Managing Endocrine Disorders: Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus - Essay Example

"Managing Endocrine Disorders: Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus" is a worthy example of a paper on diabetes mellitus.
Diabetes mellitus is a lifelong, chronic ailment that has an impact on the body’s aptitude to use energy that is available in food. There are dissimilar categories of diabetes, but I am going to discuss Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus. This diabetes develops due to the body’s incapability to manufacture insulin because of the autoimmune damage to the beta cells which is situated in the pancreas (Atkinson, Eisenbarth, & Michels, 2014).

The commencement of this diabetes mainly happens in infancy. The type of medications used by the patient to treat type 1 diabetes mellitus is Lantus Subcutaneous. One cannot use two medications at the same time when treating the disease. Since all medications serve the same purpose of controlling the sugar levels in the blood. Lantus subcutaneous is used alongside a healthy diet and a lot of exercises, this serves as a program in controlling the high levels of sugar in the blood. This drug is a long-acting, synthetic brand of insulin that is alike to insulin present in humans. The drug commences treatment more slowly, but its advantage is that it stays for long in the human body than the common insulin. It substitutes the insulin that is no longer manufactured by the body, hence lowering the sugar levels in the blood. This helps to avoid loss of limbs, nerve complications, sexual function difficulties, kidney damage, and blindness. Additionally, proper treatment lessens the risk of stroke and heart disease (Haller, Atkinson, & Schatz, 2005).

The main aim of lab testing for type 1 diabetes is to screen if the blood sugar levels are high, to control and monitor the levels of sugar over time, monitor and detect complications and to identify and treat pre-diabetes and diabetes. Patients with type 1 diabetes monitor some tests like their blood sugar levels, which is done numerous times during the daytime. This is done so as to know how far below or above normal their sugar is, and they should take medications according to the prescriptions of their healthcare provider. Secondly, it is the A1C and expected usual glucose, this is a calculation and test that are ordered multiple times in a year so as to monitor the ailment and also sometimes individuals with pre-diabetes. A1C test measures the average quantity of sugar in the blood over the past three months and aids a healthcare provider on how best a treatment plan is operational in helping to control an individual’s glucose level in the blood (Lernmark & Larsson, 2013).

The normal levels of sugar in the blood vary. For instance, in normal fasting where you stay without for eight hours, the normal blood sugar level is 70 and 99 mg/dL. Moreover, two hours after eating the normal blood sugar level is less than 140 mg/dL. The medicine is adjusted with fluctuating blood sugar levels. In case the blood sugar is high, an increase in the dose of insulin is administered and in case the level of glucose in the blood is low, the dosage is reduced. In severe cases of hypoglycemia, dextrose is administered intravenously to increase the blood sugar levels to normal levels (Karch, 2013).