What is diabetes?
Diabetes means your blood glucose (often called blood sugar) is too high. Your blood always has some sugar in it because your body needs sugar for energy to keep you going. But too much sugar (glucose) in the blood is not good for your health.
Glucose (sugar) comes from the food we eat and is also made in our liver and muscles. The blood carries the glucose to all the cells in the body.
Insulin is a chemical (a hormone) made by the pancreas (a gland). The pancreas releases insulin into the blood. Insulin helps the glucose from food get into your cells.
If the body doesn’t make enough insulin, or if the insulin does not work the way it should, the glucose cannot enter into your cells. It stays in your blood instead. The blood glucose level then gets too high, causing diabetes.
Types of diabetes
The three main types of diabetes are type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes
Formally called juvenile diabetes or insulin dependant diabetes, it is usually diagnosed in children, teenagers or young adults. In this form of diabetes, the pancreas no longer makes insulin because the body’s immune system has destroyed certain cells in the pancreas.
Treatment for type 1 diabetes includes taking insulin injections, a healthy diabetic diet, regular exercise and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol.
Type 2 diabetes
Formally called Adult Onset or non-insulin dependant diabetes, this is the most common form of diabetes. Most patients are over 40 years of age at presentation, and males predominate. There is, however, a worrying trend of type 2 diabetes occurring more commonly in younger patients, owing mainly to the rising prevalence of obesity.
This form of diabetes usually begins with insulin resistance, a condition in which fat, muscle and liver cells do not use insulin properly. At first, the pancreas keeps up with the added demand by producing more insulin. In time, however, it loses the ability to secrete enough insulin in response to meals. People who are inactive and overweight are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. Treatment includes diabetes medicines, making wise food choices, exercising regularly and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol.
Gestational diabetes (Diabetes in pregnancy)
Some women develop diabetes in the latter half of pregnancy. This form of diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born, but a woman who has had gestational diabetes is more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life. Gestational diabetes is caused by the hormones of pregnancy that break down insulin.
Pre-diabetes – Means having higher blood glucose than normal but lower than the diabetic range. People who are pre-diabetic are at risk for getting type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The risk of developing diabetes can be reduced by losing weight and increasing physical activity.
Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes
Many people have type 2 diabetes and do not know it. Many persons have no signs or symptoms, or symptoms may be so mild that they may go unnoticed.
The symptoms include
– Increased thirst
– Increased hunger
– Tiredness
– Increased urination, especially at night
– Unexplained weight loss
– Blurred vision
– Sores that do not heal
Many people do not find out that they have the disease until they have complications of diabetes such as blurred vision or heart disease.
If you can find out early that you have diabetes, then you can get treated to prevent complications.
Who should be tested for diabetes?
– Anyone 45 years or older
– Overweight individuals
– Persons who have one or more of the risk factors
Risks factors for diabetes
1. Family history of diabetes – parent, brother or sister with diabetes
2. Certain ethnic groups – such as people of Indian origin in Guyana
3. History of diabetes in pregnancy or giving birth to at least one baby weighing more than 9 pounds.
4. High blood pressure – currently
5. High cholesterol levels – currently
6. Low levels of activity – less than three times per week of exercise
7. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in women
8. History of heart disease
The more the number of risk factors, the higher the risk of having diabetes.
Reducing the risk of diabetes
A lot can be done to reduce the chances of getting diabetes:
– Regular exercise
– Reducing fat calorie intake and losing weight
– Alongside the above measures one should also try to maintain normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Controlling your diabetes will make you feel better and can lower your chances of complications such as:
– Heart Disease
– Stroke
– Eye disease that can lead to impaired vision or even blindness
– Nerve damage that can cause a loss of feeling or pain in the hands, feet, legs or other parts of the body and lead to problems such as lower limb amputation or erectile dysfunction (impotence)
– Kidney failure
– Gum disease and loss of teeth
The more one knows about diabetes, the better one can manage the disease and reduce the risk for complications.
In conclusion, as with all other medical disorders, the emphasis today is on the prevention of diabetes by an active lifestyle, maintaining a body weight within the normal range and a diet low in refined carbohydrates and high in healthy fats such as olive oil, lean meat and complex carbohydrates.
Some of the cases may not be entirely preventable, such as Juvenile Diabetes. In such cases one needs to take regular treatment and avoid complications by maintaining blood sugars within the normal range. Even those individuals who do develop the disease can keep their risk of complications at the minimum by adopting healthy lifestyle changes and following their physician’s instructions.
