Diabetes Mellitus and its Management

2023-01-03

What Is Diabetes?

Due to a lack or poor use of insulin, the body cannot take up sugar(glucose) which ultimately increases glucose levels leading to diabetes mellitus. Glucose cannot be converted into energy due to a deficiency of insulin in the body, leading to weight loss, fatigue, and urine incontinence.

If the condition is not controlled, this may cause serious complications such as:

What are the Symptoms of Diabetes?

The following are alarming signs of diabetes (2).

  • Urine incontinency
  • Increase thirst and hunger
  • Fatigue and weight loss (type1)
  • Numbness in hands and feet (type 2)
  • Weak vision
  • Slow healing of injuries.

 

Types of Diabetes Mellitus

There are 4 significant types of diabetes mellitus.

Type 1 Diabetes

It is an autoimmune condition. It happens when the body attacks the pancreas with antibodies. It is also called insulin-dependent diabetes. It used to be called juvenile-onset diabetes because it often begins in childhood.

Type 2 Diabetes

It happens when the pancreas usually creates some insulin. But either it’s not enough, or your body doesn’t use it as it should. When cells don’t respond to insulin, insulin resistance usually happens in fat, liver, and muscle cells. 

This type of disorder used to be called non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset diabetes. But it’s become more common in children and teens over the past 20 years, mainly because more young people are overweight or obese. About 90% of people with diabetes have type 2.

Gestational Diabetes

Pregnancy usually causes some form of insulin resistance. If this becomes diabetes, it’s called gestational. In this type of diabetes, the unborn child is more at risk than the mother.

Other Forms of Diabetes

 1 to 5 percent of people who have diabetes have different onsets of the condition, which include the following:

  • Diseases of the pancreas
  • Certain surgeries
  • Medications
  • Infections (3).

 

Statistics and Facts about Diabetes

  • Diabetes type 1 is increasingly alarming nowadays in the UK.
  • The UK has one of the highest rates of type 1 diabetes in the world
  • 400,000 people currently live with type 1 diabetes in the UK, including around 29,000 children, increasing by about four percent each year.
  • 96 percent of children have type 1 diabetes in Whales, England.
  • 85 percent of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes have no family history (4).

 What are the Causes of Diabetes?

The following are common causes of diabetes:

  •  Excessive processed carbohydrates consumption
  • Drinks sweetened with sugar and soft drinks
  •  Saturated and trans fats
  • Red meats and processed meats (5).

 

What are the Risk factors and Prevalence?

Diabetes was considered a problem of old age; however, young people also report

suffering from type 2 diabetes.  Here are the risk factors that make the young population

more prone to develop diabetes.

  • Obese and overweight (37-inch waist in a man or a woman with a 31.5-inch waist or above)
  • Asian or African-Caribbean origin
  • Family history of diabetes (0.5 percent chance they’ll develop Type 1 diabetes, but if someone in your family has type 1 diabetes, there’s a 6 percent chance you will too).
  •  45 years or older
  • Diabetes during pregnancy or giving birth to a baby who weighed over 9 pounds (6).

 

The Global Report on Diabetes in 2021

  •  537 million adults (20-79 years) are living with diabetes - 1 in 10. This number is predicted to rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045
  • Over 3 in 4 adults with diabetes live in low- and middle-income countries
  • Diabetes is responsible for 6.7 million deaths in 2021 - 1 every 5 seconds
  • Diabetes costs at least USD 966 billion in health expenditure – a 316 percent increase over the last 15 years
  • 541 million adults have Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT), which places them at high risk of type 2 diabetes (7).

How to Manage the Disorder?

There are different ways to manage diabetes mellitus. Some of the ways to do that are:

  • Be aware of the disease and its effects
  • Exercise regularly to keep your body healthy
  • Find local support groups and services for people with diabetes
  • Eat healthy foods to manage your blood sugar levels
  • Stick to your medication and do not skip it
  • Manage stress effectively
  • Monitor your blood sugar regularly and keep track of your BG numbers (8).

 

By: Tayyeba Idrees Butt M.D.