The therapeutic strategies made possible by the new drugs make it possible to think of going beyond just blood sugar control
In diabetes today we can talk not only control the blood sugar, but also a more ambitious goal: the remission of the disease. New drugs and diagnostic-therapeutic innovations allow us to embrace this idea. It was discussed during the 28 inter-association congress of the Diabetic Doctors Association (Amd) and of the Italian Diabetes Society (Sid) Lombardia, in Milan on 14 and 15 October, not surprisingly entitled La cura.
Type II diabetes
Type II diabetes due to reduced ability of the body to use insulin, which allows glucose to enter cells, where it is used as an energy source. This disease, which it affects more than four million Italians, the result of the lifestyle of the modern age in which sedentary and bad eating habits are the masters. There are numerous possible negative effects on the cardiovascular system, kidneys, eyes and nervous system, but new drugs are revolutionizing their treatment. For the first time in history we have a series of therapeutic innovations that lead to the possibility of a normalization of glycemia (blood glucose levels) and therefore to a potential reversibility of the condition – reports Professor Paolo Fiorina, president Sid Lombardia, full professor of endocrinology at the University of Milan and director of Diabetology and Endocrinology of the Fatebenefratelli Sacco Hospital in Milan -. Drugs such as GLP-1 receptor agonists and glyphozines are able to facilitate the excretion of glucose via the urine and induce significant weight loss with very positive effects on cardiovascular, renal and microvascular complications of diabetes. Thanks to these treatments we can reason not only with a view to keeping blood sugar under control, but also in terms of reversibility of the disease and prolongation of the life of the diabetic patient. The new approaches are indicated in the obese diabetic, but also in those who are overweight. However, lifestyle interventions remain fundamental, especially in the pre-diabetes phase, because they can prevent the disease from establishing itself. – Professor Fiorina points out -. Weight loss of 7-10 percent and regular physical activity (50 minutes three times a week of moderate activity) halves the risk of progression to full-blown diabetes, as well as having important metabolic effects. Medicines are indicated for those who cannot control the disease with their lifestyle.
Type I diabetes
News also for type I diabetes Every year in Italy there are at least 15 thousand new cases of type I diabetes which, unlike type II diabetes, does not have a food base. It is in fact one autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. There are also numerous innovations for the treatment and management of type I diabetes – reports Fiorina -. First of all, today we can count on biological drugs which, by blocking some components of the immune system, are able to give a benefit before the onset of diabetes I, that is, in individuals who have autoantibodies, in a state of pre-diabetes. Alongside this therapeutic novelty, there are new approaches that involve the use of engineered stem cells, experiments that aim to regenerate the beta cells of the pancreas that produce insulin, as well as drugs that can greatly improve blood sugar levels (such as inhibitors or antagonists of the glucagon). Even the so-called artificial pancreas has made significant strides, reports the expert: Today it is possible to have small, light, inexpensive and super intelligent sensors that allow instant-by-instant monitoring of blood glucose. We also have increasingly reliable insulin pumps that inject insulin in an exceptional way as well as hybrid systems that, through algorithms, bind the sensor to the pump giving surprising results. The patient no longer has to take boluses of insulin because the “artificial intelligence” thinks of everything: it controls blood sugar and injects insulin.
October 15, 2022 (change October 15, 2022 | 09:38)
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