When it comes to talk about deadly disease that you have to be aware, you must write diabetes mellitus down in the list. One thing you have to know about this kind of disease is that it can affect people at any age. That’s why you must be aware to find out more information about it including how to recognize and diagnose whether you are suffering from the disease or not by understanding the definition, the type, the symptoms, the causes, the caring and the treatment as well as the prevention.
In this concern, we come to open up your mind about diabetes mellitus with the complete information you need to check out. Since this kind of disease is best described as the most common disease attacking people nowadays that no one seems care, this time you have to take a little more attention. Without wasting your time, now let’s check out what you have to know more.
The Definition
The first thing you have to know before going further about this disease is finding out the definition. Alright! Diabetes is defined as one of the chronic diseases which occurs when the body’s pancreas is unable to produce insulin anymore, thus, the body can’t run the function of insulin. This causes the body experiencing some disorders.
In this relation, diabetes mellitus which is commonly called as DM is a kind of metabolic disorder which is characterized by the high blood sugar levels over the long period of time. Diabetes is a disease that incredibly attacks people at any age. If a person never controls the way he lives or visit the doctor to check up his health, he may be led to a serious level of diabetes.
The Type
There are typically three types of diabetes mellitus you have to know. Recognizing the types of diabetes is very important to lead you find the exact symptoms, causes and treatment. The three types of diabetes are as follows:
1. Diabetes Type 1
Almost people in the world have diabetes type 1. It is approximately 10% of all people suffering diabetes. Diabetes type 1 generally attacks people at any age, however, it mostly occurs in children and young adults. Although diabetes type 1 looks harmless, if the sufferers do not have access to insulin, they may die. Thus, a daily insulin injections is very necessary to control the blood glucose levels.
These times, it is almost impossible to prevent diabetes type 1. Accordingly, you have to be aware of controlling your blood sugar levels and find out more information about it.
2. Diabetes Type 2
The next type of diabetes you have to check out is the diabetes type 2. This type is the most common type attacking people, approximately about 90% of all the diabetes cases. In this type, insulin does not work properly. The levels of the blood glucose keep rising uncontrollably. A person with diabetes type 2 is producing less insulin from day to day causing hyperglycaemia, a high level of blood sugar.
3. Gestational Diabetes
Unlike diabetes type 1 and diabetes type 2, the third type of diabetes mellitus which is called gestational diabetes is harmless. This is a kind of diabetes which occurs only when a woman is pregnant. Gestational diabetes will disappear when she gives birth.
Although, this is not a permanent diabetes, the sufferer must pay attention to take an action in order not to endanger the life of both the mother and her fetus.
The Symptoms
The second thing you have to check out about diabetes mellitus is the symptoms. It is very crucial to recognize what you feel over your body and find out what disease you are suffering from. Diabetes type 1 is almost caused by the pancreas that do not function properly so that it can’t produce insulin. This case disturbs the process of changing glucose into energy, so that, the blood glucose keeps raising. The less insulin production by the pancreas also causes the body to look for the other sources of insulin such as fat. That’s why, the sufferer will feel thirsty most of the time.
In the other case, both diabetes type 1 and diabetes types 2 have the same symptoms which include:
- Almost feeling thirsty and dry in the mouth.
- Urinating frequently.
- Feeling tired easily which means you have less energy.
- Unable to see clearly.
- Healing wound very slowly.
- Having recent skin infections.
- Feeling tingling both in hands and feet.
Commonly, although some people having those symptoms above for a long period of time, they may not recognize that those are the symptoms of diabetes. For example, feeling thirsty may be just normal because you are working. Therefore, diabetes type 2 sufferers may live some years longer before the diagnose. This way, visiting the doctor and having body-check-up is much recommended especially for those who are growing old.
The Causes
One of the most important things in the list you need to check out is the causes of diabetes mellitus. Both diabetes type 1 and diabetes type 2 have almost the same factors causing you suffering from these diseases. From now and then, you must concern your family history of diabetes. If one of your family members has diabetes, you will probably experiencing the same.
Other causes of diabetes you must be aware are overweight, unhealthy diet, less physical activities, high blood pressure, ethnicity, poor nutrition during pregnancy, history of gestational diabetes, old age and impaired glucose tolerance. One thing you have to remember: A woman with gestational diabetes will have a risk of suffering from diabetes three times higher than the other woman who never experienced gestational diabetes.
Concerning these causes of diabetes, you must be more attentive to control your diet and weight, involve more in physical activities, eat more nutritious foods and other things related to diabetes caring, treatment and prevention which we are going to discuss in the following sessions.
The Complications
Suffering from diabetes will commonly have an increasing risk of developing some health problems which are seriously dangerous. It is called diabetes complications. Particularly, when the blood glucose levels reach higher and higher, the sufferers will be developing problems in heart and blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, nerves and teeth as well as infections. This way, diabetes can lead to the complications which are cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, lower limb amputation and others. Now let’s check out more about the complications as follows:
1. Cardiovascular disease
The first complication caused by diabetes is the cardiovascular disease. This disease affects heart and blood vessels. It may also cause a fatal complication such as coronary artery disease which leads to heart attack as stroke. These two diseases are the common ones occurring among people with high blood pressure and high blood sugar (diabetes).
2. Kidney failure
The second complication caused by diabetes mellitus is the kidney failure. This is particularly caused by the damage of the small blood vessels in the kidney. As a result, the kidney cannot work properly for the body. People with diabetes are having higher risk of kidney failure than those who are not.
