Chronic disease management: Prevention and treatment of hyperuricemia, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia

Chapter Ten Chronic Disease Management

In 2012, the national mortality rate from chronic diseases was 533 per 100,000, accounting for 86.6% of all deaths.

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases are the leading causes of death, accounting for 79.4% of all deaths. Among them, the mortality rate of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases is 271.8 per 100,000, the mortality rate of cancer is 144.3 per 100,000 (the top five are lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, and colorectal cancer), and the mortality rate of chronic respiratory diseases is 68 per 100,000.

Chronic diseases have become the number one killer threatening the health of Chinese people!

Definition and characteristics of chronic diseases

I. Definition of Chronic Diseases

"Chronic disease" is short for chronic non-communicable disease. It does not refer to a specific disease, but is a general term for a class of diseases that have an insidious onset, a long course and a persistent condition, lack definite evidence of infectious biological causes, have complex causes, and some of which have not yet been fully identified.

However, through effective intervention, risk factors affecting health can be reduced, and the damage of chronic diseases to the body can be delayed or reversed.

II. Characteristics of Chronic Diseases

Chronic diseases are mostly common and frequently occurring diseases, with insidious onset and long incubation periods. They are caused by multiple factors, resulting in multiple causes for a single outcome. Personal lifestyle has a significant impact on the condition. One cause can lead to multiple effects, which are interconnected, resulting in multiple diseases in one body. The rate of increase is accelerating, and the onset of the disease is showing a trend towards younger ages.

Chronic diseases may not be fatal in the short term, but they will definitely affect lifespan in the long term.

If you have a chronic disease, you should never ignore it just because you, others, or many people have it.

The management of chronic diseases should be taken very seriously. We should not wait until symptoms appear before seeking treatment, but rather nip chronic diseases in the bud.

Don't be too afraid when you discover a chronic disease in its early stages, but you must take lifestyle interventions to prevent the disease from progressing further and, ideally, reverse it.

The most dangerous age for humans

In recent years, the incidence of sudden death has been very high, and sudden death is increasingly occurring at younger ages.

There is a dangerous age range in our lives, which is 50 years old. 50 years old is a critical point for physical health, which is medically known as the "50-year-old phenomenon".

The "50-year-old phenomenon" occurs at age 50, but actually begins in the 30s and 40s.

People start to gain weight in middle age, and obesity becomes more and more serious. The harm caused by the accumulation of this excess fat in the body for three to five years is not visible on the surface.

However, the damage to blood vessels is happening silently.

This is a time when one has elderly parents to care for and young children to raise, needs to work hard in their career, and has to take care of their family, leaving little time to take care of themselves.

After 10 or 20 years, the blockage of blood vessels becomes more and more serious, leading to symptoms such as high blood pressure, high blood lipids, high blood sugar, and coronary heart disease. At this point, our health has reached a low point in our lives.

Sudden death can be triggered by factors such as staying up late, anxiety, or exposure to extreme cold or heat.

To prevent the "50-year-old phenomenon," we should start at 30, beginning with healthy weight loss.

High uric acid

As is well known, hyperuricemia is a biochemical marker of gout.

However, not all cases of hyperuricemia will develop into gout. Gout can only be diagnosed when urate crystals are deposited, kidney stones are formed, etc.

If you want to nip gout in the bud, start by lowering your uric acid levels.

How to lower uric acid? Simply put: strictly control your diet and maintain a healthy weight.

Various studies have shown that there is an inevitable link between hyperuricemia and obesity. Patients with hyperuricemia should maintain the healthiest weight, which will reduce the frequency of gout attacks.

Many people have embarked on their weight loss journey. As we all know, losing weight is simply about eating less and exercising more – control your diet and get moving!

It's not as simple as you think.

While weight loss means reducing calorie intake, it is very unscientific for people with high uric acid to blindly eat less and exercise more.

Reducing calories during weight loss is a gradual process. Excessive reduction can lead to ketosis, and the excretion of uric acid also decreases due to competition between ketone bodies and uric acid, further leading to acute gout attacks.

Excessive exercise and hunger can also hinder the normal excretion of uric acid, so the way you lose weight is very important.

At this point, many people are starting to hesitate: should I lose weight or not? Don't worry, we recommend that you lose weight healthily and scientifically under the guidance of a professional nutritionist to avoid triggering an acute gout attack while losing weight rapidly.

During weight loss, you should avoid high-purine foods, as eating too much of these foods will raise uric acid levels and cause gout attacks.

Although gout cannot be completely cured, don't be discouraged. It can be prevented from flaring up. Obese people must maintain a healthy weight and drink plenty of water during weight loss, as drinking more water can increase urine output and help urate crystals to be excreted smoothly. At the same time, it is also important to increase the intake of nutrients.

