00:00 November is Diabetes Awareness Month.
00:03 And based on the recent report of the Philippine Statistics Authority,
00:08 diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death in our country.
00:12 To talk about the possible risks and beliefs in this disease,
00:16 I have Doc Oye Balburias with me, an internist and wellness expert,
00:22 as one of the hosts of Pinoy MD.
00:26 Good morning and welcome to my news.
00:29 Hi Doc Oye!
00:31 Hello Connie!
00:33 Good afternoon!
00:34 June!
00:35 Good afternoon June and Connie, yes.
00:37 For those who don't know, what are the differences?
00:41 Of course, we have type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
00:46 Type 1 has an autoimmune component where the pancreas cannot produce insulin.
00:54 That's why patients with insulin are often in need of an outside source.
01:02 Type 2 diabetes is mostly lifestyle related, especially due to overweight.
01:09 The patient manifests what we call insulin resistance,
01:13 where there is an inefficiency of using insulin and the insulin does not do its job
01:20 to let blood sugar enter the cells of the body.
01:25 But what are the limited symptoms that a person may have diabetes?
01:30 And if there are any, is it reversible?
01:33 Most of the time, when it is uncontrolled,
01:36 what they call creepies manifest,
01:39 polydipsia, polyphagia, and polyuria,
01:42 where there are frequent urinations.
01:44 So if the person has an uncontrolled diabetes, because it is usually an insidious concept,
01:50 there is a sudden drop in weight or a drastic weight loss.
01:54 Because we remember that sugar is like a magnet in water.
01:57 At 60% or 2/3 of our weight is water,
02:02 so if the sugar is too high, the fluids will be drawn out
02:06 and it will cause a sudden weight loss of a person.
02:09 But those three, creepies, polyuria, polydipsia, and polyphagia,
02:14 which are always hungry, always thirsty, and urination.
02:18 Doc, let's clarify some beliefs about diabetes.
02:22 The question is, is it true that eating sweets is the number one cause of diabetes?
02:32 Well, it's not just that.
02:34 It's not true that eating only.
02:36 In fact, there are many environmental, as well as most especially nutritional and lifestyle-related factors
02:42 that are the reason why we get diabetes.
02:44 In fact, the connection of diabetes to obesity or what we call diabetes,
02:50 because the number of people who have excess weight increases.
02:56 Since 1998, it was only 20%.
02:59 Now, as of 2019, it's already 36.6% of Filipino adults who have excess weight or obesity.
03:08 So, of course, eating sweets, especially simple sugars,
03:15 they don't have to undergo a conversion.
03:17 It will quickly increase our blood sugar, which will cause what we call insulin surge.
03:23 But it's not just eating, even stress, even environmental exposure, even weight loss.
03:29 Especially weight loss can be a cause for a person to have what we call insulin resistance.
03:36 Insulin resistance is the first thing that happens to a person before they develop diabetes.
03:44 And the increase of insulin or fasting insulin in our body
03:47 happens decades before your fasting blood sugar increases.
03:52 So, we really need to be careful with the media.
03:55 We don't have that.
03:56 Mediabetes.
03:57 Mediabetes, right.
03:58 Doc, is diabetes really hereditary or is it just a part of it?
04:01 Yes, there is a component of genetics, especially in type 1 diabetes.
04:07 But most people with diabetes, especially Filipinos,
04:10 are not type 2 or lifestyle-related and environment-related.
04:15 But diabetes really has a component of heredity.
04:20 But like we said, we are not doomed by our genes.
04:23 We still need to turn on those genes.
04:26 And most of the time, the genes that are our genetic predisposition
04:29 turn on our lifestyle or our exposure to wrong lifestyle,
04:35 sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy foods, those things.
04:38 Is it true that only blood sugar is affected and monitored when a person has diabetes?
04:45 Actually, blood sugar is not the real problem of a person with diabetes.
04:49 Remember, all the carbohydrates we eat will be sugar.
04:54 The problem of a person with diabetes is the inefficiency of his body's glucose metabolism
04:59 because of his condition called insulin resistance.
05:03 It is also important to know not only the blood sugar level, but also the fasting insulin level.
05:08 It is also important to know the different co-factors of nutrients,
05:14 vitamins, and minerals that our body needs to properly regulate our glucose metabolism.
05:21 When we say glucose metabolism, it is the conversion of all the carbohydrates we eat into glucose.
05:27 And glucose is used as the energy of our body.
05:30 So regular exercise can help?
05:33 Definitely exercise will enhance insulin responsiveness.
05:37 Especially, it can help reduce weight.
05:41 Is it true that there is a connection between the inability to heal wounds
05:47 and people with high blood sugar?
05:50 Remember, diabetes and blood sugar will damage our blood vessels and affect the blood flow.
05:59 Our blood brings all the substances that our immune system needs to heal our wounds.
06:06 There are many substances that our body needs to repair our body with conditions like a wound.
06:16 So those are important.
06:18 But if the wound is healed because of high blood sugar,
06:22 the blood supply will be compromised.
06:25 In fact, not only the blood vessel can be damaged by diabetes,
06:28 but also the innervation or the electrical cables, the nerves, can be damaged by uncontrolled blood sugar.
06:36 Oh, that's very dangerous.
06:38 Is it true that if we can't control our blood sugar,
06:42 we have diabetes, it can lead to amputation of some parts of our body?
06:50 You're right, Connie.
06:51 Diabetes is not controlled by many acute and chronic complications.
06:57 So, it's one of the complications, like a broken leg,
07:02 because it will affect the blood flow to the roots that supply our legs.
07:06 But it's not just that, it includes the damage to our kidneys.
07:10 And of course, if you have diabetes, your risk of having a heart attack and stroke will be higher,
07:16 which coincidentally is the number one and number two causes of premature death in our country.
07:22 So, if diabetes is the number four cause of death,
07:26 I suggest you to have diabetes so that you can have a feed-forward cycle.
07:30 Because if you have diabetes, your risk of having a heart attack and stroke will be higher.
07:35 There, we learned a lot.
07:37 Thank you so very much, Doc Oye Balburrias, our internist and wellness expert,
07:42 and also with us, the Pinoy MD as a co-host.
07:45 Thank you, Doc.
07:46 Okay, thank you.
07:47 I heard that you will be on air every 10.30am on GTV.
07:51 Find out the important news and information you need to know on my news every Monday to Friday.
07:57 Also, subscribe to Jimmy's Integrated News on YouTube.
08:01 [Music]
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