Is a Cure for Diabetes Out There?
My third grade teacher came into class one morning looking like he had just woken up from hell. His hair was messy, his clothes were not ironed, and his teaching plan for the day was scattered in a pile on his desk. As he sat down in his office chair, he looked at the class with drowsy eyes and whispered “My one year old daughter is having complications lately. She is really sick”. The class stared back with big googly eyes, unsure of what to do. He went on mentioning that his daughter was sweating profusely and was constantly nauseated. When he would pick up her fragile body up, he noticed she had been losing weight, which was not normal for a growing child. At first my teacher, Mr. Hyman, and his wife shook
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it off to be the flu. However, after many days of being sick, they finally took their daughter, Reece, into the doctor. Countless blood test were done before they came to the conclusion that their child had Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes While there are four types of diabetes, there are two that are most commonly found in patients. Type 1 diabetes is found in young children and adults. “Juvenile diabetes happens when your immune system destroys cells in your beta cells. They’re wiped out by something else, like a disease or an injury to your pancreas” says Michael Dansinger, MD (webmd.com). Type 2 diabetes can be, and is, mostly hereditary. The reason why this is true is because they will have an increased resistance to insulin. Obesity and sedentary are also factors that play along into developing type 2 diabetes. With 29.1 million people affected with this horrendous disease, many companies have been working for a cure. Large corporations, such as Apple and Google, have also tagged along with the fight against diabetes. Not only does this help their publicity, but it also helps little girls like Reece who do not enjoy getting their fragile fingers poked three times or more per day. Amount of People With Diabetes is Increasing In the past 7 years, the amount of people diagnosed with diabetes is increasing. As of 2010, there were 26 million people with either type 1 or type 2. In 2017 there has been 29.1 million people officially diagnosed. Sadly, one out of every four people are, or will be, diagnosed with diabetes but will not know it (Diabetes Latest). With substantial numbers constantly increasing there has to be something done. One way Michelle Obama is trying to prevent the number of children diagnosed with diabetes is by continuing the health program ‘Let’s Go!’. Having this program in place in schools around the US, has children eating healthier foods and less sweets. According to JDRF, more than 200,000 cases of juvenile diabetes are found each year (JDRF). Mrs.Obama is one of many that are helping the movement against diabetes. Doctors, such as Dr. Mahesh Changlani, are reporting that due to such a high population with this disease, “big strides are being made in the treatment and management of diabetes” (krgv). A way the number of sick will decrease is by giving patients with diabetes, a islet cell transplant which involves taking the islet cells, the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, from dead donors and putting them into people with Type 1 diabetes, whose own islet cells have stopped working (Taylor, Roy). Another way is by inserting an artificial pancreas. Between these two medical treatments, the cure for diabetes is near. More Money Means we are Closure to the Cure Ann Albright, Ph.D, R.D., director of CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation states, “These new numbers are alarming and underscore the need for an increased focus on reducing the burden of diabetes in our country. Diabetes is costly in both human and economic terms. It’s urgent that we take swift action to effectively treat and prevent this serious disease”. In the United States, over 245 billion dollars has been spent on diabetes research. Cancer research, which most people think has the highest support rate, actually raises less money than diabetes (Brill, Steven). Diabetes, primarily type 2 because of its higher patient rate, brings in most of the money. The 245 billion dollars that community members have generously given goes into research for a cure and prevention. At the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and at the National Institutes for Health, doctors and scientist spend most of their time conducting, researching and supporting clinical trials that they have helped create. Along with conducting new test, the money also helps doctors perform modernized procedures (NIDDK). With more money raised, the more likely time, energy, and care will be