Factors Leading to Loss of Pancreatic Functions - Assignment Example

Type two diabetes entails a situation where the pancreas is at the stake of insulin production, yet the body due to resistance does not detect the insulin produced, or the insulin produced is too little to create a wave of effect. Type one diabetes occurs when the body totally fails to produce insulin; hence, one remains entirely dependent upon artificial insulin.

Several factors lead to the impaired functioning of the pancreatic beta cells in diabetes. Autoimmunity remains a threatening causative factor of the condition. With reference to this, the body’s immune system mistakes the pancreatic cells as foreign bodies or cells that are on the verge of bringing destruction to the body. Therefore, they form antibodies against them and destroy them. What triggers such a reaction is quite unknown, although viral infection is believed to be a triggering cause. Autoimmunity issue is also likely to run in families as an inherited condition. A client in such a situation necessitates having a daily dosage of insulin for ultimate survival (Shaw & Tanamas, 2012).
Eating a healthy balanced diet together with regular exercise forms a good mechanism for diabetes prevention. Age factor does slow down the insulin production process, and the body becomes at risk of experiencing insulin resistance.

Genetics is another risk factor likely to lead to the surge of the condition, especially type two diabetes. A person with a close relative having the condition is at immense risk of inheriting the condition too. Genes are the components that carry instructional materials from parents to the offspring (Speight, Conn, Dunning, & Skinner, 2012). They contain the essential proteins that are vital for the body's functioning. Gene variants do affect less than one percent of the total population. Human Leucocyte Antigen found in white blood cells has a close link to the development of type 1 diabetes.

Obesity or overweight people do release chemicals in their bodies, and such chemicals can disturb the cardiovascular and endocrine systems. It also increases the risks of developing coronary heart disease and cancer, as the body cells will respond to the chemicals immediately. The chemicals also do alert the production of insulin. Those people whose fat storage areas are in the abdomen than in the other body parts such as the thighs fall at a higher risk due to the continuous release of chemical sand proximity of the abdomen to the pancreas (Reddy et al., 2011).
Environmental factors such as a different variety of foods, occupational areas toxins and viruses also trigger the destruction of the beta cells. Varieties of research do relate the environmental factors with the autoimmune destruction of the cells. People with Viral infections such as cytomegalovirus, adenovirus and mumps are also susceptible to the condition.

Another major factor that may pose a risk in triggering the condition includes aspects of ethnicity and medical conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome and hypertension. The two medical conditions escalate the risk of diabetes. With reference to ethnicity, non-whites are more prone to diabetes than whites. The South Asians, the African Americans and the Hispanic Americans form a most at-risk group (Lee et al., 2013).
Diabetic medications
Injectable
Regular insulin can be classified under short-acting soluble and crystalline zinc insulin, which has been, manufactured from the recombinant DNA techniques. Once a diabetic client is injected, regular insulin commences its effect in the body system within thirty minutes. The insulin molecules are diluted in the interstitial fluid to enable its transportation across the vascular endothelium. The peak effect is achieved within the duration of 2-3 hours immediately after the subcutaneous injection of the drug. Administration at mealtime causes an increase in the risks of late postprandial hypoglycemia; therefore, it should be injected at least 30-45 minutes prior to meals. Short-acting insulin remains a great choice for a diabetic patient who is on diabetic ketoacidosis. It can also be administered intravenously. Essentially, it seeks to correct post-prandial hyperglycemia (Shaw & Tanamas, 2012).
Oral
Metformin
Metformin is classified under biguanides. Upon administration, they do reduce hepatic and renal gluconeogenesis to great levels; they slow down the rate of glucose absorption from the gastrointestinal tract, and they pose a direct stimulation of glycolysis in body tissues. Additionally, they reduce plasma glucose levels. Its half-life is 1.5 to 3 hours, and its metabolism is through the kidney. Accumulation of metformin in the body may predispose one to lactic acidosis.