Diabetes Mellitus: Causes and Effects - Essay Example

Diabetes Mellitus Nola Waltres Excelsior College Diabetes Mellitus Diabetes Mellitus is a disease associated with obesity and physical inactivity. Also, it is mostly with large preventable risk factors, which get linked to social support and sense of control. The disease is highly prevalent in The United States of America. One has a sense of control when he/ she believe that they have control and be able to shape their life. It also becomes related to locus of control. Having the sense of control provides empowerment to facilitate the health promoting activities into a nice lifestyle, reducing the chance of a person getting Diabetes. Social support is getting support from friends and family who give assistance and comfort. Having the social support can improve the psychological well being of the patient (Schwartz, 2000). The relationship that exists among social support life stress, patient’s locus of control and the blood glucose control become evaluated in individuals with diabetes mellitus, using the objectives measures of the psychosocial variables. Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS) and Glycosylated Hemoglobin (Hgb A-1C) control measures become taken at two regions for them to check the problems of the psychosocial variables on the change in diabetes control. A decrease in the social support leads to the worsening of the long term glycosylated hemoglobin control over time (Hellier, 2009). According to medics, diabetes is a progressive disease that surfaces as impaired glucose intolerance with a high level post meal glucose. These high glucose levels increasingly demand the pancreas to secrete additional insulin leading to a state of hyperinsulinemia. Nevertheless, the body gets resistant to insulin, and it later develops lack of insulin and high fasting glucose levels. This pattern represents Type 2 diabetes. The eventual exhaustion of the islet cells leads to the absolute lack of insulin presenting type 1 diabetes. To patients suffering from diabetes is quite a frightening experience, and the patients require all the physical and emotional support they can receive from their loved ones (Schwartz, 2000). The patients suffering from diabetes often complain of anxiety and fear about the future, experience fluctuations in their moods and find it difficult to cope with their daily lives. They also get tired at times. Depression is another common and dangerous complication witnessed by the people suffering from diabetes. The diabetics with depression posses a high rate of recurrent episodes of depressions in the preceding five years. Depressed persons do not have the motivation to maintain a healthy, diabetic management. Depression also becomes associated with changes in appetite. Also, the suicidal adolescent has access to potentially dangerous doses of insulin (Universitei, 2002). Depression and anxiety can affect other conditions such as headaches and skin diseases. Children whose family members made critical comments to them according to a study done, had small glucose control. The diabetic adolescent has a high incidence of suicidal ideation than normal expectation, and they tend to take poor care of themselves. Treatment of depression and anxiety can lead to a more healthy life (Ellis & Hartley, 2011). Diabetes Mellitus ranks sixth as the leading cause of death in America, accounting for nearly 70000 annual deaths. The diabetes death rates in age standardized adult across the United States range from nearly 2 out of 10000 people in Florida and Arizona to 5 in West Virginia and Columbia. For example, the number of obesity in the Southern States is nearly 60 percent higher than that of Colorado, where the rate of obesity is lowest. This difference is due to the differences in the risk elements of diabetes. There is also the difference across the states in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes among the diabetics (Danaei, 2009). Diabetes can be precipitated by illness or the complete destruction of pancreas like in cancer, or through the surgical removal of the gland. High levels of hormones that usually counteract the insulin effects can lead diabetes. These conditions include Hyperthyroidism and acromegaly (Danaei, 2009). There exists instances where the body needs for insulin are high, and their presence can lead to an underlying tendency for diabetes to occur as the level of insulin produced becomes inadequate. Obesity, on the other hand, makes a number of tissues in the body resistant to the effects of insulin and leads to an increase in the levels of glucose. This, in turn, leads to the increase in the insulin amount needed for the normal blood sugar to be maintained (Lisa, 2010). Diabetes Mellitus gets associated with social factors such as the socio-economic status. Employment status, education, wealth and income impact on the prevalence of diabetes. Genetics and lifestyle are also significant causes of diabetes mellitus. The combination of these factors can lead to insulin resistance, a common cause of type 2 diabetes (Lisa, 2010). Stress and Coping Theory Patients with diabetes are highly encouraged to avoid stressful situations which may lead to behavior that causes blood glucose level to be altered. Under stress, patients