put into the research for a cure. Also, the money will allow researchers to buy new technology which is needed to further the process. Apple and Google, would need "several hundred millions or even a billion dollars," says DexCom Executive Chairman Terrance Gregg (CNBC). However, since both of the companies have billions of dollars, and the technology to help solve for the answer to end diabetes, they have started new projects. Will Technology be the Answer for a Cure On January 14, 2016, Google came out with a new product to help move along the fight against diabetes. A team that had been working on the product, developed a contact lense that is able to measure the person's glucose levels from their tears. With only a tiny chip added to the everyday contact, Google is changing the way humans have to live with diabetes. Apple is also taking initiative in this field. Since 2015, Apple has had a team of 30 people designing a new way to fight diabetes. Secretly working in Palo Alto, California for over two years, the engineers have been trying to create a light sensor that shines through the skin. From there, the light shining through the skin would allow the watch to indicate glucose levels. Having a creation, such as the watch or the contact, would allow many people to stop pricking their fingers. “The breakthrough would be a boon for millions of people with diabetes, spur new medical research and open up a potential market for consumers to track their blood sugar for health and wellness insights. It could turn the Apple Watch into a "must have" rather than a "nice to have" for people who would benefit from an easier way to track their blood sugar” say Farr, a reporter for CNBC. Diabetic patients would then be more likely to have a lower death rate because they would be constantly monitored. New technology is allowing many new opportunities for those diagnosed with diabetes to live a better, healthier life. Why Experts Believe Diabetes Will Not Have a Cure People tend to believe that after all the money spent on diabetes there is bound to be a cure.
That is not true. As of now, type 1 and type 2 diabetes do not have to stop them. Natural therapies such as deep breathing, and muscle relaxation, can help relieve stress. Emotional stress also affects a persons glucose levels. Medicines and supplements help glucose levels but do not cure the pancreas, contrary to what one might think. “Be skeptical about claims of a diabetes cure. A genuine cure will have been tested repeatedly in clinical trials with clear success” says an author for WedMD. While this author is right, many people should be willing to experiment with the new studies. Apple, Google, and scientist are only part of a small team against the fight. With all the new technology produced by them, the cure is out there and in reach.
New drugs and breakthroughs in dosing and certain systems have changed the treatment of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes over the last few years. The range of medications to control blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetes has expanded, and insulin can now be adjusted very precisely to the individual patient with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Patients can become much more involved in controlling spikes by adjusting the dosage of short-acting prandial insulin to the particular
meal. Diabetes remains a complex and complicated disease. However, health professionals are equipped to customize treatments and combinations designed to help keep their patients with diabetes on target. I believe that in the future there will be a cure for diabetes. If there is a cure, more than 29 million people in the United States will have a longer life span. In the future, scientist will find a way to stop diabetes instead of preventing it or “coping with it”. Little girls like Reece, whose two younger sisters have also been diagnosed with diabetes, will no longer cry or shiver in pain every time her mom pricks her finger to receive her insulin levels. With this developing, there is hope and joy given to people who are a member of the diabetes community.
The case study chosen for this assignment is case study #2: Hannah is a 10-year-old girl who has recently been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus. She is a 4th grade student at Hendricks Elementary School. Prior to her diagnosis, Hannah was very involved in sports and played on the girls’ volleyball team. Her mother is concerned about how the diagnosis will affect Hannah.
II. The American Diabetes association, containing health care professionals and staff members from all over the world, wrote an article published in September 14, 2014 describing two conditions when the body’s respond to insulin is crucial.
