Diabetes

Overview

Diabetes is a long-term metabolic condition where the body doesn’t produce enough insulin, affecting various parts of the body, including the kidneys. It is a complex and chronic problem with multiple forms, the most common being Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes encompasses several diseases that involve issues with the hormone insulin, and currently, there is no cure for it.

What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a condition characterized by high blood sugar (glucose) levels. It develops when the pancreas either doesn't produce enough insulin, doesn't produce any insulin at all, or when the body doesn't respond properly to insulin, a condition known as insulin resistance.

Diabetes occurs under the following circumstances:

• The pancreas does not produce any insulin.
• The pancreas produces very little insulin.
• The body does not respond appropriately to insulin (insulin resistance).

To understand why insulin is important in diabetes, it helps to know more about how the body functions so after every meal, food is broken down into small sugar molecules called glucose and glucose travels through the intestines into the blood and is further carried out to all parts of the body. Since, we all know glucose gives us immense energy to perform our daily and routine tasks, there are some parts of the body that needs immediate help in absorbing the glucose molecules and a special hormone is required for this process called as insulin.

This special hormone is circulated in the blood with glucose to the cells that need help. When the body start developing resistance to insulin by increasing amounts. It turns out to be necessary for it to be able to utilize glucose. During insulin resistance, the pancreas will work overtime to produce more insulin to carry out everyday tasks. Along with insulin resistance markers, the affected body shows mandatory risk of developing diabetes. Huge amount of insulin in the blood also affects the production of lipids and lipoproteins. Individuals affected with diabetes are prone to lose their vision and feeling in the limbs.

Types of Diabetes
There are two main types of Diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes
In this type, your body doesn't produce enough insulin. It is typically diagnosed in children and young adults, but it can occur at any age. Managing Type 1 diabetes requires daily insulin injections.

Type 2 diabetes
This is the most common form of diabetes and occurs when your body doesn't use insulin properly. The risk of developing Type 2 diabetes increases if you are overweight or obese, or if you have a family history of the condition.

Type 1.5 diabetes
This type kind of diabetes is a hybrid of type 1 and type 2. An autoimmune disorder, also known as LADA (Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults). It is frequently confused with type 2 diabetes. Type 1.5 may occur when the pancreatic cells that produce insulin are attacked by the immune system. In this kind, genetics has the most influence.

Gestational diabetes
This type of diabetes usually occurs during pregnancy and it increases the risk of complications for both mother and the baby. A special hormone is produced by placenta which makes the pregnant person’s cells less sensitive to the effects of insulin. This can result in high blood sugar level. It typically happens in the second or third trimester of pregnancy and its treatment involves oral medication or insulin.

Prediabetes
This type of diabetes occurs when your blood- sugar level is higher than it should be. Exercising and losing extra weight can help preventing the risks of prediabetes. Its treatment includes: modification in the diet and certain changes in the lifestyle.

The determination of the types is necessary for doctors to prescribe suitable medications to the individuals. The customization of the treatments is the right approach and the identification of triggers will be the best information for the individuals, so that they can stay away from triggers to prevent any attacks. Severity of diabetes must be kept under immediate consideration to provide effective treatment for the betterment of an individual.

Symptoms of Diabetes

Symptoms may vary depending on the type of diabetes. Common symptoms associated with type 1 and type 2 diabetes are:

• Unexpected weight loss
• Frequent urination
• Increased hunger
• Massive fatigue
• Blurry vision
• Slow- healing sores
• Extreme mood swings
• Presence of ketones in urine
• Dry mouth and itchy skin
• Yeast infection
• Pain or numbness in your feet or legs

Causes of Diabetes

Different set of causes are associated with each type of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes: The exact cause of this type of diabetes is not discovered yet but it is believed that insulin producing cells in the pancreas are attacked and mistakenly destroyed by the immune system. It is an autoimmune reaction which may get triggered by genetics and environmental factors.

Type 2 diabetes: Characterized by insulin resistance, pancreas release a special hormone called as insulin to help your body use and store sugar from the food. How diabetes occurs? Pancreas doesn’t make insulin at all or maybe make very little insulin and the body cells don’t respond effectively to the insulin.

Type 1.5 diabetes: This type of diabetes is a mixture of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Also referred as LADA, it’s an autoimmune disease. It is often misunderstood as type 2 diabetes. Type 1.5 can get triggered when the anti- bodies attack insulin- producing cells in the pancreas. Genetic factor has a biggest role to play in this type.

Gestational diabetes: This type of diabetes occurs during pregnancy when the body undergoes massive hormonal changes. The hormones from placenta affect insulin’s functioning, in the last stages of pregnancy. That is why, pregnant mothers are tested regularly for gestational diabetes.

Tests and Treatments for Diabetes

Diagnosis of diabetes typically starts with one of three tests. If a test result is high, your doctor will generally repeat the test to confirm the diagnosis. These tests can measure your blood glucose level:

Fasting blood sugar test: This test is conducted after an individual has fasted for 8 hours. This test is performed to detect diabetes or prediabetes.

Random blood sugar test: Doctor will perform the test involving checking of the blood sugar levels at any time, irrespective of what the individual last ate.

A1C test: This type of test is performed to measure the average blood glucose levels over the past 2-3 months.

Oral glucose tolerance test: This test is conducted when an individual goes on without eating for 8 hours and 2 hours after you drink a glucose beverage. This test is also recommended to determine diabetes.

Early diagnosis is recommended and advised to curb the problem of diabetes. Doctors may prescribe various medications for individuals as well; Individuals are supposed to undergo these tests associated with diabetes for accurate reading and treatment accordingly if an individual is tested positive for diabetes

Common treatments for all types of diabetes include:

Type 1 diabetes

• Healthy diet
• Monitoring your blood sugar level
• Regular exercise
• Insulin therapy

Type 2 diabetes

• Oral medications
• Insulin therapy
• Injectable medication
• Lifestyle modifications

Gestational diabetes

• Healthy diet
• Blood sugar monitoring
• Physical exercise
• Insulin therapy

Note: Take extra care of your feet during diabetes to prevent extra swelling and complications.

Prevention for Diabetes

Preventing diabetes comes with a proper set of rule book. The bare minimum you can do to keep your diabetes under control is adopting a healthy lifestyle and make changes in the current scenario. Some key preventions include:

Maintain a healthy diet: Consume balanced diet rich in vegetables, fruits, grains and cut off saturated fats out of your diet.

Maintain a healthy weight: Reduce extra pounds and inches as excess weight is a major risk factor for diabetes. Eat smaller portions for weight loss.

Physical exercise: Regular exercising such as walking, cycling, and swimming can reduce the risk of diabetes and 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week is recommended for quick results.

These preventives can help in reducing the risk of diabetes since type 1 and type 1.5 can’t be controlled and managed as it’s caused by some issues in the immune system but type 2 diabetes can be prevented by adhering to these measures.

FAQs