An Interview with Prim. MUDr. Ladislav Špišák, CSc — Winner of the ESPA Innovation Award for Innovative Health Spa Programme
Q1: The Diabetes Mellitus+ programme combines continuous glucose monitoring, vascular diagnostics, sleep‑apnoea screening and personalised natural therapies. What were the biggest challenges in integrating digital diabetology into a traditional spa environment, and how did you ensure clinical accuracy and safety?
Karlovy Vary is world famous for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Until the advent of insulin in the 1920s, it was the only treatment option. In the eighties of the last century, it was proven in Karlovy Vary that complex spa treatment combining treatment with natural medicinal sources, especially drinking treatment and baths in Karlovy Vary mineral water with diet therapy, physiotherapy, exercise therapy and education, significantly reduces insulin resistance and thereby improves compensation for type 2 diabetes mellitus and delays the onset of diabetes complications. In the last decade, it has become possible to monitor blood glucose values every five minutes using sensors. This methodology was first used to monitor the health status of type 1 diabetics, and later also type 2 diabetics. It has been proven that determining blood glucose values over several days will reveal low values during the night or after exercise, and conversely high values after a dietary mistake. At the same time, knowledge of values educates the diabetic in proper life management and diet compliance. During the diabetic’s stay, we also investigate sleep apnea, which is often diagnosed in diabetics. We ensure clinical accuracy by using proven laboratory methods. Safety is ensured by the constant control of our patients by medical professionals.
Q2: The mineral water drinking cure has centuries of tradition behind it. Most patients refer to medicine or changes in lifestyle to manage their diabetes. How do you explain to a newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetic why drinking from a spring is part of their treatment plan and the type of benefits it offers?
The best argument is the experience with drinking treatment and the system of complex spa treatment from friends or historically. It is education that plays an important role here. In Karlovy Vary, we were the first in the Czech Republic to introduce a methodology for the education of diabetics by doctors, nutritional therapists and physiotherapists. I have proven that those who are more informed about their disease also have better blood glucose values.
“In Karlovy Vary, we have shown that combining mineral water therapy, diet, exercise, physiotherapy and education can significantly improve diabetes control and delay complications. Today, digital monitoring allows us to personalise this approach more precisely than ever before.”
Ladislav Špišák
Q3: The programme is described as a scalable model for prevention, rehabilitation and healthy ageing. In your view, what makes the Diabetes Mellitus+ concept replicable for other European spa destinations, and what conditions are necessary for this model to succeed elsewhere? Is any part of this programme reimbursable under Czech or other European health systems, and is that something you’re actively pursuing?
The Diabetes Mellitus + program is tailor-made for the Karlovy Vary drinking cure with unique Karlovy Vary hot springs, physiotherapy, outdoor treatments in an ideal therapeutic spa landscape. It is certainly possible to use a similar program in other spa destinations in their own therapeutic and natural conditions. However, it is necessary to carry out appropriate monitoring of diabetics during spa treatment and to derive specific approaches from this.
