Diabetes Mellitus is a famous and common metabolic disorder that causes an increase in the patient’s blood sugar. Diabetes has a very high prevalence, around 440,000 Singaporeans had diabetes in 2014 and the number is increasing dramatically. It is assumed that by 2050, the number will reach 1 million patients. Singapore’s Ministry Of Health accounts diabetes for 10% of the disease burden.
The hormone, insulin, is secreted by the pancreas and it regulates the blood’s sugar. In diabetes, No insulin or low levels of insulin are secreted so high blood sugar levels are observed. Diabetes is a chronic disease that can cause serious complications if untreated. These complications include nerves damage, kidney failure and visual changes.
There are two types of diabetes you need to be aware of, type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes also known as juvenile diabetes as it occurs at a very young age, type 1 is an auto immune disease where the immunity cells destroy beta cells of the pancreas responsible for the secretion of insulin. The cause of this disease is still unknown unfortunately. The other type is type 2 diabetes. Type 2 occurs when the body becomes unresponsive to insulin or the insulin secreted is way lower than the needed levels to lower blood sugar. Usually diabetes type 1 patient experiences symptoms like blurry vision, increased thirst, fatigue, unintentional weight loss, extreme hunger and frequent urination. On the other hand, type 2 diabetes patient experiences similar symptoms as type 1 patient. They experience blurry vision, increased thirst, slow healing sores, fatigue, increased hunger and increased urination with NO observed unintentional weight loss like type 1. As mentioned before, type 1 occurs due to an auto immune disease while type 2 occurs due to family history, obesity and improper lifestyle.
Medications and Holistic Remedies
Diagnosing diabetes is easy. It is done by running some blood tests at any laboratory. As for the treatment of diabetes, it varies according to the type. Type 1 has only treatment which is insulin subcutaneous injection regimen determined by your doctor in order to substitute the missing insulin.
For type 2 diabetes mellitus, sometimes if the case is mild, it could be well-managed by non pharmacological intervention. Non pharmacological agents are dietary modifications. Patients have to decrease their carbohydrates and sugars intake and increase their fibers and proteins intake to prevent any sudden high increase in blood sugar. Exercise and weight loss are also so crucial in the treatment of diabetes mellitus as fat cells have a negative impact on the disease.
Persistent or advanced cases must be treated with pharmacological agents in addition to the non pharmacological agents. The 1st type of the classes is Biguanides, in which the famous drug Metformin belongs to. This class acts on reducing the amount of glucose produced by the liver. The 2nd class is Meglitinides which stimulates the pancreas to release more insulin. There are many more pharmacological agents available and each class has a different mechanism of action.
Diabetes is a life changing disease so make sure to exercise and lose those extra kilograms, Stay Healthy people!
References:
1-American Diabetes Association. (2014). Diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes care, 37(Supplement 1), S81-S90.
2-American Diabetes Association. (2004). Gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes care, 27, S88.
3-Eisenbarth, G. S. (1986). Type I diabetes mellitus. New England journal of medicine, 314(21), 1360-1368.
4-Nathan, D. M. (1993). Long-term complications of diabetes mellitus. New England Journal of Medicine, 328(23), 1676-1685.
5-Alberti, K. G. M. M., & Zimmet, P. Z. (1998). Definition, diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Part 1: diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. Provisional report of a WHO consultation. Diabetic medicine, 15(7), 539-553.
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