Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a metabolic disease that causes high blood sugar. The hormone insulin moves sugar from the blood into your cells to be stored or used for energy. With diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t effectively use the insulin it does make.

Types Of Diabetes:

There are mainly three types of diabetes that are found very common in our community these are Type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Type 1 Diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease because it lasts as long as the body ‘s immune system destroys pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin which regulate blood glucose level. Occur at any age and require lifetime insulin therapy.

Type 2 diabetes: 

In this diabetes body doesn’t produce enough insulin or blood sugar to resist insulin. Just because of a poor diet, lack of physical activity and obesity. By adopting a good lifestyle, taking oral medicine and some types of insulin helps in recovery.

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM):

Occur due to hormonal imbalance or hormonal interference with insulin during pregnancy resolve itself after child birth but increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Cause Of diabetes:

The body is not able to regulate blood glucose level for a long time that causes diabetes. Here are some risk factors like overweight, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activities, stress, family history of diabetes and Genetic Predisposition

Diagnosis

• Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG): ≥ 126 mg/dL
• Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT): ≥ 200 mg/dL after 2 hours
• Random Blood Glucose: ≥ 200 mg/dL with symptoms
• HbA1c (Glycated Hemoglobin): ≥ 6.5%  

Symptoms:

• Increased thirst.
• Frequent urination.
• Extreme hunger.
• Unexplained weight loss.
• Presence of ketones in the urine (ketones are a byproduct of the breakdown of muscle and fat that happens when there’s not enough available insulin)
• Fatigue.
• Irritability.
• Blurred vision

Treatment:

People with type 1 diabetes require multiple insulin injections each day to maintain safe insulin levels. Insulin is often required to treat type 2 diabetes too. Using an insulin pump is an alternative to injections.

Insulin Therapy:

• Rapid-acting.
• Short-acting.
• Intermediate-acting.
• Long-acting.