No symptoms, no clear warning signs—and yet something is wrong. Type 2 diabetes often develops gradually and goes unnoticed for a long time. That was also the case for Sophie Wittlinger. Now 44 years old, she had been overweight for many years when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. With nutritional counseling as part of a study at the DDZ, she changed her eating habits. “Today, I make sure to eat only as much as I really need. And I’ve broken the habit of snacking between meals and after dinner,” Wittlinger explains. A combination of strength and endurance training is also an integral part of her daily routine. The result: improved blood sugar levels and less fat in her liver—all without having to take medication. “Looking back, I should have gone to the doctor sooner to have my levels checked,” she says.
Wittlinger is not an exceptional case: By 2040, 12.3 million people in Germany could be living with type 2 diabetes—about 2.8 million more than today. This is shown by the Diabetes Clock from the DDZ in Düsseldorf. Although the overall rate of new type 2 diabetes diagnoses is declining slightly, depending on the study, the number of people affected is rising significantly because the population is aging and people with diabetes are living longer thanks to improved treatment options. Young adults are an exception to this decline in new diagnoses: A DDZ analysis based on data from approximately 63 million people with public health insurance shows a contrary trend for this group. In the 20- to 39-year-old age group, the rate of new type 2 diabetes diagnoses rose annually by 2.9 percent among men and 2.4 percent among women between 2014 and 2019.
Type 2 diabetes is more than just high blood sugar
“The fact that type 2 diabetes is increasingly affecting younger people is a serious warning sign,” says Prof. Michael Roden, scientific director and spokesperson for the DDZ Executive Board, as well as director of the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetology at the University Hospital Düsseldorf. “Precisely because an early onset of the disease is associated with a higher likelihood of complications, it is important to identify risk factors early on and take steps to counteract them,” emphasizes the diabetologist on the occasion of World Diabetes Day on November 14.
In the public perception, diabetes is often reduced to simply elevated blood sugar levels. In reality, the course of the disease varies greatly from person to person, with each case presenting its own risks and treatment options. Many people with diabetes already have complications at the time of diagnosis. Research conducted by the DDZ shows just how diverse these risks are: People with type 2 diabetes face a significantly increased risk of stroke or cardiovascular disease. The risk of nerve disorders (neuropathies) also increases even with only slightly elevated blood sugar levels. In addition, one in three people with type 2 diabetes develops fatty liver disease over the course of their lifetime. “If you know early on that your blood sugar levels are elevated, you can take steps to counteract this and protect yourself from damage that can sometimes be irreversible,” emphasizes Michael Roden.
Don’t leave diabetes diagnosis to chance
He recommends knowing your own risk for type 2 diabetes. The German Diabetes Risk Score on the information platform diabinfo.de provides an initial assessment in just a few minutes. If the test indicates an increased risk, Roden advises actively contacting your primary care physician’s office. “I recommend taking advantage of the health checkup at your primary care physician’s office and having your blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and blood lipid levels specifically checked. People with public health insurance who are 35 or older are entitled to this preventive screening every three years.” You can also get tested even if you don’t meet these criteria.
Media contact:
German Diabetes Center (DDZ)
Press office
Susan Jörges
Auf‘m Hennekamp 65
40225 Düsseldorf
Phone: +49 (0)211 3382-450
pressestelle@ddz.de
The German Diabetes Center (DDZ) serves as the German reference center for diabetes. Its objective is to contribute to the improvement of prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus. At the same time, the research center aims at improving the epidemiological data situation in Germany. The DDZ coordinates the multicenter German Diabetes Study and is a point of contact for all players in the health sector. In addition, it prepares scientific information on diabetes mellitus and makes it available to the public. The DDZ is part of the Leibniz Association (Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, WGL) and is a partner of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.). www.ddz.de/en
The German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) is a national association that brings together experts in the field of diabetes research and combines basic research, translational research, epidemiology and clinical applications. The aim is to develop novel strategies for personalized prevention and treatment of diabetes. Members are Helmholtz Munich – German Research Center for Environmental Health, the German Diabetes Center in Düsseldorf, the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Potsdam-Rehbrücke, the Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden of Helmholtz Munich at the University Medical Center Carl Gustav Carus of the TU Dresden and the Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of Helmholtz Munich at the Eberhard-Karls-University of Tuebingen together with associated partners at the Universities in Heidelberg, Cologne, Leipzig, Lübeck and Munich. www.dzd-ev.de/en
