The fifth leading cause of death in Serbia is diabetes, and half of those affected are the working-age population. This severe systemic disease is treated for life and can cause numerous life-threatening complications.
More than 770 thousand people in Serbia have diabetes, and according to the assessment of local experts, as many as 43 percent of patients with diabetes have not been diagnosed or do not even know that they are sick. It is especially worrying that type 2 diabetes is being detected more and more often in adolescents and obese children.
- More than 90 % of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, essentially characterised by inefficient insulin hormone, and therefore the pancreas begins to secrete increasing amounts of insulin in order to provide the cell with the energy necessary for normal functioning. Increased insulin secretion can last for 10 or more years, putting a heavy burden on the pancreas until it is completely exhausted. Then the production of insulin drops sharply, and the level of sugar in the blood rises until diabetes is clearly manifested - explains Bojana Podgorac Milenković, M.SC.(Pharm), medical biochemist, Director of Marketing for the Rx portfolio from Hemofarm.
Blood vessels ‘thickening’
High level of insulin, followed by high blood sugar, cause accelerated atherosclerosis with all severe consequences.
- In the phase of excessive secretion, insulin stimulates the multiplication of cells on the walls of blood vessels and directly leads to their thickening and appearance of accelerated atherosclerosis. When an overworked pancreas is exhausted and a sudden increase in blood sugar level follows, elevated sugar also accelerates the process of atherosclerosis because it binds to lipoproteins, i.e. fat particles, accelerating their deposition on the walls of blood vessels - warns our respondent.
Type 2 diabetes accelerates clogging of blood vessels, increases the risk of blood clots and blockages, so heart attack and sudden death are even five times more common in diabetics.
- Changes in the cardiac blood vessels are among the most common complications of type 2 diabetes. The consequences are ischemic heart disease, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction. But if diabetes is detected on time, and then kept under control with appropriate diet and above all medicines, not only macrovascular complications of diabetes, but also microvascular complications on the brain, eyes, kidneys, and peripheral nerves can be prevented or at least postponed for substantial time periods - says Bojana Podgorac Milenković.
Due to the large increase in the number of patients as well as numerous complications of the disease, the development of drugs for diabetes is in constant focus throughout the world.
- Nowadays, in addition to the medicines that have been used in diabetes treatment for decades, we also have modern medicines which, in addition to regulating blood glucose levels, also prevent and reduce progression of complications caused by diabetes. Newer drugs have fewer side effects than previous therapy such as obesity, hypoglycaemia, and can also reduce the frequency of complications of associated diseases such as some cardiovascular system diseases. Contemporary therapy is available in Serbia and doctors have sufficient options to choose appropriate therapy for their patients - emphasizes our collocutor.
Counselling centres for diabetes, which are extremely important for patients, have been returned to primary healthcare centres in Serbia.
- Due to the high frequency and numerous complications accompanying diabetes, the costs of health care for people with diabetes are three times higher and amount to 12 % of all costs in health care. Good patient education about their diet, therapy, and physical activity directly results in a reduction in the number of complications and a better quality of life for patients - says Bojana Podgorac Milenković from Hemofarm.
