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A single source for prevention, therapy and monitoring
People in industrialized countries eat too much and do not get enough exercise. The results are frightening: the World Health Organization calculates that in 2025 there will be around 300 million people with diabetes, most of them with type 2 diabetes. “This metabolic disorder used to be known as adult-onset diabetes. Thousands of obese adolescents who now have diabetes show that this is a misnomer,” says Dr. Uwe Höhner.
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| Easy to hold and easy to use: the BREEZE® blood glucose monitoring device |
Effective treatment has been available for decades for patients with type 2 diabetes. Bayer supplies an active ingredient produced using biotechnology which is prescribed for these patients. Höhner is head of the Metabolism business unit, the part of the company that markets this tried and trusted product which can treat not only type 2 diabetes but also a condition which is often the precursor to diabetes. This condition, called impaired glucose tolerance or pre-diabetes, usually develops silently. Experts realized this already in the early 1990s: “Blood glucose levels are higher than normal, particularly after meals, even though the individual does not have manifest diabetes.” If the condition is not diagnosed, it can develop into type 2 diabetes.
Recent studies have confirmed these findings and have also shown that regular use of Bayer’s active compound reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure. The incidence of heart and vessel disease was reduced by almost half in these studies. The investigators also found that the risk of suffering a heart attack as a result of vascular occlusion was reduced by half.”
Prevention and therapy are two important aspects of managing diabetes, but they are not the only ones. According to Höhner, “Modern therapy for diabetes also includes education, nutrition, physical exercise and, most importantly, self-monitoring using special blood glucose measuring devices.”
Here, too, patients can rely on Bayer’s experience. The company has been marketing blood glucose measuring devices for over 40 years. The Ascensia umbrella brand has been introduced to meet individual patients’ glucose monitoring needs more accurately than ever before. It includes measuring systems and the sensors, lancing devices and lancets needed to operate them. Bayer also provides a range of diabetes-related services, so that every step from prodcut planning and development to its manufacture is accompanied by doctors and advisors who are specialists in diabetes.
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