Diabetes - An Introduction to Diabetes
All forms of diabetes are characterized by a long-term excess of blood glucose, but the condition is no longer the deadly threat it used to be. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, doctors did not understand how to treat diabetes and most patients eventually died from the disease. Too much glucose has numerous ill effects on the body, including declining kidney function and slow wound healing as well as the possibility of a coma. Fortunately, monitoring and managing diabetes is now simpler than ever.
Diabetes occurs from either the body’s ineffective use of insulin or its failure to produce sufficient insulin. Type 1 diabetes results from the pancreas’ islet cells failing to produce sufficient insulin to permit blood glucose to enter the cells and be used as energy. Type 2 diabetes is termed insulin-resistant diabetes, since cellular resistance to insulin’s action allows excess glucose to stay in the blood.
But though they’re not completely known, experts agree that the causes of the different types of diabetes are generally a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental or lifestyle factors. In some cases, one or the other may dominate. Gestational diabetes, for example, affects about 3% of pregnant women usually from around 24-28 weeks into term. But it goes away after birth. Type 1, on the other hand, affects mostly juveniles and is largely genetic.
Symptoms of diabetes are generally the same, no matter the form of the disease. These symptoms include: extreme thirst, frequent urination, and occasionally stomach pains or dizziness. These symptoms can be caused by numerous diseases. If you suspect you have diabetes you should be tested by a doctor.
Those tests are simple and relatively painless, only requiring a small blood sample. Blood glucose level is measured, with normal running around 99 mg/dL, while diabetics have a level of 126 mg/dL or above. It may require more than one test to confirm the disease.
If a diagnosis of diabetes is made, the patient must begin routine blood glucose monitoring. New devices make this simple and nearly painless. Blood is taken by a tiny prick of the finger and put on testing strip, which is then read by a small device. The blood glucose level is accurately determined by these devices. A newer instrument which reads the blood glucose level through the skin, without a blood sample, has also been successful.
Though diabetes is still a serious disease, diabetes management is easier today than ever before. Most people with diabetes can ward off serious complications through a proper treatment routine. Diabetes is no longer the disabling problem it was in the past; now diabetics can enjoy the same long, active lives that everyone else does.
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