may forget to take care of themselves by not exercising, take medication while others skip meals (Krohne, 2002). This eventually causes the blood sugar to rise abnormally higher due to the body not being able to produce enough insulin needed for its activities. Coping with the disease with a disease can be an easy task when one has support from family and friends. Children newly diagnosed with diabetes can be a major stressor of things than an adult with the same disease. Coping with children with the disease can be difficult for the child and the parents as it requires a lot of effort and time to manage the disease especially in the beginning (Greca, 1992). Diabetes affects a child’s emotions as poorly controlled blood glucose can affect the child’s behaviors such as irritability. Male and female copes with diabetes differently explained by different hormones in their bodies’ example Oxytocin, cortisol and epinephrine play a crucial role while dealing with diabetes stress. Under stress pressure the three hormones raise a person’s blood pressure thus lowering their immune system effectiveness (Clarkson, 2008). Women produce more of these hormones than male which makes them more emotional. Men secrete hormone Oxytocin at smaller amounts than women when stressed which makes it easier to control diabetes. The highest populations with diabetes are the Indians and the Americans in the world. Lifestyle changes in these two continents majorly affect mental stress which manages blood glucose levels. Majority of the Indians and Americans are affected by obesity due to poor eating habits and lack of regular exercise. Spiritual backgrounds and practices are believed to have positive effects on peoples life thus may contribute to less stressing life by having broadened mindsets, positive emotions that eventually nurtures good health and well being (Lee, 2005). Being religious helps the overall behavior of a person even with other major diseases like cancer and AIDS. Thus diabetes patients are encouraged to participate in religious activities that may lower their stress levels. From the different theories that can be used to describe the condition of people living with diabetes, it is evident that the stress and coping theory is the most important. The people afflicted with the disease have no option but to live to their best with thin condition, since the lack of a definitive cure cannot be reversed. The two parts of the theory, stress and coping are described differently for different individuals. Type-2 diabetes is an increasingly prevalent disease in the world and research indicates that though the complications and symptoms of the disease are recognized, treatment has remained a challenge. The main problem with diabetes treatment is that the patient will have to adjust to new diets, complicated treatment strategies and cost problems in treatment. The main treatment strategy for diabetes is use of insulin regimens, and the main chronic disease self management practice is dietary discipline. Type-two diabetes is an insulin related affliction; therefore, patients are advised to stick to strict insulin regiments that help in fighting the disease (Charbonnel et al, 2011). Insulin treatment is used to treat both the symptoms of the disease and reduce the onset of the disease until later life. In this case, insulin treatment is used for diabetic individuals of all ages, since it helps in reducing or managing the sugar levels at appropriate levels in the body. The main resources available for diabetic individuals who need to start the medication include numerous health facilities that offer all the options needed. The decision-making process for diabetic individuals can be a hard process, and some of the resources available include the information available on the disease. With the wide availability of information on the disease available, the patient is able to decide on the treatment regiments for that they would want to use. This is because the disease has been studied enough to determine what treatment regiments are suitable for each individual and at what costs. This means that the patient is allowed to choose the insulin regiments needed and with enough advice from doctors, the disease is easily managed. Dietary management is also an important part of the treatment process that the individual is supposed to follow (Ebenezer et al, 2010). The main dietary rule for people with diabetes is that they are supposed to have a diet high in nutrients, low in fat and have a moderate amount of calories. For example, individuals are advised to chose high-fiber, slow release carbs like brown rice over white rice and avoid too much intake of sugary foods. The patients are also advised to utilize low starch diets and foods with health fats. As is evident from the insulin treatments and diet changes, the costs related with diabetes management increase exponentially. This means that the treatment process is also a costly process, which is one of the main challenges faced in treating diabetes (Franciosi et al, 2012). In diabetes management, it should be understood that the costs involved are sometimes very high, and for some individuals, this proves to be the biggest challenge. The treatment process requires a lot of medical discipline, dietary care and coping with stigma arising from the disease, so individuals face these challenges. For example, the main dietary challenge that individuals face is sticking to a different diet from that used to having. In this case, the challenge is aggravated by the fact that other individuals get to stick to their normal diets. