Recently, the awareness of Diabetes has been on increase as many people are becoming victims of this disease.
Research suggests that 1 out of 3 adults has prediabetes. Of this group, 9 out of 10 don’t know they have it.
More than one in every 10 adults who are 20 years or older has diabetes. For seniors (65 years and older), that figure rises to more than one in four.
Moreover, Do you know? As at 2014 about 422 million people were battling with Diabetes, Where 8.5% of adults aged 18 years and older had diabetes. While, In 2016, an estimated 1.6 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes.
Now! What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar.
When any of these things happen, the body is unable to get sugar from the blood into the cells. That leads to high blood sugar levels known as Hyperglycaemia. This is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
Glucose, the form of sugar found in your blood, is one of your main energy sources. A lack of insulin or resistance to insulin causes sugar to build up in your blood. This can lead to many health problems.
Read Also: How to Improve Your Child’s IQ to become that Genius you Desire
Types of Diabetes
There are three main types of diabetes which include:
– type 1 diabetes
– type 2 diabetes
– gestational diabetes
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is believed to be an autoimmune condition. This means your immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the beta cells in your pancreas that produce insulin. The damage is permanent.
What prompts the attacks isn’t clear. There may be both genetic and environmental reasons. Lifestyle factors aren’t thought to play a role.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes starts as insulin resistance. This means your body can’t use insulin efficiently. That stimulates your pancreas to produce more insulin until it can no longer keep up with demand. Insulin production decreases, which leads to high blood sugar.
The exact cause of type 2 diabetes is unknown. Contributing factors may include: genetics, lack of exercise, being overweight.There may also be other health factors and environmental reasons.
Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes is due to insulin-blocking hormones produced during pregnancy. This type of diabetes only occurs during pregnancy.
Read Also: 5 Health Benefits of Eating Rice You Don’t Know About
General Symptoms associated with Diabetes
General symptoms of diabetes include: excessive thirst and hunger, frequent urination, drowsiness or fatigue, dry and itchy skin, blurry vision, slow-healing wounds.
Type 2 diabetes can cause dark patches in the folds of skin in your armpits and neck. Since type 2 diabetes often takes longer to diagnose, you may feel symptoms at the time of diagnosis, like pain or numbness in your feet.
Type 1 diabetes often develops more quickly and can cause symptoms like weight loss or a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis can occur when you have very high blood sugars, but little or no insulin in your body.
Symptoms of both types of diabetes can appear at any age, but generally type 1 occurs in children and young adults. Type 2 occurs in people over the age of 45. But younger people are increasingly being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes due to sedentary lifestyles and an increase in weight.
How To Prevent Diabetes
There’s no known prevention for type 1 diabetes. However, You can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes if you: control your weight and manage your diet, exercise regularly, avoid smoking, high triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol levelsIf you had gestational diabetes or have prediabetes, these habits can delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Read Also: Do You Know? You can whiten your teeth with Pineapple, other homemade products!
How To Treat different types of diabetes
No matter what type of diabetes you have, you’ll need to work closely with your doctor to keep it under control. The main goal is to keep blood glucose levels within your target range. Your doctor will let you know what your target range should be. Targets vary with the type of diabetes, age, and presence of complications.
Physical activity is an important part of diabetes management. Ask your doctor how many minutes per week you should devote to aerobic exercise. Diet is also crucial to good control. You’ll also need to monitor your blood pressure and cholesterol.
Treating Type 1 Diabetes
All people with type 1 diabetes must take insulin to live because damage to the pancreas is permanent. There are different types of insulin available with different times of onset, peak, and duration.
Insulin is injected just under the skin. Your doctor will show you how to properly inject and rotate injection sites. You can also use an insulin pump, which is a device worn outside your body that can be programmed to release a specific dose.
There are now continuous blood glucose monitors as well that check your sugar 24 hours a day.You’ll need to monitor your blood sugar levels throughout the day. If necessary, you may also need to take medication to control cholesterol, high blood pressure, or other complications.
Treating Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is managed with diet and exercise, and can also be treated with a variety of medications to help control blood sugar. The first-line medication is usually metformin (Glumetza, Glucophage, Fortamet, Riomet). This drug helps your body use insulin more effectively.
If metformin doesn’t work, your doctor can add other medications or try something different.You’ll need to monitor your blood sugar levels. You may also need medications to help control blood pressure and cholesterol.
Culled from Healthline
