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The Indonesian Diabetes Epidemic: How to Recognize the Symptoms and Risk Factors

JAKARTA – Diabetes or diabetes is often one of the biggest health threats for Indonesian people.

Looking at data from the World Health Organization (WHO), diabetes is the third highest cause of death in Indonesia, after stroke and heart disease.

In fact, Indonesia is the only one in Southeast Asia that is included in the list of 10 countries with the highest number of diabetes sufferers in the world.

Data from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) shows that 1 in 9 adults, aged 20-79 years, in Indonesia suffers from diabetes.

The figure increased sharply from 2011 to 2021, and is projected to continue to rise until 2045.

According to the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas fails to produce insulin to maintain glucose in the bloodstream. This lack of insulin results in increased sugar levels.

Meanwhile, type 2 diabetes occurs when the body fails to use insulin properly, and also results in increased blood sugar levels.

Indonesia is still in the red zone in cases of diabetes, especially type 1 and type 2 diabetes, which also occur most often in children.

Many people find out too late that they have diabetes mellitus. In fact, the sooner you detect the symptoms and characteristics of this disease, the greater your chances of avoiding dangerous diabetes complications.

Even so, there are quite a few people who don’t really understand the symptoms of diabetes. So this disease is often overlooked and not detected from the start. The following are signs of diabetes. Reporting from the Ministry of Health, Tuesday 20 February 2024:

1. Frequent urination

Man pees while standing.

Photo :

Frequent urination is one of the characteristics of diabetes. This symptom becomes a stronger sign of diabetes if it occurs at night, even making you often wake up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet.

Because the cells in the body cannot absorb glucose, the kidneys try to excrete as much glucose as possible. As a result, sufferers urinate more frequently than normal people and excrete more than 5 liters of urine a day. This continues even at night.

2. Often feel thirsty

Illustration of the dangers of not drinking enough

Apart from frequent urination, typical symptoms of diabetes are easy thirst or polydipsia. This thirst is different from normal thirst because it won’t go away even if you drink.

Under normal conditions, sugar in the blood will be filtered by the kidneys and reabsorbed into the blood. However, if blood sugar levels are very high, the kidneys cannot absorb all the sugar so the sugar will accumulate in the urine.

3. Feel hungry quickly

Illustration of holding back hunger, stomach ache.

In the body, food is converted into glucose. Glucose will then be used as an energy source for every cell, tissue and organ in your body. Well, the hormone insulin is responsible for carrying out this process.

In diabetes, there is a problem with insulin production or the body’s ability to respond to insulin. As a result, the process of converting glucose into energy is hampered

4. The skin becomes dry

This shows that skin problems are a common symptom of diabetes. This condition occurs because your body loses a lot of fluid through urine. As a result, the skin loses its natural moisture.

In addition, itchy skin due to diabetes can occur due to reduced nerve function and obstructed blood circulation.

5. Wounds that are difficult to heal

Infections, insect bites, bruises, or diabetes wounds that don’t heal can be symptoms of diabetes. This is because high blood sugar causes the walls of the arteries to narrow and harden.

As a result, the flow of oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body is hampered. In fact, parts of the body that are injured really need oxygen and nutrients contained in the blood to heal quickly.

The body’s cells also have difficulty repairing damaged tissue and nerves. As a result, healing of open wounds in diabetics tends to be slower.

6. Blurred vision

Visual ability continues to decline with age. However, you need to be aware of blood sugar levels that tend to be high, accompanied by vision problems.

Symptoms of diabetes related to visual impairment include blurry, blurry or cloudy eyes. Complaints like this that occur from a young age can be a sign of complications of type 1 diabetes.

This is because high blood sugar levels can trigger inflammation in the body which can damage the blood vessels and nervous system in the eyes.

2024-02-20 00:02:02
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