About Diabetes

Nowadays, Hong Kong has around 70 million people are diagnosed with diabetes, which is 10% of the whole population, meaning 1 in every 10 people in Hong Kong have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes patients account for more than 90% of the diabetic population. There are increasing numbers of diabetic young people in recent years, mainly due to poor lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits.

Insulin is a hormone that responds to blood sugar and store glucose as glycogen in the body, which helps regulate blood glucose. However, blood sugar level rise when insulin dysfunction and can overload the kidney, so blood glucose will be excreted through urine. Diabetes is a chronic disease that is diagnosed when the blood glucose level is 11.1 mmol or above.

Types of diabetes include:

．Type 1 diabetes: It is mainly caused by genetic factor. Immune system or viruses can affect the body to stop/produce insufficient amount of insulin and lead to diabetes.
．Type 2 diabetes: It is caused by unhealthy lifestyle that lead to insulin resistance even the pancreas has produced sufficient amount of insulin.
．Gestational diabetes: Diagnosed in pregnant woman with no diabetes history, but the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin causing high blood glucose level.

General symptoms:

Frequent urine, thirst, increased appetite, weight loss, fatigue, itchy skin, blurred vision, slow wound healing, etc.

High risk groups:

Patients with history of impaired glucose regulation, age ≥45 years old, overweight, relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes, history of gestational diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, polycystic ovary syndrome patients with BMI ≥24.0kg/m2 , patients with severe psychosis and long-term treatment with antidepressants

Know more about ‘Three-Hypers Series’

'Three-Hypers Series' refers to three types of chronic disease: Hypertension, Hyperglycemia and Hyperlipidemia.

These three types of disease usually have no obvious syndrome in the primary period. Their same features are they would cause blood vessel destruction and increase the risk of complications. Except for age and gene factors, eating habits and lifestyle are the main risk factors that cause these diseases. For examples, usually having sugary drinks or eating too much carbohydrate food and lack of exercise, etc. These are the important factors causing 'Three-Hypers Series'.