High blood sugar

High blood sugar means that blood sugar levels are higher than normal.

High blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are commonly referred to as the "three high diseases".

Normal fasting blood glucose levels should be below 6.1 mmol/L and two hours after a meal below 7.8 mmol/L. If blood glucose levels are consistently higher than these ranges, it can be called hyperglycemia.

I. Causes of High Blood Sugar

(1) Poor lifestyle habits: overeating, high sugar and high fat diet, irregular life, unbalanced diet, etc., can easily lead to high blood sugar over time.

(2) Coronary heart disease and other conditions are closely related to hyperglycemia.

(3) High blood sugar is very likely an early symptom of diabetes.

(4) Genetic factors can also lead to hyperglycemia.

II. Dangers of High Blood Sugar

To give a simple example: A person with high blood sugar has very high sugar levels in their blood, which is like soaking their blood vessels and other tissues in sugar water, like a sugar jar that's been pickled for a long time. The result is predictable-all organs will be affected, leading to the following harms:

(1) It leads to the body being dehydrated and in a hypertonic state.

High blood sugar causes a large amount of glucose to be excreted in the urine, leading to dehydration of the body. Dehydration of brain cells can cause brain dysfunction and even coma, which is clinically known as "hyperosmolar coma".

(2) It can lead to electrolyte imbalance and acidosis.

When blood sugar is high, patients experience a significant increase in urine output, and a large amount of electrolytes are also excreted in the urine, leading to diabetic ketoacidosis.

(3) It leads to pancreatic islet failure.

Long-term high blood sugar can also lead to pancreatic dysfunction, thereby reducing insulin secretion and causing the condition to progressively worsen.

(4) It causes emaciation and reduced resistance.

In a state of hyperglycemia, glucose cannot be well absorbed and utilized by the body and is lost in large quantities through urine. Energy is then provided by the body through the breakdown of fat and protein, with predictable consequences.

(5) Causes chronic complications of blood vessels and nerves.

Long-term high blood sugar can directly damage blood vessels and nerves, leading to various chronic vascular and nerve complications.

For example, retinopathy, diabetic foot necrosis, diabetic nephropathy, etc.

III. How to prevent high blood sugar

(1) By appropriately reducing the intake of calories and carbohydrates, good blood sugar control can be achieved.

(2) Increase activity levels or engage in more exercise.

(3) Relax your emotions and live an optimistic life.

(4) Increase resistance.

(5) Drink plenty of water, but not too much.

hyperlipidemia

Hyperlipidemia refers to excessively high levels of lipids in the blood. As one of the direct factors that cause atherosclerosis, hyperlipidemia poses a significant threat to human health. Hyperlipidemia is often characterized by elevated levels of plasma triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low-density cholesterol, while high-density lipoprotein is decreased.

I. Causes of Hyperlipidemia

(1) Long-term high intake of saturated fatty acids and high cholesterol: such as liking to eat fatty meat, tripe, and intestines.

(2) Long-term excessive intake of sugar and high-calorie foods: This is one of the main causes of obesity and a risk factor for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia.

(3) Unhealthy and irregular lifestyle: such as prolonged sitting or standing, excessive drinking and smoking, excessive stress, etc.

(4) Genetic factors: Genes have functions that affect the synthesis and metabolism of blood lipids.

II. How to prevent and treat hyperlipidemia

(1) Control weight.

In general, most patients with hyperlipidemia are those with central obesity, and their lipid disorders tend to improve as they lose weight.

(2) Scientific exercise.

Scientific exercise can help you lose weight, improve your cardiovascular function, and lower your cholesterol levels.

(3) Quit smoking.

Smoking is harmful to blood lipids and has no benefits. Smoking is one of the factors that cause many diseases, so it is recommended that you quit smoking as soon as possible.

III. The Dangers of High Blood Lipids

(1) Hyperlipidemia and liver damage: Long-term hyperlipidemia can lead to fatty liver, which in turn leads to cirrhosis and damages liver function.

(2) Hyperlipidemia and hypertension: Long-term hyperlipidemia will also have a certain impact on blood pressure.

(3) Hyperlipidemia and coronary heart disease: When the human body develops atherosclerosis, it will cause myocardial ischemia, which will lead to heart pain and coronary heart disease.

(4) High blood lipids can lead to atherosclerosis: High blood lipids are one of the main culprits of atherosclerosis.

Lowering blood lipids is not impossible; it can be improved through scientific exercise and a healthy diet. After lowering blood lipids, low-density lipoprotein and cholesterol levels will decrease, which can help prevent some cardiovascular diseases to a certain extent.