Diabetes is a disorder that results from the body’s inability to regulate blood sugar or due to the reduced sensitivity of cells to insulin. If left untreated, it can lead in chronic and severe diseases such as kidney failure.
Diabetes affects approximately 29 million people in the United States while another 86 million have prediabetes. An estimated 8 million people in the United States have diabetes and do not even know it. Over time, diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, and nerve damage. These types of damage are the result of damage to small vessels, referred to as a microvascular disease. Diabetes is also an important factor in accelerating the hardening and narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis), leading to strokes, coronary heart disease, and other large blood vessel diseases. This is referred to as a macrovascular disease.
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The most common type of diabetes is type 2; nevertheless, it would be a mistake to assume that type 1 and gestational diabetes lack severity. Currently, 8 million people are estimated to suffer from diabetes and are unaware. The following are some shared and other distinctive characteristics of diabetes.
- Increased thirst
- Increased hunger (especially after eating)
- Dry mouth
- Frequent urination
- Unexplained weight loss (even though you are eating and feel hungry)
- Fatigue (weak, tired feeling)
- Blurred vision
- Loss of consciousness (rare)
- Recurring Slow-healing sores or cuts
- Itching of the skin (usually around the vaginal or groin area)
- Frequent yeast infections
- Recent weight gain
- Velvety dark skin changes of the neck, armpit, and groin, called acanthosis nigricans
- Numbness and tingling of the hands and feet
- Decreased vision
- Sexual dysfunction, such as erectile dysfunction in men
Diabetes affects every part of the body dependent on the intake of sugars from the blood into the cells for energy production. Therefore, some of the primary symptoms are blurred vision, headaches, and sexual dysfunction. Insulin is produced in the pancreas to control the levels of glucose in the blood. If the sugar levels are above normal, then insulin is released to stimulate intake of sugar into cells and reduce its levels in plasma. If the blood sugar is below normal, then the pancreas ceases to produce insulin. Some individuals are at a greater risk of getting diabetes than others due to some factors such as genetics. Usually, a combination of things cause type 2 diabetes, including:
Scientists have found different bits of DNA that affect how your body makes insulin.
- Extra weight
Being overweight or obese can cause insulin resistance, especially if you carry your extra pounds around the middle. Now type 2 diabetes affects kids and teens as well as adults, mainly because of childhood obesity.
- Metabolic Syndrome
People with insulin resistance often have a group of conditions including high blood glucose, extra fat around the waist, high, and high cholesterol and triglycerides.
- Too much glucose from your liver
When your blood sugar is low, your liver makes and sends out glucose. After you eat, your blood sugar goes up, and usually the liver will slow down and store its glucose for later. However, some people’s livers do not. They keep cranking out sugar.
- Bad communication between cells
Sometimes cells send the wrong signals or do not pick up messages correctly. When these problems affect how your cells make and use insulin or glucose, a chain reaction can lead to diabetes.
- Broken beta cells
If the cells that make the insulin send out the wrong amount of insulin at the wrong time, your blood sugar is thrown off. High blood glucose can damage these cells, too.
In some cases, beta cells of the pancreas are destroyed by a virus, bacteria, or an autoimmune disease. Beta cells produce insulin; their destruction means little or no production of insulin for blood glucose control, which will lead to diabetes. Luckily, developments in diabetes research have led to the introduction of some of the best methods of control and treatment of various types of diabetes.
The primary goal of treating type 1 and type 2 diabetes is to control blood sugar (glucose) levels within the normal range, with minimal excursions to low or high levels.
1.Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is treated with:
- exercise, and a
- diabetic diet
2.Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is treated:
- First with weight reduction, a diabetic diet, and exercise
- Oral medications are prescribed when these measures fail to control the elevated blood sugars of type 2 diabetes.
- If oral medications become ineffective treatment with insulin is initiated.