Causes and Treatment for Diabetes - Essay Example

Diabetes, lifestyle, causes and treatment Diabetes is a disorder whose occurrence is related to metabolism. It is a chronic disease condition that is associated with abnormal high sugar or glucose levels in the blood composition. Diabetes is associated with the mechanism of utilizing digested food for energy and growth. A person suffering from diabetes has a body which is not able to either make sufficient or use insulin well. Insulin assists the body in moving sugar into the body cells from the blood stream, without it, sugar cannot enter cells and remains built up in the bloodstream. People suffering from diabetes have little or no insulin at all. In some instances, their cells fail to react well to the produced insulin. With this in a continual process, glucose remains in blood and is passed out as urine from the body, hence the main source of energy is lost. This paper seeks to discuss diabetes, types, condition, treatment and bodies who help the diabetics (Kang 200). Types of diabetes There are three main types of diabetes namely; type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes This is an autoimmune condition. This results when the immune system of the body turns against some particular part(s) of the body. This type of diabetes attacks and obliterates insulin producing cells. This makes the pancreas to produce very little or no insulin at all. A person suffering from this type of diabetes must therefore take daily insulin in order to survive or live. Currently, it is not clear what may instigate the condition but scientists believe that it may be the genetic, autoimmune and environmental factors and viruses are possible involved. In the United States, type 1 diabetes makes between 5 to 10 percent of the diabetes diagnosed. This usually occurs in young adults and children although it can appear at any particular age. The symptoms of type 1 diabetes manifest in a short period of time, however, the destruction of beta cells usually start at early stages of the condition. Some of the symptoms involved include constant hunger, increased urination and thirst, blurred vision, extreme fatigue and weight loss. If this condition is not treated and diagnosed with regular insulin, the victim can easily lapse into a diabetic coma, diabetic ketoacidosis (Lambart 132). Type 1 diabetes sometimes known as insulin dependent is an immune juvenile onset of the diabetes and caused by auto reaction of immune which attacks the defense system of the body. Those diagnosed by this type of diabetes require daily insulin injections to survive. It is common with people under 40 and easily triggered by chemicals that are predisposed in people genetically, diet and virus among the factors stated in the above paragraph. There is no particular preventive measure known against this type of diabetes. It is associated with unpredictable and irregular hyperglycemias and frequently with the ketosis, occult infection, impaired response to the hypoglycemia and serious hypoglycemia’s (Wild 213). Type 2 Diabetes The prevalence of the disease is high. It is the condition of diabetes that about 90 to 95 percentages of those suffering from diabetes are diagnosed with. Type 2 diabetes is often associated with obesity, old age, physical inactivity, family history of the condition, particular ethnicities and pervious history of those with gestational diabetes. It is documented that about 80 percent of type 2 diabetic patients are obese or overweight. This condition of diabetes is currently being diagnosed in adolescents and children, mostly those among Mexican American, African American and youths from Pacific Islander (Lambart 314). Those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are associated with insulin resistance, a pancreas that produces just enough insulin, but for some reasons unknown the body cannot utilize insulin effectively. The production of insulin begins to decrease with increasing years. The results hence become the same as that in type 1 diabetes, the glucose piles in blood rendering the body incapability to efficiently utilize the main source of energy. The symptoms associated with type 2 diabetes gradually develop in the course of the manifestation of the condition. Then onset of such symptoms is not that sudden as in the case of type 1 diabetes. Some of the common symptoms associated with type 2 diabetes include frequent urination, fatigue, hunger and increased thirst, blurred vision, weight loss, and lagging healing of sores or wounds. Some people suffering from type 2 diabetes may not exhibit the symptoms. The condition can stay undetected for considerable number of years and its diagnoses are often made from complications of incidentally via test of urine glucose and are not mostly identified with obesity (Kang 217). The type 2 diabetes is characterized by the relative deficiency of the insulin and insulin resistance. Hence, it’s also referred to as the late onset diabetes. This condition is majorly genetic although factors of lifestyle such as physical inactivity, excess weight, poor diet, and high pressure in blood also make up the main risk factors associated with its development. People with this condition may suffer from cardiovascular disease. It may be treated by tablets or exercises and dietary changes. Injections of insulin may be required at its later stages. Gestational Diabetes This type of diabetes is developed by women in their late pregnancy stage. This type of diabetes usually disappears after the delivery. Women with gestational diabetes are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. There is between 40 to 60 percent probability that pregnant women with gestational diabetes would develop type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years. This can be avoided through keeping reasonable weight of the body and staying active physically. Approximately 3 to 8 percent of women who are pregnant develop gestational diabetes in the United States. Just like type 2 diabetes, there is an occurrence of gestational diabetes in some specific ethnic groups and within those whose family history is associated with diabetes. There may not be significant symptoms in women suffering from gestational diabetes (Wild 324). Gestational diabetes is a carbohydrate intolerant type of diabetes. Some of its risk factors include increasing maternal age, family with a diabetes history, ethnicity with significant risks of developing type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Dietary changes and self care are some of the essential measures of its treatment. Gestational diabetes is characterized by high levels of glucose in blood during in pregnant women. The causative factor is not very clear but some scientist think it’s due to hormones that are produced in the placenta which cause interference in the woman’s ability to produce or utilize insulin. Gestational diabetes is similar to type 2 diabetes in that it entails a combination of insufficient secretion of insulin and its responsiveness. This condition is treatable and needs keen supervision medically during pregnancy. A completed study found an increasing number of women with pregnancy to have a preexisting diabetes in the United States. This has also revealed that the diabetes among pregnant women has practically doubled in the last six years. This is specifically problematic since the condition increases the risk of the complication in the pregnancy stage (Kang 278). Other types of diabetes are experienced when a victim has symptoms of more than one type of diabetes. Some of those other types of diabetes are caused by genetic defects on insulin secreting cells, pancreas diseases, insulin action caused by genetic defects, excess quantities of particular hormones, congenital rubella infections, medical reducing the actions of insulin, immune disorders, and genetic syndromes (Lambart 213). Diagnoses of diabetes The test of glucose in blood is the most preferred in diabetes diagnoses in adults and children. This kind of test is best when done particularly in the morning. Gestational diabetes is majorly done on the basis of levels of the blood glucose that is measured during OGTT. The levels of glucose are often lower normally during pregnancy; hence the level cutoffs for the diabetes diagnosis in pregnant women are lower. The level of glucose is measured any time before the victim drinks any glucose containing beverage. A gestational diabetes is confirmed if a woman has a level of glucose in blood exceeding or meeting 95mg/dL, two hour 155mg/dL glucose level and a three hour 140mg/dL glucose level (Kang 265). Organizations that help diabetics Organizations aiding persons suffering from diabetes include Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, World Health Organization, and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases among other government agencies sponsoring programs of diabetes such as the Indian Health Service, the Human Resource and Services Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense. These bodies help in maintaining and controlling diabetes in the region (Wild 345). Works Cited Kang, Ripsin. Management of blood glucose. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print. Lambart, Bingley. Diagnoses of Diabetes. London: Springer, 2002. Print. Wild, Green. Global Prevalence of Diabetes. New York: Spencer Books, 2000. Print. 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