3. Nerve disease
The next complication led by diabetes is the nerve disease. This way, diabetes causes damage to the nerves throughout the body with high blood glucose and high blood pressure. The health problems you are going to experience because of the nerve disease are digestion and erectile dysfunctions, serious infections and possible amputations. In this case, people suffering from diabetes have the higher risk of amputations than those who are not.
4. Eye disease or blindness
There is also a reason why you must be aware to diabetes. Yeah, it is the fact that diabetes can lead to eye disease or blindness. You can have a look at some of your neighbors who are suffering from diabetes and find out that they have problem in vision. Yes, that’s true. Diabetes can reduce the vision. This is called diabetic retinopathy.
Please take a note that high blood pressure along with the high blood sugar and high cholesterol are the main causes of retinopathy.
5. Pregnancy complications
The next complication is the one that the women must concern more about it. It is the pregnancy complication. Pregnancy complication occurs mainly in a woman with gestational diabetes when they are pregnant. Never let your body and your future baby in danger because of this disease. Thus, you must routinely check up your health condition and consult with a doctor.
6. Oral complications
Lastly, diabetes mellitus can also lead to oral complications in terms of inflammation of the gums especially when the blood glucose is maintained improperly. In this case, gums inflammations are the main cause of tooth loss as well as cardiovascular disease. If you are diagnosed of having gums inflammations, you should do a regular oral check-up as well as annual visit to the doctors. Please be careful when you are brushing your teeth and avoid bleeding. This is very dangerous especially for those who are suffering diabetes.
The Treatment
Now let’s go to what you should do after you are diagnosed of diabetes. Yup! It is the treatment or medication that you need to follow in order that you can heal and live longer. There are typical two types of treatment used for diabetes as follows:
1. Sulfonylureas
The first type of treatment you can carry out is sulfonylureas. It is aimed to stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin. Sulfonylureas includes glipizide, gliclazide, glimepiride, tolbutamide and glibenclamide.
2. Metformin
Metformin, which is the second type of treatment you should establish, is able to reduce insulin resistance and let your body to effectively use its own insulin. Mostly, metformin is the first recommended treatment for diabetes around the world.
3. Pancreas transplantation
Pancreas transplantation is much recommended to substitute the damaged or dysfunction pancreas. This is ideal for diabetes type 1 and the sufferer will need no insulin therapy, however, he must consume imunosupersif medicine regularly.
4. Discipline Controlling over the blood sugar level
When a person has been diagnosed to have diabetes, he must regularly control the blood sugar level by managing the diet in order that the blood sugar level will not raise beyond the normal line. Control also the glucose as well as follow the HbA1C test to watch out the blood sugar level during the last 2 or three months.
The Prevention
Knowing that diabetes mellitus can be very dangerous and may lead to dead, it is very important to carry out prevention before something is going worse and worse. Due to the fat that there are a lot of factors causing someone suffering from diabetes, there are also more prevention you can do to get rid of diabetes. Here are the suggested prevention you can have a look:
1. Self-monitoring
The first important way of diabetes mellitus prevention is self-monitoring. This way, the diabetes sufferers are required to check their blood glucose levels regularly to find out the information about insulin dosage. It is also very good to have blood glucose test in the healthcare or your personal doctor. Knowing your blood glucose levels regularly will help you to have the right adjusted treatment.
2. Healthy Nutrition
The second way of preventing diabetes to attack you or just reduce the levels of your blood sugar and glucose is to consume healthy nutrition. It means that you must eat more nutritious food based on the doctor’s recommendation. In relation to prevent diabetes, you must know what to eat and not to eat. It is because foods are much affecting your blood glucose levels in a different way.
A healthy diet which also means healthy nutrition is like choosing the right amount of calories you have to consume daily especially if you are overweight. The saturated fats such as cream, butter, and cheese must be substituted by the saturated ones like avocado, olive oil, nuts and vegetable oils. You must also consume dietary fibre including fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Never add sugar to your food and avoid the use of alcohol and tobacco.
3. Physical Activity
The third way dealing with the diabetes prevention is doing some more physical activities which are very essential to help keep the blood glucose levels low. It would be very good to involve yourself in aerobic, jogging, swimming, and cycling. You can also do some exercises and resistance training. Never be inactive in your spare time.
4. Physical Behaviors
Physical behaviors are the most-influential lifestyle associated with diabetes mellitus. According to some conducted studies about it, the physical behaviors support the way people prevent the diabetes up to 80%. These physical behaviors typically include some regular physical activities like we have just mentioned above and the healthy diet management. It can be the way you are controlling the amount of calories you consume in your diet, replacing the saturated fats with the unsaturated ones and avoiding tobacco and alcohol use as well as using less sugar.
5. Organizing Weight
Since weight is one of the factors causing diabetes, it is suggested that the diabetes sufferer organize his weight. Being at the ideal weight is the good way of preventing diabetes. It means that you have less fat in your body.
6. Routine Health-Check
Routine health-check is a must to prevent diabetes. It means you are controlling your blood sugar levels by following the test organized by the specialized doctors. If the doctor finds that your blood sugar level raising, he will give a prescription as well as suggestion what to do more dealing with self-monitoring, healthy-nutritious food consumption and some suggested activities that may reduce the high level of your blood sugar.
Conclusion
Overall, diabetes mellitus is one of the deadly diseases that people must be aware more. Considering the dangerous complications led by the disease, you must take an action dealing with the diabetes diagnose, treatment and prevention. Never hesitate to come back to this page every time you need to know more about diabetes mellitus.