Diabetes
Quick question: What do Sonam Kapoor, Kamal Hasan, Fawad Khan, and Sudha Chandran have in common?
Well if you say acting skills, you would be implored to go beyond that.
These great personalities were all affected by diabetes.
The normal physiology
Before talking about diabetes, we need to understand the basic physiology of the workings of our body. Our body like any typical complex machine requires energy to run and to perform functions. The food we consume is through which we obtain our energy. The food we eat usually is divided into three types: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
Carbohydrates are the easiest to burn and release energy but to take up the energy from the digested carbohydrates (glucose), insulin is necessary. Insulin is a hormone which is produced by the pancreas – an organ in the body situated in the abdomen. The pancreas secretes insulin into the blood so that other body organs can take up insulin to utilize the glucose which is transported by the blood.
The altered physiology in diabetes
Diabetes is a disease that affects the way our body uses food. While most of the food taken in would be changed into glucose, or sugar, for the body to use as energy, in diabetes either the production of insulin is scarce or the body can’t use the insulin that it makes. This is the prime reason for a high blood sugar level.
Types of diabetes
Diabetes is two types of diabetes type 1 and type 2.
Type 1diabetes: There is a scarcity of insulin. This type of diabetes usually surfaces before 30 years of age. Not so common.
Type 2diabetes: Most people have type 2 diabetes which usually develops after 40 years of age.
With type 2 diabetes, the body still makes insulin but the cells can’t use it.
Also, there is Gestational diabetes which occurs and develops only during pregnancy, which is caused by the hormonal changes of pregnancy along with genetic and lifestyle factors.
More about the differences between type 1 and 2 Diabetes
| Type 1 Diabetes | Type 2 Diabetes |
| Often diagnosed in childhood. | Usually diagnosed in over 40-year-olds. |
| Need not be correlated with excess body weight. |
Often associated with excess body weight. |
| Increased ketone levels are seen usually. | High blood pressure and/or cholesterol levels. |
| Treated with insulin injections /insulin pump. | Usually treated initially without medication or with tablets. |
| Cannot be controlled without taking insulin. | Sometimes possible to come off diabetes medication. |
Signs and Symptoms
The most common symptoms include:
• Polydipsia (excessive thirst)
• Polyphagia (excessive eating)
• Polyuria (excessive urination)
• Blurred vision
• Extreme fatigue
• Genital itching
• Slow healing of wounds
• Unexplained weight loss
Tests to find out diabetes
Once these symptoms are seen persistently, doctor consultation is necessary to determine if diabetes is seen in the body. The tests which can reveal diabetes include:
- Urinalysis – To find sugar in your urine.
- Fasting plasma glucose test – To measure the blood sugar level. 8 hours of fasting is necessary before appearing for this test.
- Random (nonfasting) plasma glucose test – This is also to measure the blood sugar level, but here in this test fasting is not necessary.
- Oral glucose tolerance test – The determining test for diabetes and requires a fast of at least 8 hours.
Complications
The greater the duration of diabetes in the body; the higher the chances of contracting its complications. People with diabetes have an increased risk of developing several serious health problems. Hyperglycaemia not only affects the heart and blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, nerves, and teeth but also encourages microbial infections. This is one of the prime reasons for wounds taking longer time to heal in diabetics.
Cardiovascular disease
Diabetes can increase the chances of fatal complications such as coronary artery disease (leading to heart attack) and stroke and strong evidence depicts that diabetes causes most death in people with cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood glucose, and other risk factors contribute to increasing the risk of cardiovascular complications.
Kidney disease (diabetic nephropathy)
Prolonged diabetes cause damage to kidneys by damaging small blood vessels in the kidneys and therefore the kidneys becoming less efficient or to fail altogether. Kidney disease is much more common in people with diabetes than in those without diabetes.
Nerve disease (diabetic neuropathy)
In prolonged hyperglycemia can trigger damage to the nerves throughout the body when hyperglycemia and hypertension are too high leading to:
- Digestion problem, erectile dysfunction, and many other functions.
- Extremities are the most commonly affected areas (peripheral neuropathy) and can lead to pain, tingling, and loss of sensation.
- Loss of feeling is particularly important because it can allow injuries to go unnoticed, leading to serious infections and possible amputations (surgical removal of body parts)
- 25% increased risk of amputation is seen in diabetics than in people without diabetes.
- People with diabetes should regularly examine their feet.
Eye disease (diabetic retinopathy)
Diabetes can cause some form of eye disease (retinopathy) causing reduced vision or blindness. Persistently increased levels of hyperglycemia coupled with increased blood pressure and high cholesterol trigger diabetic retinopathy.
Peridontitis
Constant fluctuations in blood sugar level are sufficient enough to trigger oral complications and without proper management, an increased risk of inflammation of the gums (periodontitis) is seen. Periodontitis is not only a major cause of tooth loss and but is also associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Maintaining blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol at or close to normal can help delay or prevent diabetes complications. Therefore people with diabetes need regular monitoring.