealing with hypoglycaemia and use of the measuring devices and insulin pens.