Diabetes Mellitus – Types, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment.
What if I say that 2 million people died just because of one disease in 2019 alone, then it must be eye-opener for everybody. 422 million people suffering from this disease (2014) as compared to 108 million in 1980.
This disease is a metabolic disorder know as ‘Diabetes Mellitus ‘.
Overview
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder that prevents the body to utilize glucose completely or partially. It is characterized by raised glucose concentration in the blood and alteration in carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism. Which can be due to less or no formation of insulin.
The body release hormones that raise blood glucose levels to provide a quick source of energy for coping with stress.
Diabetes mellitus is leading cause of death globally (WHO, 2014). In India, it is the 7th cause of early death (2016). Asians have 2-4 times higher risk of type 2 diabetes than Europeans. Between 2000 and 2019, there was a 3% increase in age-standardized mortality rates from diabetes. In lower-middle-countries, the mortality rates due to diabetes increased 13%.
Types of Diabetes
Type 1
Type 1 diabetes mellitus also known as juvenile or childhood onset diabetes, or insulin dependent diabetes.
It is an autoimmune diseases, as a result of an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body.
In type 1 diabetes body’s immune system, which normally helps in fighting infection, attacks and destroys the insulin producing beta cells of pancreas. Aa a result there is little or no production of insulin and hence such individual require daily insulin injections.
Type 2
Type 2 diabetes mellitus, adult onset diabetes is called non-insulin dependent diabetes. It is the most common form of diabetes and develop slowly and is usually milder and more stable. Insulin may be produced by pancreas but action is impaired.
This form occurs mainly in adults and the person is usually overweight or obese.
By far the majority of people world wide have type 2 diabetes mellitus. This is characterized by insulin resistance with relative insulin deficiency.
Symptoms
General symptoms of diabetes includes:
- Fatigue
- Poor vision
- Dehydration
- Weight loss
- Excess urination
- Increased thirst
Diagnosis and treatment
Early diagnosis can be accomplished by testing of blood glucose/ sugar, which is inexpensive way to diagnosis diabetes.
A random blood glucose exceeding 200mg/dl is almost certain to indicate diabetes.
Other than this glucose tolerance test, ketonuria and glycosuria. The unusual amount of ketones and glucose get found in urine.
Treatment
Diabetes can be treated by diet alone or diet and hypoglycemic drug or diets plus insulin depending on the type and severity of the condition. Regular exercise is essential for all diabetics.
- Regulate cholesterol
- Adequate energy and endurance for work performance.
- Control blood pressure (normal Bp is less than 120/80 mmHg).
- Reduction in obesity and maintenance of normal body weight.
- Preventing complication of diabetes (cardiovascular disease, kidney damage, eye damage, nerve damage etc.).
Conclusion
The point of this article is to help the people to know more about the diabetes and it’s type. Sometime Diabetes Mellitus symptoms can be so mild that it would be hard to spot in early stage. If you are suffering from such disease or not, it is always advisable to maintain a healthy lifestyle including healthy body weight, avoiding stress, involving in some sort of sports and games.
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