[Chronic illnesses and education. Diabetes mellitus as a paradigm].

The purpose of this essay is to controvert ideas that prevail about chronic illnesses, using type 2 diabetes mellitus as an example, and to propose another way of thinking, perceiving, and acting towards them. Initially the dominant vision of the disease as a deviation from the health path is confronted with another one that considers it as a specific way of being of certain groups of persons. It brings out how the idea of deviation, when favoring the technical aspects of medical practice, often compares the organism with a machine. On the other hand, the idea of disease as a way of being when rescuing the most distinctive qualities of life, allows a more penetrating understanding of the patient and his illness. Trying to overcome the limitations that the notion of natural history of disease impose, the concept of cultural history of disease is proposed, showing how culture has a determining role in the expression of illnesses. The role and type of education within the strategies of health care in chronic diseases are discussed. Participatory education--particularly in the therapeutic communities of patients--is proposed as the most powerful resource to bring the patient closer to better life circumstances and healthier habits that allow the self-control of the illness.