Dietetics: diseases — симптомы, диагностика и лечение

Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which cells stop responding normally to insulin and glucose accumulates in the blood. It accounts for the vast majority of all cases of diabetes. Its main feature is its long asymptomatic course: the disease develops over years, and by the time the diagnosis is made, some patients already have complications from the eyes, kidneys and nerves. The good news is that type 2 diabetes is well controlled, and in the early stages, lifestyle changes can bring your levels back to normal.

Obesity is not a cosmetic problem or a matter of willpower, but a chronic disease with a hormonal and metabolic basis. The body protects the gained weight: after losing weight, energy consumption decreases and the level of hunger hormones increases, so most diets end in the return of kilograms. This explains why, with severe obesity, self-effort alone is usually not enough and why bariatric surgery has appeared in world practice - not “an operation for beauty”, but a method of treating the disease and its complications: type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, fatty liver disease.

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones. Since these hormones regulate the metabolic rate in almost all tissues, the symptoms are very varied and nonspecific: fatigue, chilliness, weight gain, dry skin, hair loss, constipation, depression. It is because of its nonspecificity that hypothyroidism has been attributed for years to age, overwork, or depression. At the same time, diagnosis is extremely simple - one blood test for TSH is enough, and treatment consists of taking one tablet daily.

Fatty liver disease is the accumulation of fat in liver cells, which today occurs in every third or fourth adult and is most often discovered by chance during an ultrasound for another reason. The wording in the conclusion like “diffuse changes like steatosis” is scary, but in itself does not mean a serious illness. What matters is whether the process has turned into inflammation (steatohepatitis), because it is this that leads to fibrosis and, in the long term, to cirrhosis. And one more thing that is worth knowing right away: there is no specific medicine “for fat in the liver”, but what seems banal works - weight loss and metabolic control.

Gout is a disease in which the level of uric acid in the blood rises, and its crystals are deposited in the joints, causing attacks of severe inflammation. The classic debut is recognizable almost unmistakably: at night, unbearable pain suddenly arises in the joint of the big toe, it turns red, swells, and it is impossible to touch even with a blanket. Gout is often considered a “disease of nutrition” that can be controlled by diet alone. This is a misconception: diet reduces uric acid levels only slightly, and true gout requires medications taken continuously.