In the past few weeks, there have been news stories linking type 2 diabetes to a host of other conditions. We’ve known for a long time that type 2 diabetes was a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, that it’s associated with obesity, and that diabetics can also have depression, erectile dysfunction, and a host of other complications.
What has been less clear (but is becoming more so by the day) is that other diseases can often be a gateway to diabetes. On June 17, researchers at Johns Hopkins University released a study showing that patients with depression have a higher risk of diabetes. A week before that, the International Diabetes Federation issued a statement recommending that patients with obstructive sleep apnea be screened for metabolic disease and type 2 diabetes.
Patients with gum disease are at greater risk for type 2 diabetes, and there’s new research showing that people with diabetes can help control the disease by taking good care of their gums. Even having a herpes virus may be a precursor to a rare form of diabetes.
All this news could be interpreted as a bad sign. You might be saying, “If I’ve got depression, now I have to worry about diabetes. If I’ve got diabetes, I have to worry about something else.”
But I think this is good news. Research shows that early diagnosis and aggressive treatment of diabetes can limit complications later on. For example, since recurrent yeast infections can be a sign of type 2 diabetes in women, an obstetrician may be the first doctor to diagnose the disease. This was the case for one patient, who went on to lose 100 pounds and got the disease under control.
If dentists, shrinks, obstetricians, and sleep specialists become the first line of defense against type 2 diabetes, the next generation of diabetics may get better, earlier care and may have a lower risk of developing other illnesses.
(PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO/HEALTH)
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Comments (4)
Proportion of people with diabetes who don’t know they have the disease decreased from 30 percent to 25 percent with helpondiabetes
How do you know if you have diabetes?
What are the possible foot problems for a daibetic? I am having severe pain in the bottom of right foot especially with walking. The toes are slightly swollen and pain generates across entire bottom part of foot at toes. I dont/ know what that area is called but it’s not in the arch or heal area.
Thanks for pointing out both the health risks of Type 2 diabetes and the ways it is linked to other diseases. Gum disease and the role it plays in diabetes is something we write extensively about at http://dentistryfordiabetics.com/blog.
Charles Martin DDS
Founder, Dentistry for Diabetics