Diabetes Mellitus, more commonly known as just diabetes, is a disease where your body doesn’t make enough insulin, or isn’t able to appropriately use the insulin being made by your body. Insulin is a hormone made by the body to regulate the amount of sugar in the blood. High levels of sugar in the blood can seriously affect other body systems, particularly over long periods of time.

Type 1, commonly known as insulin dependent diabetes, require patients to take insulin to control their blood sugars. In this type of diabetes, the pancreas is damaged. This is the organ which produces insulin in cells called beta cells, and if they cannot produce insulin because they are damaged, sugar levels in the blood become elevated.

Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent diabetes) is different. In contrast to someone with type 1 diabetes, someone with type 2 diabetes still produces insulin. But the body doesn’t respond to the insulin normally. Glucose is less able to enter the cells and do its job of supplying energy (doctors call this insulin resistance). This causes the blood sugar level to rise, making the pancreas produce even more insulin. Eventually, the pancreas can wear out from working overtime to produce extra insulin. Then, the pancreas may no longer be able to produce enough insulin to keep a person’s blood sugar levels within a normal range.

The early symptoms of untreated diabetes are related to elevated blood sugar levels, and loss of glucose in the urine. High amounts of glucose in the urine can cause increased urine output and lead to dehydration. Dehydration causes increased thirst and water consumption. The inability of insulin to perform normally has effects on protein, fat and carbohydrate metabolism. Insulin is an anabolic hormone, that is, one that encourages storage of fat and protein. A relative or absolute insulin deficiency eventually leads to weight loss despite an increase in appetite. Some untreated diabetes patients also complain of fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Patients with diabetes are prone to developing infections of the bladder, skin, and vaginal areas. Fluctuations in blood glucose levels can lead to blurred vision. Extremely elevated glucose levels can lead to lethargy and coma.

Persons with diabetes are faced with the daily challenge to control blood glucose levels in order to prevent or delay the onset of many serious life-threatening health complications. Diabetes care should be designed for each individual patient. Some patients may need to test (monitor) more often than others do. How often you use your glucose meter should be based on the recommendation of your health care provider. Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is recommended for all people with diabetes, but especially for those who take insulin. The role of SMBG has not been defined for people with stable type 2 diabetes treated only with diet.

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Tags: Health, nutrition, exercise