Diabetes mellitus
Approximately 5% of the German population have been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. About 90% of them suffer from type 2 diabetes, which occurs most frequently in older people. About 5% of diabetics suffer from insulin-dependent type 1 diabetes, with onset mainly in childhood or adolescence. The other forms of diabetes mellitus are rarer. Many people can be expected to have diabetes without knowing it. Whereas severe acute complications are rare these days thanks to modern therapies, accompanying illnesses and comorbidities - such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and foot ulcers- are often present and may reduce the quality of life and life expectancy.
Also, diabetes mellitus is responsible for increased health care seeking and expenditure for the health care system. Since type 2 diabetes (unlike type 1) is closely associated to life style habits- especially regarding exercise and nutrition - there is a lot of potential here for primary and secondary prevention. The prevention and treatment of diabetes require a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach and the active involvement of the patients themselves. Over the last few decades, modern therapeutic strategies and interdisciplinary, health-promoting services such as patient education have considerably improved the situation of diabetics.
Even so, the services currently provided are still not optimal, and this seems to be due not so much to a lack of resources as to insufficient coordination between the different agencies involved. Integrated schemes (e.g. disease-management programs) and nationwide campaigns (such health targets or a national diabetes program) aim, among other things, to help improve coordination and further improve care services for diabetics.
