Overview of gastrointestinal complications of diabetes

Abstract

Introduction: The spectrum of cardiometabolic diseases constitute a serious global health problem. The global prevalence of diabetes, since 1980, has gone from 4.7% to 8.5% in 2010 for the adult population. According to the International Diabetes Federation, in 2019 an estimated 463 million people had diabetes. It is estimated that this figure will increase to 578 million by the year 2030, and 700 million in 2045, behaving like a true pandemic. Gastrointestinal (GI) complications of diabetes are the product of various changes in physiological mechanisms, such as disturbances in the motility of the digestive tract and alterations in the process of absorbing water and electrolytes. Objective: Synthesize the generalities of the gastrointestinal complications of diabetes. Methodology:  Literature review; ScienDirect, Redalyc, SciElo, Lilacs databases were consulted, the scientific production was discriminated based on seniority, giving priority to articles less than 5 years old, presenting a description of the gastrointestinal complications of diabetes and be found in Spanish and English. Conclusions: Gastrointestinal complications associated with diabetes are pathologies that should be the subject of extensive study and knowledge by health personnel, doctors, nurses, and nutritionists, who are at the first level of care to identify and refer to the patients. Work on the prevention of diabetes and promotion of good cardiometabolic control constitutes the cornerstone in terms of complications of this chronic pathology.