ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DIABETES
How to cure diabetes with little effort?
1. Introduction
What is diabetes?
It is a lifelong metabolic disease that causes a person’s blood sugar to become very high. This is a serious condition that affect how your body uses blood sugar (glucose) or how your body turns food into energy. The hormone insulin transport sugar from the blood into your cells to be stocked or utilised. In simple term, diabetes is a condition where your body struggle to produce sufficient amount of insulin or cannot effectively use the amount of insulin is producing.
How does the body operate? You need to know that when eating food, your body, breaks it down into sugar (which is also named glucose) and releases that into your bloodstream or into your flowing blood in your circulatory system. And to allow the blood sugar into your body’s cells for use as energy, insulin plays a key role to facilitate that. And if your body struggles to produce a sufficient amount of insulin or does not use the insulin it produces, in this scenario you have diabetes. In this case, too much blood sugar remains in your bloodstream. As more sugar is piled up into your bloodstream, this can lead to serious health issues.
Diabetes is a serious condition if left untreated can cause much damage to organs such as the heart, kidneys, nerves, eyes …
Although there are several treatments to treat diabetes, you must be aware that there is no cure yet to completely eradicate diabetes. But with time, scientists have come up with treatment and prevention methods that effectively reduce the impact of diabetes. Preventions such as eating healthy food, living an active life, or weight loss can with no doubt help improve someone's condition.
1. Types of diabetES
There are several types of diabetes such as:
1. Type 1 diabetes
2. Type 2 diabetes
3. Gestational diabetes
4. Maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY)
5. Neonatal diabetes
6. Wolfram Syndrome
7. Alström Syndrome
8. Latent Autoimmune diabetes in Adults (LADA)
9. Type 3c diabetes
10. Steroid-induced diabetes
11. Cystic fibrosis diabetes
1. What is type 1 Diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes is a serious condition where your body struggles to produce sufficient hormone called insulin, therefore leading to an increase in blood sugar levels in your bloodstream. Type 1 is caused by an autoimmune reaction, where your body attacks its own cells in your pancreas that produces insulin and stop it from making insulin. Insulin is essential for the functioning of your body, without that, it will be very difficult for the glucose in your blood to circulate in your cells and energize your body. With type 1, although your body can still have the ability to breakdown the carbohydrate taken from the drink and food we eat and transform it into sugar (glucose), it ends up piling into the bloodstream because the lack of insulin in your body makes it difficult or impossible for that sugar to penetrate into body’s cells.
What are the main signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes?
There are several signs and symptoms related to diabetes type 1 including:
1. Increased thirst.
2. Frequent urination.
3. Bed-wetting in children who previously didn't wet the bed during the night.
4. Extreme hunger.
5. Unintended weight loss.
6. Irritability and other mood changes.
7. Fatigue and weakness.
8. Blurred vision.
9. Sudden vision changes
10. Fruity or sweet-smelling breath
11. Heavy or labored breathing
12. Stupor or unconsciousness.
How many people have it? Who are the most vulnerable? And how to manage it?
Around 5 to 10% of people will develop this type of diabetes. And the symptoms tend to develop rapidly and affect children, teens, and young adults. Type 1 diabetes has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle, managing it can be difficult but simple strategies include making changes to your lifestyle, monitoring your sugar level regularly, cutting down on sugar (cab), eating healthy foods such as vegetables, and exercising regularly can massively improve the quality of your health condition.
Can it be reversed?
Since there is no cure for type 1 diabetes at the moment, it is difficult if not impossible to reverse that, but doctors and scientists are working hard to find the cure, there is still hope that one day this devastating disease can be overcome.
Treating your diabetes type 1
Insulin injection is the most effective diabetes treatment existing today. It is done by taking an injection in the belly using an insulin pen or using an insulin pump. The picture above shows how to self-inject insulin. In the UK, there are two types of insulin used to treat diabetes Nova-rapid (taken 10 min before the meal) and Lantus which is taken once a day at a specific time of the day, with its effect lasting for 24 hours. the insulin pen can eater be reusable or non-reusable.
Insulin pens are easy to use:
a. Wash and dry your hands
b. Select the place of the belly to be injected.
c. Attach the needle to the pen
d. Dial your dose, clean with soap and warm water the spot to be injected. There is no need to use alcohol wipes.
e. Insert the needle at a right angle (90o
f. Count to 10 slowly to give the insulin time to penetrate the body before pulling the needle out.
g. Throw the needle in the sharps bin, usually given by the pharmacy.
How to store insulin?
In the UK patient are entitle to free insulin on prescription. The health team are required to explain the way the insulin should be taken. Usually, GP will prescribe between 3 to 6 months doses. The insulin is store in the fridge between 2 to 6oC (36 to 43oF). when kept outside the fridge for 28 days or more, this need to be thrown away, as insulin cannot be kept above 25oC (77oF).
What is type 2 diabetes? CLICK HERE