Diabetes Mellitus Essay

Diabetes is a disease where the body is unable to produce or use insulin effectively. Insulin is needed for proper storage and use of carbohydrates. Without it, blood sugar levels can become too high or too low, resulting in a diabetic emergency. It affects about 7.8% of the population. The incidence of diabetes is known to increase with age. It’s the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in the US, and is the primary cause of blindness and foot and leg amputation. It is known to cause neuropathy in up to 70% of diabetic patients. Individuals with diabetes are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease. There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2.

Diabetes, Diabetes Mellitus, is a chronic illness this means that it has no cure and the symptoms persist over a long period of time. This illness is a result of an imbalance of hormones, insulin, produced in the pancreas. Insulin plays an important role in how the body uses food. Insulin enables the cells in the bloodstream to absorb and use glucose for fuel. If the pancreas produces too little or no insulin or if the insulin doesn’t work properly the person may become diabetic. Therefore, diabetics are not able to properly convert food into fuels needed by the body to function, which can seriously lead to physical consequences.

Public health emphasizes the importance of prevention and proactively taking care of one’s body. As people grow older, they must follow certain guidelines to ensure that they age healthily and successfully. One of the biggest concerns facing the aging population is chronic diseases. Chronic diseases are long term diseases that have a slow progression. Once chronic diseases pass “certain symptomatic or diagnostic thresholds,” they become a permanent aspect of an individual’s life because “medical and personal regimens can sometimes control but can rarely cure them” (Albert and Freeman 105). One chronic condition that is a cause of concern is diabetes. Diabetes is not only one of the leading causes of death in the over 65 population but

Type 2 Diabetes is a disease that is found in a variety of age groups around the world. This disease is growing at a rapid rate and it is impacting the health of this generation and future generations to come. Diabetes is a disease that impairs the body’s ability to produce or respond to the insulin hormone produced by the pancreas. The insulin allows for the glucose to be effectively used as energy throughout the body. Diabetes causes carbohydrates to be abnormally digested, which can raise blood glucose levels. This means that the glucose is not being taken up by the cells that need it. The cells cannot take up the excess glucose that has accumulated in the blood, so it is excreted through the urine. This can lead to problems with the kidneys, central nervous system, heart, and eyes because high blood glucose can damage the blood vessels of these organs. This diseased is managed by adopting a diet low in fat and high in fiber, increasing physical activity, losing excess weight, and not smoking. If this

29 million people in the United States (9.3 percent) have diabetes, and of those 29 million approximately 7.25 million are unaware that they are diabetic (www.cdc.gov). Diabetes describes a group of metabolic diseases in which the person has high blood glucose because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body 's cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both. Diabetes can be divided into two groups: Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is also referred to as juvenile diabetes and is usually found in children and young adults. Only 5% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease. Type 1 diabetes restricts the body from producing insulin, a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Type 1 diabetes can be managed by using insulin therapy and other treatments to help those infected maintain insulin to convert sugars, starches and foods into energy(www.diabetes.org). Type 2 diabetes is the most common, people with Type 2 diabetes have insulin resistance meaning the body does not use insulin properly. At first, the pancreas makes a surplus insulin to compensate for the lack on insulin in your body. However, over time your pancreas is not able to keep up and can not make enough insulin to keep your blood glucose at normal levels(www.diabetes.org). Complications of diabetes in the long term include potential heart disease, stroke, and kidney damage.

Type 1 Diabetes, also called “insulin-dependent diabetes”, “juvenile diabetes”, or “early-onset diabetes”, is when the pancreas produces little to no insulin. Type 1 diabetes is not as common as type 2, but 10% of all diabetics are type 1. Patients with type 1 diabetes will need to take insulin injections for the rest of there lives. Also people with type 1

     Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by inadequate insulin secretion by the pancreas or cellular destruction leading to an insulin deficiency. Depending on the cause of the insulin shortage, diabetes can be subcategorized into type I and type II. Type I diabetes (T1DM) is usually mediated by the destruction of b-cells in the pancreas resulting in decreased insulin production and secretion. Type II diabetes (T2DM) is the failure of these b-cells to secrete adequate amounts of insulin to compensate for insulin resistance and increased gluconeogenesis combined with an overall resistance to the insulin action (8., 1997). T2DM accounts

Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to produce or use insulin. It is a precursor to numerous other diseases, which can quickly deteriorate patient’s health if

need for increased understanding of the economic, and societal seriousness of diabetes and its complications, and of the escalating costs to individuals, families, workplaces, society and governments.

Diabetes is a lifelong disease that can affect both children and adults. This disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. It claims about 178,000 lives each year. Type one diabetes, also known as insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, usually occurs in people less than thirty years of age, but it also may appear at any age. Diabetes is a very serious disease with many life threatening consequences, but if it is taken care of properly, diabetics can live a normal life.

Nearly 16 million people in the United States have diabetes, the disease classified as a problem with insulin. The problem could be that your body does not make insulin, does not make enough, or it simply does not know how to use it properly. Diabetes is also known as "diabetes mellitus".

Type 1 diabetes, also referred to as Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) or Juvenile Diabetes, can be caused by a genetic disorder. It can occur at any age, but it is most often diagnosed in children, adolescents, or young adults around 20 years old or before a person is 30 years of age. Insulin is a hormone produced by special cells, called the beta cells, in the pancreas, an organ located in the area behind the stomach. Insulin is needed to move blood sugar (glucose) into cells, where it is stored and later used for energy. In type 1 diabetes, these cells produce little or no insulin. Without enough insulin, glucose builds up in the bloodstream instead of going into the cells. The body is unable to

Long-term effects of diabetes can cause many serious complications: heart disease, stroke, blindness, amputations, and kidney disease and nerve damage. These complications are usually progressive and develop over time due to poor control of blood glucose levels. High blood glucose levels cause a narrowing of all the vessels, blockage, and high blood pressure.

The genetics causes of Type I and Type II diabetes stem from elevated blood glucose levels. Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease characterized by b -cell destruction, usually leading to an absolute insulin deficiency (Dahlquist 5). Type II diabetes extends from primarily insulin resistance with relative insulin deficiency to primarily defective insulin secretion with insulin resistance.

     Diabetes is a chronic condition in which the body produces too little insulin (Type One Diabetes) or can’t use available insulin efficiently ( Type Two Diabetes). Insulin is a hormone vital to helping the body use digested food for growth and energy.