Diabetes mellitus is a disease resulting from the lack of insulin and/or the inability of insulin to properly exert its effects, characterizing permanently high blood sugar levels.
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, responsible for maintaining metabolism and ensuring energy for the body to function.
Types of disease
- Type 1: caused by the destruction of insulin-producing cells, due to a defect in the immune system in which antibodies attack the cells that produce insulin. It occurs in about 5 to 10% of diabetics.
- Type 2: results from insulin resistance and deficiency in its secretion. It occurs in about 90% of diabetics.
- Gestational Diabetes: is the decrease in glucose tolerance, diagnosed for the first time during pregnancy, and may or may not persist after delivery. Its exact cause is not yet known.
- Other types: they result from genetic defects associated with other diseases or with the use of medications.
Data from the International Diabetes Federation reveals that the number of people with the disease increased by 16% in 2021, reaching the mark of 537 million adults in the world diagnosed with the disease. In Brazil, the most recent estimates add up to 16.8 million people with the disease, about 7% of the population.
The direct and indirect costs of diabetes and its complications increase exponentially over the years. Most of these costs are due to complications, often associated with hospital admissions.
The relation between diabetes and chronic kidney disease
Diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease in the world.
Diabetes over time compromises small and large blood vessels and If not properly controlled, diabetes leads to changes in the structures responsible for kidney function, damaging them. If this situation persists, there may be permanent damage to the kidneys.
In this scenario where kidney function is severely affected, there is a need for renal replacement treatments such as hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and kidney transplantation.
Diagnosis and prevention
For patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, regular clinical and laboratory control with blood sampling is required.
Creatinine and microalbuminuria test, which will check the amount of albumin (a protein produced in the liver) eliminated in the urine.
The Brazilian Society of Nephrology and the Brazilian Society of Diabetes recommend that every person with diabetes, between 12 and 70 years of age, do the research at least once a year.
Glucose control is one of the measures that the diabetic must manage, thus avoiding complications for other diseases, such as chronic kidney disease.
Blood pressure care and the correct use of medications prescribed by your doctor, in line with healthy habits such as physical exercise, weight control and non-consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, can reduce the development of other diseases.
About Diaverum Brazil
Diaverum is one of the most important global players specializing in kidney treatments. The company is present in 24 countries, has 469 clinics worldwide, performs approximately 6.3 million treatments per year and has more than 14,000 health professionals.
In Brazil since 2017, it has 10 clinics and more than a thousand professionals, a multidisciplinary team that works in a collaborative, coordinated and absolutely committed way with the more than 3,700 patients undergoing treatments.
Diabetes Care
Diaverum has a pioneering model of Diabetic Patient Care Line, through a multidisciplinary patient-centered program that improves the clinical control of the disease and reduces possible complications. Our reference unit has multidisciplinary professionals who work in an integrated way and follow protocols based on guidelines pre-established by the SBD (Brazilian Society of Diabetes) and ADA (American Diabetes Association).