Essay on Diabetes Mellitus

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.

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.

According to (Diabetes UK 2008) Type 2 diabetes can remain undetected for ten years or more and 50 per cent of people show signs of complications when diagnosed. It is therefore the responsibility of the individuals and the government to prevent the disease from developing. A lot of people do not realise that their weight and lifestyle could put them at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, ‘Physical inactivity and obesity are strongly associated with the development of type 2 diabetes (National Diabetes Information Clearing House 2013) . People who are genetically

The signs and symptoms of a person that has diabetes is that they lose weight without even trying to. Increased thirst and frequent urination – excess sugar building up in your blood-stream causes fluid to be pulled from the tissues. This may leave a person thirsty, causing a person to drink and urinate more than usual. People with diabetes have an increased hunger. Without enough insulin to move sugar into the cells, the muscles and organs becomes depleted by energy. This triggers intense hunger. People have weight loss, without the ability to metabolise glucose, the body uses alternative fuels stored in muscle and fat. Calories are lost as excess

Symptoms of diabetes include: weight loss, fatigue, thirst, frequent urination, sugar in the urine, and vision problems.

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.

Frequent urination leads to excessive water loss and dehydration, which seriously jeopardizes health. Being extremely thirsty is another symptom. A person becomes thirsty because of the loss of water through urine. Excess sugar concentrates the blood, which also triggers thirst. Fatigue occurs because glucose is unable to be effectively used as a fuel by muscle cells. They are "fuel deprived" and are less able to perform work. Dehydration also causes fatigue. Weight loss is another symptom of a diabetic. It may be slow or rapid. Lots of people with early diabetes actually eat more and still continue to lose weight. This is due to the amount of water loss and the increased breakdown of fat and protein tissues, as the body makes up for poor glucose utilization. Hunger is also a symptom because glucose is unavailable to cells as fuel. Blurry vision develops as the rapidly rising blood sugar levels cause fluid shifts in the lens of the eye. Lastly, infections of the gums, bladder, skin, and vagina become harder to treat. This is

The next part will be explaining signs and symptoms that diabetes will cause in the body. In type 1 you get signs and symptoms very fast like weight loss(thin) and muscle wasting. The classic symptoms that diabetes is known for are called the 3P’s which are polyuria (excessive urination), polydipsia (thirst), and polyphagia (excessive hunger). Also they can get ketonuria which is ketones (acids) in the urine. Other signs would be for women vaginal yeast infection. Also fatigue, weakness, blurred vision.

Signs and symptoms of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are quite similar. With obesity linked to Type 2 diabetes, weight gain is an obvious sign and symptom. In contrast, a decrease in weight is seen more in Type 1 diabetes. Changes in bodily functions can also occur. Patients with Type 2 and Type 1 may experience an increase in urination. A decrease in fluids may lead to thirst and dry mouth. Those with diabetes also may notice they feel tired and hungrier more often than before (Gould & Dyer, 2011). With the signs and symptoms in mind, the many causes of diabetes is also important.

Diabetes is a disease that causes the body inability to produce any or correct amount of insulin due to the tremendous levels of glucose in the human body. Diabetes is silent killer that attacks the blood vessels and overall damages the body ability to function correctly. To know if people have diabetes they would have symptoms of increased thirst, urination, fatigue, blurred vision, in most situations there meant not be any symptoms. Ways for people to avoid diabetes is exercise, healthy diet, limit the amount of red meat and processed meat, control the intake of sugary foods. There are two types of diabetes type one and type two diabetes. To treat type one and type two diabetes they are prescribed to

Signs and symptoms of DM vary from person to person. However, there are some common signs and symptoms, such as the 3 P’s of Diabetes. Polyuria means urinating in excess, Polydipsia means excessive thirst and Polyphagia means excessive hunger.

Diabetes symptoms start off with, urges to urinate, and increasing thirst and hunger. But when diabetes is not treated carfully and properly it can damage vital organs and lead to

     There are two types of diabetes. Type I diabetes is sometimes called juvenile diabetes, or insulin dependent diabetes. With type I diabetes, the pancreas, for reasons unknown, ceases to produce insulin altogether. This usually occurs over the course of a week or two, leaving a person with no other choice but to inject insulin daily for the rest of their lives. Only ten percent of all diabetics have this type. Type II diabetes is far more prevalent. Its onset is usually much more gradual, occurs later in life, and is most often the result of heredity. It is exacerbated by a sedentary lifestyle and obesity. With type II diabetes, the pancreas does not stop producing insulin as it does in type I. Rather, insulin production might decrease or, more often, the body’s ability to utilize the insulin it does produce becomes severely diminished. In most cases, however, this situation can be improved

     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.

The most common symptoms of diabetes mellitus are chronic elevated blood glucose level. Glycosuria is a condition in which the kidneys excrete increased glucose as they are unable to reabsorb the excess amount. This leads to fluid and electrolyte excretion which leads to electrolyte imbalance and dehydration. Loss of glucose leads to increase in the use of fats and protein for the energy, which leads to accumulation of ketone bodies in the blood which leads to ketoacidosis (could be fatal).