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that affects a person’s blood sugar regulation because cells are not responding to insulin produced or there is not enough production of the same (Casey, 2011). This disease can affect both children and adults but the most affected are individuals over the age of 45. According to AHRQ (2012), the most affected groups in the United States are the Minorities, especially the Hispanic community followed by individuals of Black-American origin. The individuals most affected are usually above the age of 45, since their lifestyles are not as good as younger individuals. From the statistics presented by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, it is also evident that the minorities that are exposed to diabetes have the high prevalence due to their lifestyles. Diabetes continues to be a disease that has social stigma to those suffering from it as it demands a lot of energy and time and it has long time complications to an individual’s body (Hall, 2011). Diabetes also happens to be a very physical disease that affects major organs in the body. Obese people tend to be more vulnerable to having this disease than healthy people and they struggle to manage this disease in all ways they can. This is mostly caused by the lifestyle these people live, for example, the kind of food they eat such as a diet higher in total calories and fat and lower in fiber, lack of exercise and stress which makes them more vulnerable than others. Casey (2011), states that the factors that determines the outcome of the disease and the final effect that it has on the individual include the lifestyles that the individuals live and the social stigma that the patients undergo. In defining the lifestyles that many patients live in, it is important to mention the economic variable. AHRQ (2012) mentions that, in minority groups, economic barriers and the cultural difference plays an important role in determining the outcome of the treatment that patients are given. Some patients usually face a lot of economic barriers that prevent them from getting insulin treatment and they sometimes do not place their own medical needs before those of family members. Other variables that determine the outcome of the disease include distrust for medical personnel and preferences for other remedies (Fain, 2009). However, one of the most important variables in the management of the disease is the social stigma that the patients face. According to the Center for Disease Control, the social stigma that affects people living with diabetes increases the mortality from the disease (Tessaro, Smith and Rye, 2005). This means that the stigma associated with the disease works negatively in helping in treating it. The impact of stigma on the progression and treatment of Type 2 diabetes is usually increased in regions where individuals have low access to public education and sensitization. Coupled with the economic disparities in the people in these regions, the resultant chronic disease self-management programs are severely impaired. This indicates that social stigma plays one of the biggest roles in determining the outcome of the disease in individuals (Nazarko, 2009). In any situation, social stigma is usually expressed in different ways, and for the diabetic situation, it is not surprising that the social stigma is completely misdirected. According to Nazarko (2009), most people do not understand diabetes, so individuals with the disease are seen to have brought the disease on themselves because of their diet. The society tends to consider the cause of diabetes to be solely the patient’s problem, so the stigma is directed at the patient. The stigma is usually centered on the patient, mainly because they are thought to have caused the disease through their own diet, and for obese individuals, the stigma is radically increased. Obese people with diabetes are viewed differently because the society mostly blames them for wrong dietary intake. Diseases like diabetes may not only disturb the patient, but also the family of the patient. Therefore, it is highly essential for the family to help the patient deal with this chronic illness in an effective and easy-going manner. The first adjustment that is made by the family of a diabetic patient is lifestyle modification. The alteration includes changing in the diet. As a lot of sugar usage in everyday life can function as poison for the diabetic person, hence, the whole of the family will have to avoid foods that possess too much sugar. Though it might be resentful for a majority of the members of the family in the beginning, yet, it is beneficial, not only for the patient, but also other members to intake healthy food. Moreover, it will help the patient to refrain from sweet things in a much easier way and will not make him or her feel sick or different from the rest of the family (Albarran, Ballesteros, Morales and Ortega, 2006). Changes in the physical activities are also