Diabetes Basics

What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce enough, or properly respond to, insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas. Since insulin is needed to turn sugar and other food into energy, this condition causes sugar to accumulate in the blood, often leading to various complications.

Types of Diabetes
Type-1: Results from the body’s failure to produce insulin. Presently, almost all persons with Type-1 diabetes must take insulin injections.

Type-2: Results from a condition in which the body fails to use insulin properly, combined with relative insulin deficiency. Many people destined to develop type 2 diabetes spend many years in a state of Pre-diabetes, a condition that occurs when a person’s blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of Type-2 diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes: Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar (glucose) levels during pregnancy are said to have gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes affects about 40 percent of all pregnant women. It may precede development of Type-2 (or rarely Type-1).

Others: Many other forms of diabetes mellitus are categorized separately from these. Examples include congenital diabetes due to genetic defects of insulin secretion, cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, steroid diabetes induced by high doses of glucocorticoids, and several forms of monogenic diabetes.

All forms of diabetes have been treatable since insulin became medically available in 1921.

The Symptoms
Polyuria and polydipsia i.e. frequent urination and increased thirst and consequent increased fluid intake.

1. Weight loss, despite normal or even increased eating

2. Mental Fatigue

3. Blurred vision

Treatment
1. Diabetes mellitus is currently a chronic disease with no cure. But there is an exceptionally important role for patient education, dietetic support, sensible exercise, self monitoring of blood glucose, with the goal of keeping both short-term and long-term blood glucose levels within acceptable bounds.

2. A careful control is needed to reduce the risk of long term complications. This is theoretically achievable with combinations of diet, exercise and weight loss (type-2), various oral diabetic drugs (type-2 only), and insulin use (type-1 and for type-2 not responding to oral medications, mostly those with extended duration diabetes).

3. In addition, given the associated higher risks of cardiovascular disease, lifestyle modifications should be undertaken to control blood pressure and cholesterol by exercising more, smoking less or ideally not at all, consuming an appropriate diet, wearing diabetic socks, wearing diabetic shoes, and if necessary, taking any of several drugs to reduce blood pressure.

4. In addition to the medications, patients are often advised to receive regular consultation from a physician (e.g., at least every three to six months).

5. Oral administration ofaloe vera might be a useful adjunct for lowering blood glucose in diabetic patients as well as for reducing blood lipid levels in patients with hyperlipidaemia.

6. Peer support links people living with diabetes. Within peer support, people with a common illness share knowledge and experience that others, including many health workers, do not have.