On 14 November, we celebrate World Diabetes Day. On that occasion, another edition of the educational campaign 'Living with Diabetes' was launched under the auspices of the International Diabetes Federation and the Polish Diabetes Association, prepared by Medical Media Solutions. The project was published with the "Rzeczpospolita" daily and is also available online.
In Poland, there are around 2.1 million patients with diabetes and several hundred thousand people who are unaware of the disease and do not take treatment. Meanwhile, early detection and the use of appropriate therapies can help to avoid dangerous complications. Diabetes is a great challenge for our society. As noted by Professor Maciej Małecki, President of the Polish Diabetes Association, people with diabetes require medical care and the creation of an organisational and financial framework for this care. In addition, these are people who often have reduced productivity, are often disabled and dependent on the state and die early.
In the treatment of diabetes, proper insulin therapy is a very important issue, as it is pointed out that statistically one in two patients with type 2 diabetes is treated with insulin. Nowadays, we have a wide range of options in insulin therapy, which allows us to tailor the therapy to the individual needs and abilities of each patient. "It is extremely important to choose this right time to treat with insulin, so today it is recognised that it is better to start insulin therapy a while earlier than too late, as prolonged delay of insulin treatment brings negative health effects." - emphasises Professor Dorota Zozulinska - Ziolkiewicz, Vice President of the Polish Diabetes Association. Nowadays, thanks to the development of insulin analogues, patients receive treatment tailored to their needs, activity, lifestyle or type of diet. Such therapy is accepted by the patient, provides effective diabetes control and treatment safety. "If our patients widely used the long-acting insulin analogues available in Poland, we could improve the overall diabetes control. These preparations are now the standard of treatment in other European countries." - notes Professor Leszek Czupryniak, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine and Diabetology at the Warsaw Medical University. Unfortunately, in Poland, access to them is limited often for economic reasons. "However, the potential of insulin therapy in Poland is not always and fully exploitable. Due to the fact that not all insulin preparations are reimbursed to the same extent, it is not uncommon that economic considerations determine that the patient does not receive the insulin that would be more indicated for him or her."- adds Prof. Janusz Gumprecht from the Department and Clinic of Internal Medicine, Diabetology and Nephrology of the Silesian Medical University in Katowice.
This year's World Diabetes Day slogan is "Diabetes: let's look at it, let's show it the heart" and focuses on the problem of ocular and cardiac complications in patients with diabetes. "However, we must remember that the majority of our patients die of heart disease. So we want to point out that there are quite a lot of modern drugs in type 2 diabetes that reduce cardiovascular risk, which are not available to patients in Poland at all due to lack of reimbursement." - explains Prof Maciej Małecki. Reducing cardiovascular complications is becoming one of the most important issues. We already know very well that, in addition to taking care of adequate blood sugar levels, proper treatment of hypertension and lipid disorders is crucial. "Research shows that a patient with diabetes loses six to seven years of life compared to his or her peer without diabetes. The reason for this large difference is deaths from heart disease. Therefore, the main task of diabetology is to guide the patient in such a way that he avoids these chronic complications and thus lives longer. Developments in diabetology are extensive and the last year has brought breakthroughs. Drugs with proven effects have emerged that prolong the life of diabetic patients by protecting, among other things, their heart." - notes Professor Grzegorz Dzida, Lublin Consultant in Diabetology. Diabetes requires the patient to be continuously educated and retrained. A person with diabetes learns about their disease all the time. For 15 years, the mojacukrzyca.org portal has been a place on the web where patients can find understanding and share their experiences. It is a valuable example of efforts to educate and integrate people with diabetes in Poland. For this reason, to recognise the entire portal team and all others who contribute their time and energy to improving diabetes care in Poland, Jerzy Magiera, founder and administrator of the mojacukrzyca.org portal, became the face of this edition of the campaign.
We also asked experts, who have been active for years for the improvement of diabetes care in Poland, what problems affect Polish patients and what, in their opinion, should be changed to improve the current situation. "On the basis of a long-term strategy, a comprehensive policy and action plan should be developed that covers the main types of diabetes, the entire process of preventive measures, from primary prevention through prevention of complications, treatment and comprehensive care." - notes Igor Grzesiak, Board Member, Institute for Patient Rights and Health Education, Diabetes Coalition. In addition to comprehensive action plans, access to appropriate treatment is also needed. "From our perspective, there is still a long way to go before modern therapies are more widely available, since there is not even a chance at the moment of broad reimbursement of long-acting insulin analogues for patients with type 2 diabetes, which should be standard from the point of view of today's diabetes treatment. We are pleased to see that these analogues have found their way onto - at least - the list of reimbursed medicines for seniors." - indicates Anna Śliwińska, President of the Board of the Polish Diabetes Association. Diabetes care requires an integrated approach and the involvement of multiple specialists. "Such teams should include a doctor, a nurse, an educator, a dietician, a psychologist, a rehabilitation specialist, a social worker and consultants from other specialties." - details Alicja Szewczyk, President of the Polish Federation of Education in Diabetology. The role of modern technology in the lives of people with diabetes is highlighted by Monika Zamarlik, President of the National Federation of Organisations Helping Children and Young People with Diabetes.
Much more on the broad topic of diabetes, to which the campaign is dedicated, as well as articles on wound therapy, self-management, lipo-hypertrophy, ocular complications or appropriate diabetes treatment can be found in the publication "Living with diabetes", which was published on 14 November 2016 with the daily newspaper "Rzeczpospolita" and on www.dbajozdrowie.info.