A good doctor prevents illness. A mediocre doctor pays attention to impending illness. A junior doctor treats the actual disease. ”
– Chinese proverb
Managing diabetes today requires understanding the concept of a circular economy that eliminates waste and pollution, circulates products and materials at the highest level, and regenerates nature.
Today, we had a 64-year-old woman present for follow-up at a diabetes clinic. She is a typical Oklahoma patient with her type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) with multiple complications including morbid obesity, heart disease requiring stent placement, hypertension, and dyslipidemia.
She has multiple complications from chronic medical conditions, including blindness in one eye and severe neuropathy with loss of sensation in her legs. Our patient weighs 261 pounds. Her body mass index (BMI) she is 44.9.
For reference, the BMI range for healthy adults is 18-25. She had difficulty getting onto the examination table and had to sit in a chair to be examined. Her physical activity was limited due to poor health and visual impairment. She is currently taking her 27 medications, including oral metformin and dapagliflozin, injectable semaglutide, once-daily degludec her insulin, and three times-daily aspart her insulin injections, just for the treatment of DM. I am taking.
She gives herself about four injections a day using a “single use” pen needle. This treatment regimen would result in her using her 124 needles per month in a single patient setting. Semaglutide is provided in her one dose per week in a one-time disposable plastic her pen. We will evaluate this case to determine the climate costs of the diabetes pandemic and how much plastic waste is being generated in an attempt to manage this chronic condition.
According to International Diabetes Federation estimates for 2021, about 537 million adults have diabetes, and that number is expected to rise to 643 million by 2030. The food industry is a major contributor to the global rise in obesity. Over the past few decades, the food industry has expanded tremendously and has had a detrimental impact on the environment.With the expansion of the fast food industry, meat consumption has increased worldwide. The negative environmental impact of increased meat consumption is undeniable.
Livestock farming causes greenhouse gas emissions, overconsumption of water, overuse of land resources, generation of waste, and deterioration of water and air quality. Industrial meat is the largest cause of deforestation in the world. Meat consumption poses several health risks, such as DM, cardiovascular disease, and colorectal cancer, and has a negative impact on the environment.
A huge amount of research has been done on the effects of the environment on diabetes. Still, today I want to turn my attention to the other side and talk about how diabetes is impacting the environment. Needles, syringes, lancets, blood glucose monitoring strips, blood glucose monitors, continuous blood glucose sensors, insulin bottles, pens, infusion tubes, disposable pumps, device batteries, packaging for 1 year use.
The lack of a circular economy for these items poses serious risks regarding infection control and other biohazards.
The need for this evil has nothing to say about solutions to this problem other than recognizing its existence, trying to properly dispose of the waste that has already been generated, and moving towards more biodegradable or environmentally friendly options. Not much.
I can only hope that the ultimate burden of this problem lies with pharmaceutical companies, and that it does not significantly impact our healthcare costs.
Global warming has become a major factor in real world climate change scenarios. 23% of total greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, forestry and other land uses. Consumption of meat and meat products provides nutrients such as protein, iron and vitamins. However, this protein source has a significant impact on the environment. It also negatively impacts footprint, water pollution and water scarcity. Therefore, it is clear that there is a significant need to change current lifestyles and consumption habits for the sake of human health and the health of the planet. Among the various meats available, poultry and pig meat have been shown to be the most consumed.
From 2014 to 2016, total global per capita meat consumption was 34.1 kg per year, of which 60% was red meat (pork, lamb and beef). Also, the production of red meat, especially beef, produces more carbon dioxide due to intestinal fermentation in ruminants.
The circular economy concept includes eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials at the highest level, and regenerating nature. It was thought to be the wheel that would propel us towards greater sustainability, but the wheel seems to have stopped, with man-made risk factors causing disease and then disease. I realized that I was stuck in a loop of attempts. Management exacerbates environmental risk factors, pushing the vicious cycle forward or downward.
Syeda Fatima Murtaza, Ali R. Chaitou, and Jobby John are physicians.
Image credit: Shutterstock.com
