Pathophysiology of Diabetes - Essay Example

"Pathophysiology of Diabetes" is an outstanding example of a paper on diabetes mellitus.
Diabetes is a physiological disease that develops due to the lack or insufficient production of insulin by the beta cells of the pancreas. Insulin is a body hormone that regulates as well as facilitates uptake and distribution of glucose into the body cells excluding the cells of the central nervous system (O’neill et al., 2010). Insulin performs its functions by converting glucose molecules into glycogen stored in the liver and body muscles for future use. Insufficient or defective insulin that does not respond to sugar production hampers the supply and absorption of glucose in the body cells or storage of the sugar in the liver or muscles. The resultant effect of insulin deficiency is persistently high blood glucose and improper synthesis of proteins.

Symptoms and Signs of Diabetes

There are various signs and symptoms attributed to diabetes. One of the symptoms includes increased hunger. Hunger increases due to a lack of sufficient insulin to convert sugar molecules into energy to empower the body cells (King, 1999). Insufficient energy in the body cells also leads to lower energy concentration in the body muscles thus increasing hunger. Another symptom of diabetes involves frequent urination and increased thirst. These occur because of the accumulation of excess sugar in the bloodstream. The varied diffusion gradient then leads to the draining of water molecules from the body tissues into the blood and leaving the patient thirsty. It is due to increased thirst that the given patient drinks a lot of water, which in turn leads to excess or unusually urination.

Diabetes also results in blurred vision in the patient. This occurs due to high blood sugar levels that lead to the drawing of water molecules from the eye lenses, affecting vision. If this symptom goes untreated, it can lead to blindness or total vision impairment.  The signs of diabetes also involve unusual loss of body weight. This occurs due to a shortage of insulin to help convert sugar into energy. When this happens, the body will strive to gather energy by forcing dissociation of other sources that include fats and muscle tissues. An additional sign of diabetes involves tingling or numbness of feet and hands. Rajpathak (2011) clarifies that this results due to an increase in blood sugar that may damage the blood vessels and their complimentary nervous system. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of diabetes may include redness in the gums or pulling away and swelling of the gums. A diabetic patient will also suffer from frequent skin and yeast infections. This manifests due to the accumulation of blood sugar that also tends to lower the immune system of the body to that can facilitate quick recovery.