Specific and Individual Help for Diabetics

Comprehensive treatment for diabetics is becoming increasingly important. In Munich, in addition to the diabetological departments of various hospitals, a number of large clinics and some medical practices now specialize in the treatment of diabetes.

Type-2 diabetes is a “disease of the affluent” in populations of industrial nations. Almost 200 million people world-wide suffer from diabetes. Experts predict an increase in Type-2 diabetes of more than 60 % in the next twenty years. In contrast to the genetic origin of Type-1 diabetes, the causes of Type-2 diabetes are mainly bad eating habits and lack of physical exercise. There are great risks associated with Type-2 diabetes: in addition to the risk of serious damage to the eyes, kidneys and nervous system, Type- 2 diabetics have a threefold higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, heart attack and stroke. Their life expectancy can also be reduced by up to ten years, since from the onset, diabetes is usually associated with high blood pressure – in 70 % of diabetics – and overweight – in 88 % -, often also accompanied by lipid metabolism disorders. Without specific therapy, other, sometimes life-threatening, illnesses can develop.

Successful treatment and prevention depend on the individual overall risk carried by the patient and therefore also on the specific treatment of accompanying disorders and risk factors, which in the majority of cases necessitates interdisciplinary therapy involving various experts.

Under the supervision of diabetes experts, patients’ blood-sugar, and therefore also their metabolism, must be quickly adjusted to normal levels to prevent progression of the diabetes and any further complications. The diabetologist decides on an individual basis whether such treatment should take the form of tablets, insulin injections or a combination of the two.

Today, there are technical aids available for insulin therapy (Insulin-Pens) and modern, well-tolerated insulins pose relatively few problems. Patients, however, must be trained by experts to perform self-injection and blood-sugar measurement, so that they are later in a position to cope with their illness safely and independently and to adjust their blood sugar values as required.

Several diabetes centres specialize in methods of insulin therapy, including the implantation of insulin pumps. Diabetics are treated in accordance with the latest international guidelines either as in-patients, day-patients or out-patients. The diabetes centres in Munich clinics and specialist practices also focus on continuous blood sugar monitoring via sugar sensors, the treatment of diabetes during pregnancy, psychological care and advice, weight-reduction programmes and the therapy of lipid metabolism disorders and marked insulin resistance as well as diabetic foot syndrome. In addition to the optimization of blood sugar levels, patients are given comprehensive, structured training for Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes, including detailed advice on healthy eating habits and physical exercise.

In Munich, interdisciplinary co-operation, which must be available depending on the consequential illnesses of diabetes, is optimally guaranteed.