Introduction
Diabetes is a disease that has been of global concern in the recent past. Several types of diabetes have so far been diagnosed. These types include diabetes mellitus, diabetes inspires as well as brittle and gestation diabetes. Gestation diabetes is highly associated with pregnant women while brittle diabetes is associated with a change between acidosis and hypoglycemia (James, 2004, p. 213). Diabetes inspires mostly occurs as a result of the failure of the kidney to absorb water. This is usually facilitated by a lack of antidiuretic hormone. The result of this type of diabetes is the excretion of large volumes of urine. Diabetes mellitus is the most common type of diabetes. This type of diabetes is mainly due to the malfunctioning of insulin or its deficiency. This is because insulin is a hormone that plays a very vital role in regulating the glucose levels in our blood systems. However, Diabetes mellitus is of two types with Type one being commonly associated with small children and type 2 with aged people. This paper is therefore an in-depth analysis of the diabetes condition to find out how it affects a patient and the effects with a further exploration of the treatments of the condition if any.
Current Global statistics for Diabetes
The current statistics by the WHO on diabetes show that India is the country with the highest number of diabetics followed by China and then the United States of America. Other than these, other nations also have people suffering from diabetes thus making the world population of diabetics is about 246 million people in the year 2007 (DAGC, 2007, p.1). At the same time, 3.2 million die of diabetes every year throughout the globe close to the number of people dying of AIDS. In addition to this, studies have gone further to indicate that in every 30 seconds one person in the population gets diabetes-related amputation (DAGC, 2007, p.1). In the end, diabetes is known to shorten the life expectancy of human beings by five to seven years.
The target group for diabetes
In today’s world juveniles are highly reported to contract type one and type two diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus is a disorder associated with young children, but in recent times a lot of children have been diagnosed to have diabetes mellitus type two. This is contrary to what is presumed with diabetes mellitus type two since a lot of people associate it with people who are over forty years of age.
Causes and etiology of diabetes
Diabetes is a disorder associated with high excretion of urine in human beings. In some circumstances, the level of glucose in the blood may increase due to several reasons even to people who are not diabetic (Leichter, 2006, p. 94). For example, the increase in the level of glucose in the blood can be due to taking a diet that is greatly rich in sugars. In such cases, the high level of glucose in the blood triggers the secretion of insulin hormone. The insulin hormone is produced by beta cells of the pancreas. Insulin hormone reduces the level of glucose in the blood by undertaking various actions. For one it may involve stimulation of fat cells and cells of the muscle. Once the fat cells and the muscle cells are stimulated they get rid of excess glucose in the blood. “This helps in the returning of glucose levels in the blood back to normal and healthy level” (Harrison, 2008, P. 1). The insulin hormone can also trigger the liver to metabolize the sugar mainly consisting of glucose.
When complete metabolism has been undertaken the levels of glucose decreases in the blood. This is because the metabolism of sugars and most especially glucose converts the sugar into other forms. Some of these forms in which the sugars can be converted include conversion to fats, energy, glycogen, and proteins. The conversion of glucose into energy is usually done through pyruvate and what is also known as the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA Cycle). Conversion of the glucose into fats is normally for long-term storage whereby the fats are stored in the adipose tissue of the body. Nevertheless, short-term storage is provided by the conversion of glucose into glycogen. This glycogen is stored in the liver and also in the muscles. It is also possible for amino acids to be produced from pyruvate. Thus the amino acids are indirectly synthesized from the glucose. Excess glucose can also be utilized by the body cells in the production of proteins.
In diabetic people, the blood sugars are usually too high or too low. This is because the body system of the diabetic person is not in a position to regulate the levels of glucose in the blood. The main reason is that insulin which is a hormone responsible for the regulation of the levels of glucose is either absent, insufficient or it does not function effectively as it is required. Lack of insulin hormone causes type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (Seth, 2006, p.97). This is because the victims of diabetes mellitus type 1 are due to what is referred to as an autoimmune disease. In this case, the immune system of the body invades the pancreas which secretes the insulin hormone through the action of the beta cells. The attaching of the pancreas by the immune system of the body makes it unable to produce the insulin hormone. This form of disorder is highly associated with small children. Persons with this form of diabetes usually survive by injecting insulin hormones into the body. The other type of diabetes mellitus is highly associated with the old people who are especially above forty years of age even though nowadays even small children are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this case, the insulin hormone is either insufficient or ineffective. This type of diabetes mellitus is usually common with obese people. The other forms of diabetes are usually rare cases and may result from a single gene mutation.
Symptoms of Diabetes
There are several symptoms of diabetes. One of these symptoms is weight loss. Diabetic people tend to lose weight for no apparent reason. They also experience fatigue, excessive urination, and they have a high appetite which may make them eat excessively. Also common among diabetic patients is excessive sweating, as well as excessive thirst (Seth, 2006, p.70).
Treatment of Diabetes
The medication and treatment of diabetic people is a process. This is because it requires a lot of discipline in terms of eating habits. In this case, the patients of the various categories of diabetes are usually required to eat particular diets. This may not be pleasing to most diabetic persons. This is because they are asked by doctors to refrain from eating most of the delicious foods which are rich in sugars. Thus, this calls for huge responsibility for diabetic persons to take care of their lives. “The other major treatment of diabetes involves the administration of injections of insulin hormone” (Mark, 2009, p.153). This is a survival means especially for people with type 1 diabetes mellitus (Mark, 2009, p.154). This is because such people do not have the insulin hormone in their body systems. Diabetic people may also take prescription medicine which lowers their sugar levels.
Dieting for people with diabetes is decided upon depending on the kind of medication that the patient is taking, and the specific problem that the patient is suffering from. If the person has high levels of sugar, he or she should take a diet with low sugar levels. “Insulin hormone is injected into the body to make the body to be in a position to regulate the sugar level in the blood” (Mark, 2009, p.157).
Conclusion
It can therefore be concluded that Diabetes has serious repercussions on the life of its victim if it is not managed well. This is because it could lead to other major health problems and conditions such as kidney failure among others. Although it is a subject attracting controversy, it has been argued that diabetes has negative effects on sex drive. It is also obvious that the kind of lifestyle that a person lives after being diagnosed with diabetes is not a comfortable one. This is due to the strict dieting guidelines given to patients with diabetes.
Reference List
DAGC. (2007). Diabetes Statistics- Global. Web.
Harrison, K. (2008). Diabetes @3Dchem. Com. Web.
James, J. (2004). Introduction to diabetes. Web.
Leichter, S. (2006). Clinical diabetes. Web.
Mark, R. (2009). The biochemistry of diabetes. California. Bell &Bain, Print.
Seth, J. (2006). Diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism. California. Oxford Publishers. Print.