The Sweet Trap and the Curse of Complications: From the Mechanisms of Hyperglycemia to the Systemic Crisis of Latent Diabetes [i]

To maintain all physiological activities, humans need to obtain energy from various foods, and glucose is the most important and basic substance for supplying energy to the human body [i]. After we ingest food, carbohydrates are digested in the intestines and converted into glucose [i]. In addition, the pancreas secretes a substance called "insulin" [i]. Insulin helps glucose in the blood enter various cells in the body. In cells, insulin can promote glucose storage for energy or promote glucose metabolism to release energy [i]. If the body's insulin level is too low, or if insulin cannot perform its biological function, glucose in the blood cannot be used by the body, resulting in "hyperglycemia" [i]. Hyperglycemia can further cause extreme thirst, frequent urination, decreased vision, fatigue, and other symptoms [i]. Allowing hyperglycemia to develop can lead to diabetes [i]. More and more studies now show that long-term hyperglycemia can cause damage to various tissues in the body, leading to the formation of diabetic complications [i]. These diabetic complications include: 1. Heart disease, stroke, and vascular disease: these are collectively referred to as cardiovascular disease [i]. Compared with non-diabetic individuals, diabetic patients have a significantly increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease [i]. 2. Kidney disease: Diabetic nephropathy is the most important cause of kidney failure[i]. 3. Retinopathy: Diabetes is a major contributing factor in new cases of blindness[i]. 4. Neurological disorders: This disorder affects the ability of diabetic patients to feel pain and can lead to serious infections of the feet and lower extremities[i]. In addition, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a common male disease, is also associated with high blood sugar[i]. Researchers have pointed out that studies show high blood sugar is also associated with BPH, with men with high blood sugar being twice as likely to have BPH compared to men with normal blood sugar[i]. Furthermore, diabetic patients are at least twice as likely to have BPH compared to men without diabetes[i]. Obesity is a significant contributing factor to diabetes[i]. Approximately 60%–80% of adult diabetic patients were obese before the onset of the disease, and the degree of obesity is directly proportional to the incidence of diabetes[i]. Diabetes is significantly more common in the elderly, especially obese elderly individuals with high body fat[i]. According to incomplete statistics, only about 52.6% of diabetic patients in my country are diagnosed, while 74% of patients remain undiagnosed [i]. This means that many people have latent diabetes but have ignored it! Diabetes is divided into insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent types. Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mainly occurs after middle age and accounts for the vast majority of cases. Its progression is slow, and the asymptomatic period can last for several years to decades until a series of rather troublesome complications occur [i]. Some people only realize that diabetes is the culprit when they suffer from myocardial infarction, stroke, etc., due to the insidious symptoms [i]. The diabetes in these two patients is the "root" of the disease, while foot ulcers and painless myocardial infarction are direct or indirect consequences of diabetes [i]. The former is caused by poor peripheral blood circulation and local nutritional deficiencies in the feet. Once an infection occurs, it often becomes uncontrollable and develops into "diabetic foot" [i]. Although the latter patient usually feels well, their coronary arteries and myocardial microvessels are already severely damaged. Due to myocardial malnutrition, the nerve endings become dulled in their pain sensation, leading to myocardial infarction without pain [i]. In fact, many diabetic patients are only diagnosed after developing serious complications [i]. However, latent diabetes is not without warning signs. If vigilance is increased, timely medical attention is sought, and early diagnosis is made, the occurrence of complications can be greatly delayed with correct and appropriate treatment [i].