an important part of the lifestyle modifications. This adjustment will in addition have to be made by the family of the patient. Sedentary activities will have to be replaced by healthier and vital enjoyments such as going on a walk instead of going to the cinema (Spero, 2012). When a person becomes diabetic, his or her reaction to the news of the disease depends quite a lot upon the reaction of the other family members. Certainly, every single member of the family is beloved and therefore, when one member becomes diabetic, others will be worried. Thus, it is natural for the family to react in a tensed and shocked way. However, this is harmful for the diabetic. The family should control their emotions and behave ordinarily so that the patient may also live a common life. The family members no doubt will act normally in front of the patient but in reality, will be extremely tensed about their diabetic beloved and will care and be over possessive throughout the life; which may lead the whole family into emotional stress (Live strong, 2010). Diabetes also affects the relationships. Many times it makes the diabetic patient weak and may cause irritations in nature and short tempers without any particular reason. At such times, the other members of the family are bound to remain calm, patient and understanding. It may also have an impact on the sex-life, as diabetic patients may find difficulty during sex (Dasgupta, 2008). Researchers have shown that diabetes cannot be transmitted, but can be inherited. So, the offspring of the diabetic people should understand the problems caused by diabetes and may adopt a healthy diet from the very beginning to reduce the susceptibility of causing diabetes (Everett, 2011). Financial implication has always been a major issue for the family members of the one suffering from chronic illness. The medication of these patients is life-long and may cause a monetary burden on the families which cannot afford much. Impatient family members may sometimes grudge in front of their diabetic kin and might spoil the relation and make the patient feel bad (Ince, n.d.). The families of patients consisting of chronic illness such as diabetes on insulin are responsible to fulfil particular societal expectations. Nowadays, the society expects maximum efforts from the family of the prolonged illness patient. It is believed that the family plays a vital role in helping the patient. As chronic illness is usually not cured, for that reason, the family caregivers make specific changes in the lifestyle, in order to manage the disease and not let it worsen. They may find it difficult to adjust to unusual sort of lifestyle and even more challenging to make the patient adapt it, without making the patient feel different. Another social expectation can be that many societies may want the family caregivers to treat the chronic illness person in a usual way. In this case, the society might become careless in treating the patient and may compel him or her to eat non-healthy food or perform an exciting and tiring physical activity which may cause harm to the patient. Consequently, the patient (especially children) will start to enjoy among other people in the society and will offend the care and concern of the family caregivers. The caregivers will then face a tough time in handling the rude and insulting behavior of the patient and will start to adapt patience while dealing with the chronic illness person (Lawrence, Tierney, McPhee and Papadakis, 2005). After the analysis of diabetes mellitus, it is evident that the community can be used as an effective means of managing the disease. Positive adaptation to diabetes mellitus is usually determined by the level of support that a patient receives and the social stigma faced in the community. This means that the community can promote adaptation to the illness by helping the individual relate with the disease, offer support during medication, and try to understand the disease. Conversely, the community can hinder adaptation to the disease by engaging in the stigma mentioned above. One of the best ways of managing stigma in relation to type two diabetes mellitus is through the promotion of public initiatives to sensitize the population on the stigma. One of the recommended community level interventions is national action to address the environmental factors that affect the prevalence of the disease, behavioral intervention to support the individuals and helping the individuals understand the disease. In conclusion, it is evident that diabetes mellitus is a disease that affects both an individual and the society. This paper has discussed the prevalence of the disease, its treatment, the most affected social groups, the stigma associated with the disease, and ways o coping with the stress. More research should be conducted on these factors so that the disease can be better understood. References Danaei, G. (2009). Diabetes prevalence and diagnosis in US states: analysis of health Surveys. Population Health Metrics, 15. Ellis J. & Hartley, C. (2011). Nursing in Todays World; Trends, Issues and Management. Philadelphia: Williams and Wilkins. Hellier, S. (2009). March Madness. International Journal of Nursing, 11-12. Lisa, M. (2010). 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