Overview of Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus-
It is not a disease rather a group of diseases and it results in too much sugar level in the blood . This is a non-communicable disease. This is considered as the most common endocrine disorder of pancrease . This leads to increase of sugar level in blood in different ways.
This nowadays exists mainly in two types .
Namely Juvenile Diabetes (type I) , Adult onset Diabetes (type II)
Apart from these two , there are other two types of diabetes which are not so common. Namely, Pre-diabetes , Gestational diabetes.
Type I – This type of diabetes is also known as insulin dependent Diabetes. This is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin.
Type II- This type of diabetes is also called as non-insulin dependent Diabetes. This is a chronic condition that affects the way the body processes blood sugar.
PRE-DIABETES – This is the previous stage of type II diabetes. In this condition , the blood sugar level is high but not high enough to be categorized as type II.
GESTATIONAL DIABETES – This is a kind of diabetes that affects pregnant women. The women attacked by this type have higher chances of getting affected by Type II in latter stage of their lives.

Cause
There are 3 types of cells in pancreas namely alpha, beta, gamma. Beta cells produce a hormone called insulin which balances the level of sugar in blood.
Type I diabetes is caused by the failure of Beta cells of pancreas . They fail to produce enough amount of insulin due to an autoimmune response. Ultimately that leads to imbalance of glucose level in the blood .
Type II diabetes is caused due to failure of insulin . Sometimes due to some reason they fail to facilitate the movement of glucose into cells . That leads to rise of blood sugar level.
The exact cause of Pre- diabetes is unknown. But family history and genetics play a significant role. Physical inactivity, over weight also may lead to this disorder.
Cause of Gestational diabetes is the failure of beta cells to produce the extra insulin needed during pregnancy.
Symptom-
Almost all symptoms are common for all types. Those are-
EXCESSIVE URINATION-
The increase level of glucose tend to excreate through urine and water follows the glucose . So it causes excessive urination and dehydration of body tissues.
INCREASED THRIST-
This leads to frequent drinking of water because of extreme thirst and the situation is called as polydipsia.
FEELING WEAK-
The cells are unable to use carbohydrates (glucose) to produce energy. So they utilize their proteins for energy production which make the person weak.
Other common symptoms are excessive hunger, fatigue, weight gain or loss, blurred vision, poor wound healing ,
NB- Gestational diabetes may not show any symptoms.
Type I may show an extra symptom of vomiting or nausea.

TREATMENT-
There is actually no specific treatment for this. Rather we have to just keep our insulin level balanced . It can be done by taking insulin by injection or by changing the diet. The treatment strategy includes regular monitoring, insulin therapy, diet and exercise and monitoring of the baby in case of gestational diabetes.

We can divide the treatment process into two ways.
1.SELF-CARE
2.MEDICATION
SELF-CARE –
Type I – Follow diabetic diet, nutrition counselling, carbohydrate counting, physical exercise.
Type II – PHYSICAL EXERCISE, Quitting smoking, weight loss, dietary fiber, diabetic diet
Gestational diabetes- healthy and diabetic diet, physical exercise
MEDICATION-
Type I -Insulin, dietary supplement
Type II- Anti-diabetic medicine, anticoagulant, statin and insulin
Gestational diabetes- antidiabetic medicine and insulin.
PREVENTION-
Prevention is always better than cure.

Here are some ways to prevent any type of diabetes.
Don’t eat excessive carbs or sugar- Because it may lead to more production of insulin but your cell will be tolerant to it and don’t let the sugar go inside the cell , ultimately rising the blood sugar level.
Workout regularly- Because exercise helps your cells to sense insulin easily . So, it requires less amount of insulin to balance the blood sugar level.
Drink water- Use water as your primary beverage to help yourself avoid bevearges that has high amount of sugar.
Lose weight- Excesssive weight specially in the abdomen area tends to increase the risk of diabetes. So loosing weight may significantly reduce the risk.
Quit smoking- Smoking leads to many serious health problems like heart disease and so as diabetes. Studies show that quitting smoking actually reduces the risk of diabetes.

Diabetes is not a disease rather it is a disorder. It has no specific treatment or medicine. So its wiser to maintain healthy lifestyle of balanced diet, regular exercise, proper water intake, no habits like smoking etc can reduce the risk of us getting attacked by diabetes.
“HEALTHY LIFESTYLE,HAPPY LIFE”