Klinikum Karlsburg der Klinikgruppe Dr. Guth

Diabetes – an affair of the heart
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a systemic vascular disease – some 65 percent of all type 2 diabetes patients die from or at least suffer from heart disease. This is where Klinikum Karlsburg comes into play. Although it is a metabolic disease, diabetes mellitus is also a vascular disease from the very beginning. Diabetes patients normally suffer from rapidly advancing arteriosclerosis in their coronary vessels combined with an increased tendency to blood clotting. Factors such as excessive weight, high blood pressure and increased blood fat levels frequently add to the strains on the heart and blood vessels. Due to these factors, a type 2 diabetes patient has the same high cardiovascular
risk as a nondiabetic patient after the first heart attack. “Despite this knowledge, diabetes and heart diseases
are seldom considered in connection with each other, since diabetic patients are normally treated by diabetes specialists and patients suffering from heart disease by cardiologists. Interdisciplinary treatment occurs very rarely,“
says Prof. Wolfgang Kerner, Director of the Clinic for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases in Karlsburg, Vorpommern. At
Klinikum Karlsburg, diabetic patients suffering from heart disease are treated simultaneously by cardiologists and diabetes specialists during their stay. This innovative treatment concept is also promoted and supported by the foundation “Der herzkranke Diabetiker“ (The Cardiac and Diabetic Patient).
The clinic also focuses on treating diabetic children and adolescents. Regardless of the specific disease, children and young people in the clinic are therefore motivated above all to inject themselves with insulin and learn how to live with diabetes. For this reason, parents are also integrated very closely into the therapy. The primary objective in the treatment of diabetic patients at Klinikum Karlsburg is to improve the patient‘s quality of life on a sustained basis. Finally, the treatment of diabetic foot problems is a particular area on which Klinikum Karlsburg specializes. The genesis of diabetic foot problems is very complex, with diabetic neuropathy and arteriosclerosis of the leg vessels being the main causes. The interdisciplinary treatment of this disease aims to avoid amputations and to restore the patient‘s mobility.