Type 2 diabetes affects more and more people every year. This condition
is considered a group of disorders with a variety of causes, rather than
just a single disorder. The human pancreas secretes a hormone called
insulin that facilitates the entry of the sugar into all tissues of the
body, providing energy for bodily activities. For a person living with
diabetes, the entry of glucose is impaired, a result either of a
deficiency in the amount of insulin produced or of a blocking of its
action.
In Type I diabetes, the problem is almost always a severe or total
reduction in insulin production. If untreated, this type of diabetes can
be quickly fatal. It is typically accompanied with extreme thirst,
weight loss and fatigue. In type II diabetes, the pancreas often makes a
considerable quantity of insulin but the hormone is unable to promote
the entry of glucose into tissues. For some people, this resistance is
due to prolonged obesity, and for others the problem can simply be
hereditary.
In both forms of diabetes, moderately elevated blood sugar levels for
many years can eventually cause kidney disease, eye complications due to
ruptured blood vessels in the eyes, reduction of blood flow to the
limbs which can cause a numbness or loss of sensation. This disease is
known as diabetic nephrology, and it feels like, or in this case does
not feel like a loss of any sensation, and this causes foot problems in
the diabetic, which if left untreated can sometimes results in
amputation. People with diabetes are also at an increased risk of heart
attack and stroke.
For the Type I or Type II diabetic, with little or no insulin
production, therapy involves insulin injections and changes in diet. The
diet requires distributing meals and snacks throughout the day so that
the food contains polysaccharides rather than simple sugars. For Type II
diabetics, most of whom are at least moderately overweight, the basics
of therapy are diet control, weight reduction and exercise. Weight
reduction appears to partially reverse the condition of insulin
resistance in the tissues. If a patients blood sugar level is still
high, the physician may add insulin injections.
With adequate treatment, a change of diet and the introduction of
exercise, most diabetics maintain blood sugar levels within normal or
nearly normal range. This enables them to live normal lives and prevents
long-term consequences of the disease.
No comments:
Post a Comment