Diabetes vaccination

Currently, there is no vaccine approved for broad-spectrum prevention of diabetes worldwide. The so-called "diabetes vaccination" is essentially a set of early intervention behavioral programs for people at high risk of diabetes. The effective rate of preventing type 2 diabetes can reach 50% to 80%. It is currently recognized by the medical community as the most cost-effective means of preventing and controlling diabetes.

A while ago, I followed the endocrine follow-up team of the community health service center for three months. I met too many people who knew how to use this set of "vaccination shots", and I also met a lot of people who fell into the trap. For example, Lao Zhou, who lives in Building 3 of the community, is a 46-year-old taxi driver. Last year, his physical examination showed that his fasting blood sugar was 6.9mmol/L, which is pre-diabetes. At that time, he squatted in the hospital corridor with a report and smoked. He said that his father died due to complications of diabetes and thought that he could not escape it. As a result, he followed the community's sugar control team for a year. Last week, his glycosylated hemoglobin was 5.6%, which is better than the indicators of many young people. He always said to everyone he met that he had received a free diabetes vaccination.

Speaking of which, someone must ask, I have read short videos and public accounts several times before and I have read "The diabetes vaccine has been approved, and one injection will eliminate the need to control sugar levels." Are these all rumors? It’s not entirely false. There is currently a preventive vaccine for type 1 diabetes that is undergoing Phase III clinical trials. However, its applicable population is very narrow - it is only targeted at high-risk people with type 1 diabetes who carry specific susceptibility genes and have not yet developed the disease. Moreover, the effectiveness is not 100%. It is at least 5 to 10 years away from the broad-spectrum preventive vaccine that the general public thinks "one shot will prevent diabetes for a lifetime." Now, if someone tells you that you can get a diabetes vaccine for money, it is 100% a liar.

As for the idea of ​​diabetes prevention, there is not only one voice in the academic community. The mainstream endocrine system of Western medicine definitely recommends lifestyle intervention first. The core is to control the waist circumference within 90cm for men and 85cm for women, ensure 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, and reduce the intake of refined sugar and trans fat. This is supported by decades of large sample data, and there is no need to question it. In addition, in recent years, the idea of "preventing disease" in traditional Chinese medicine has become more and more recognized. I used to go to outpatient clinics with the director of the Department of Endocrinology of the Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Department. He would prescribe simple medicinal dietary prescriptions for pre-diabetic patients, such as boiling water with astragalus and corn silk instead of tea, combined with Zusanli moxibustion 2 to 3 times a week. Many patients reported that they were much more comfortable than simply controlling their diet. Clinical data shows that this kind of intervention method that combines traditional Chinese and Western medicine has a blood sugar reversal rate that is about 14% higher than that of simple lifestyle intervention. However, the prerequisite is to find a regular traditional Chinese medicine hospital. Don't believe in such nonsense as "ancestral anti-diabetic secrets" and "pure Chinese medicine without side effects". Many illegally add powerful anti-diabetic Western medicines, which are quick to take effect, but actually harm the liver and kidneys.

I have seen many people misunderstanding "diabetes vaccination". The most outrageous ones are that "no one in my family has diabetes, so I don't need to take precautions." Others think, "I eat whole grains every day, so I will definitely not get diabetes." A while ago, a 27-year-old girl came for a follow-up visit. She has no genetic history in her family and her BMI is only 19. She usually eats whole-grain rice for health reasons, but she was still found to have abnormal glucose tolerance. When I asked her, she found out that she stayed up until 2 or 3 o'clock every day to catch up on plans. She sat at work for 10 hours at a time. When she was stressed, she would hide at her workstation to show off two packs of butter cookies. The small amount of whole grains she ate was not worth the damage caused by her work schedule and prolonged sitting. There is also a fitness guy who is more interesting. He thinks that he can just run 5 kilometers a day, drink cold beer and eat skewers every time, but his fasting blood sugar still soars to 7.2mmol/L. To put it bluntly, the so-called "vaccination" does not take effect by relying on a certain habit. It is a fine-tuning of the overall living condition. It does not need to be 100% perfect, nor does it need to be an ascetic. For example, if you want to eat milk tea cake today, just eat it. Walk half an hour longer after eating, and don't eat it every day.

Oh, by the way, there is another common misunderstanding that "you don't need to worry about prediabetes, just take medicine when the time comes." I have followed up a pair of twin brothers, both of whom have a family history of hereditary disease. The older brother ignored it when he was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 38 and continued to drink white wine and eat late-night snacks. He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at the age of 40 and now takes two types of hypoglycemic drugs every day. The younger brother was found to have similar indicators to his older brother. After being adjusted by the community for half a year, he returned to the normal range. Now at the age of 45, his blood sugar has been very stable and he does not even need to take medicine.

In fact, after staying with these people with diabetes for a long time, I discovered that there is no magic vaccine. To put it bluntly, don’t abuse your body. Don’t eat every meal, don’t stay up until midnight every day, don’t sit all day long, and have an annual physical to check fasting blood sugar and glycosylated hemoglobin. If it is in the early stages, don’t panic and get back on track in time. This is the cheapest and most effective “diabetes preventive shot.”