Diabetes is a metabolic disease, that causes a person to have high blood pressure. There are two kinds of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is the loss of insulin producing cells, leading to a deficiency of insulin. Type 2 diabetes is where the person is insulin resistant. Insulin is a peptide hormone, which causes cells to absorb the various glucose it requires. Type 2 diabetes is the most widespread endocrine disease worldwide. Metagenome wide associated study took on a study that was based on the determination of type 2 diabetes and relationship to gut microbial by using the deep shot gun sequencing of the gut microbial. The study consisted of 345 Chinese's individuals that were used to help find any relationships. 60000 type 2 diabetes associated markers were used and linked to type 2 diabetes. Gut microbes are living organisms that live in the gut and the digestive tract. Patients with type 2 diabetes were characterized by a moderate degree of gut microbial symbiosis. Symbiosis is a interaction between different microbial organisms, there are various types of symbiosis such as mutalistic, parasitic and communalistic. The abundance of butyrate producing bacteria as well as the opportunistic pathogens were determined as well. Enrichment of microbial functions due to sulphate reduction and oxidative stress resistance was found. Further studies were also performed with addition of individuals to the study. Gut microbial markers may be useful for classifying type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is a disease rapidly increasing throughout the world today, and it is often referred to as the world’s modern epidemic. Each year, more than 13,000 young people are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes making it an increasing chronic illness. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body’s own immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, normally the body's immune system fights off foreign invaders like viruses or bacteria. Unfortunately an individual with type 1 diabetes immune system attacks various cells in their body and results in a complete deficiency of the insulin hormone. The rapid increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes in genetically stable populations implies an important role for environmental factors. Individuals that suffer from type 1 diabetes have an imbalance of sugar and because enough isn’t moved into the cells the insulin isn’t produced. When sugar accumulates in blood instead of cells, the body refrains and seeks more nutrients and other body functions are in charge of providing energy for the essential systems in the body. While the exact cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown it is often said that it is caused from an autoimmune disorder. Individuals with type 1 diabetes have to be extremely careful because an infection or any other pathogens can causes the body to inadvisably attack the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. Type 1 diabetes is also hereditary. While type 1 diabetes eludes both children and adults it gets its nickname Juvenile Diabetes from the prevalence in its diagnosis in children, adolescents and young adults. Imagine having the responsibility of taking on such a sensible role of being insulin dependent for the rest of your life, most being under the age of 5. Al...
21 February 2014 Phuong Nguyen 2510 Woodhull Ave Bronx, NY 10469. The Honorable Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City City Hall, New York, NY 10007. Dear Mayor Blasio, As society develops, people do not stop seeking access to healthcare services in order to ensure a better quality of life. With largely diverse populations, the Bronx has emerged to be a widely populated community in New York City. As a result, the challenges present in the community are overpopulation, polluted environment, excessive fast food chains, and noise pollution due to various transportations that are a root cause of many healthcare problems.
we catch up with a busy life and maintain a healthy life style? “Fast life- fast food, we
When promoting plus sizes and television shows, are self-esteem or heart disease also being promoted? People throughout the world struggle with being anorexic, bulimic, overweight, or obese. TLC’s now popular reality TV show, My 600 Pound Life, displays the daily struggles of morbidly obese people. While encouraging women to love their body is appealing, there are many dangers in the fondness of obesity. Glorifying obesity can lead to being morbidly unhealthy, as demonstrated by Dominique Lanoise, a woman who died from morbid obesity.
America is one of the most obese countries in the world, and the reasons are quite obvious. Take a look around. Fast food chains on every block, more and more technology to make our lives easier, and high amount of stress are just a few factors to weight gain in our country. There are many different views on obesity and how the people think it should be resolved, whether it's government making the change or the people taking care of themselves. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Are we doing enough to bring these statistics down? No. In the last 40 years, there has been a growth to more than 160,000 fast food restaurants in America (“Adolescent and School Health”). Restaurants (such as Wendy's, McDonald's etc.) serve more than 50 million people per day, generating about 65 million in sales annually. Only since obesity has become a national epidemic have fast food restaurants changed their ways. But we need to do more than just change the kind of oil the french fries are fried in. Better yet, why don't we remove, or intensely decrease the number of the unhealthy fast food chains, and spread more healthy fast food chains, such as Subway? Is it something government could take act in? Should the United States government take measures to fight the rise of obesity in the country, or are choices concerning diet and nutrition better left to the individuals, free of government interference?
Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic health condition in which the level of glucose in the blood is higher than usual. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not create enough insulin and type 2 diabetes occurs when insulin is produced, but is not adequate in lowering blood glucose levels or there is resistance to the insulin (Edwards, 2007, p. 9). Diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease, foot and leg amputations, and new cases of blindness in the United States (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2010, p. 1465-66). People with type 1 diabetes are required to take insulin to manage their glucose levels. People with type 2 diabetes are usually prescribed oral medications such as sulfonylurea agents, meglitinide analogues, or biguanides to help control their glucose levels. Twenty to 30% of people with type 2 diabetes require insulin therapy as well (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2010, p. 1471). In addition to medication therapy, diet and weight control can help manage both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Because diabetes mellitus can cause such severe complications, it is important that people with diabetes understand the importance of certain health and lifestyle choices, such as their diet and weight to manage their disease. Patients with diabetes mellitus should pay special attention to the amount of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and minerals that are included in their diet. Monitoring these components of their diet, along with weight management, can help control their diabetes mellitus.
Diabetes is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, with half of all Americans becoming either diabetic or pre-diabetic. Treatments for Type-1 diabetes include taking insulin to help increase your glucose levels (blood sugar), eating healthy, maintaining healthy weight, and monitoring your daily levels. Type-2 treatments include most of Type-1’s treatments (excluding the taking of insulin) and in some cases a special diabetes medication or insulin therapy (Type-2).... ... middle of paper ...
Diabetes mellitus is one of the common diseases of the hormonal system. Diabetes is a disease caused by a number of factors such as due to complete or partial loss of insulin production or complete or partial loss of its action or both. Whatever the type of diabetes, the main feature of all types of diabetes is elevated level of blood glucose termed as hyperglycemia. A disease forming alterations in capillary’s basement membrane thickening, elevation of matrix of vessel wall and proliferation cell leading to the vascular complications such as narrowing of the lumen, and early atherosclerosis. Diabetes is found to be related with the elevated generation of atherosclerosis that affects the arteries involve in the circulation to the heart, brain and lower extremities. As well as diabetic myocardial disease, is one of the complications of diabetes. Diabetes founds to affect about 100 million people all over the world. The conditions of diabetes leading to the introduction and generation of microvascular disorder that is results by the destruction of the small blood vessels and macrovascular disorders that results by the destruction of arteries. In diabetic patient the major reason of inability and death is the vascular disease mainly atherosclerosis.
We are all familiar with sugar. It is sweet, delicious, and addictive; yet only a few of us know that it is deadly. When it comes to sugar, it seems like most people are in the mind frame knowing that it could be bad for our health, but only a few are really taking the moderate amounts. In fact, as a whole population, each and everyone of us are still eating about 500 extra calories per day from sugar. Yes, that seems like an exaggerated number judging from the tiny sweet crystals we sprinkle on our coffee, but it is not. Sugar is not only present in the form of sweets and flavourings, it is hidden in all the processed foods we eat. We have heard about the dangers of eating too much fat or salt, but we know very little about the harmful effects of consuming too much sugar. There still isn’t any warnings about sugar on our food labels, nor has there been any broadcasts on the serious damages it could do to our health. It has come to my concern during my research that few
Diabetes Mellitus is a disease in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps the body’s tissues absorb glucose which is sugar, so it can be used as a source of energy. Glucose levels build up in the blood and urine which causes excessive urination, thirst, hunger, and problems with fat and protein metabolism in a diabetic person. Diabetes is very common in the United States; it is the seventh leading cause of all deaths. Women have been diagnosed with diabetes more than men. There are two forms of diabetes, Type one and Type two diabetes. Type one diabetes is when the body does not produce insulin or produces it in very small quantities. This usually occurs in younger people under twenty years of age, mostly around puberty. Type two diabetes is when the body’s balance between insulin production and the ability of cells to use insulin doesn’t work properly. This is more common than type one; about 90-95% people in the United States have it. There are no cures for diabetes now but there are many researchers investigating factors through new technologies to cure them. Meanwhile, technological advancements are being made to keep glucose at a good level for diabetes.
Eating Responsibly To eat responsibly means to know what you are eating and knowing what you are putting into your body, whether it is healthy for you or not. It’s a sad fact that the typical American diet (high in meat and processed foods) is not healthy. There are a lot of different ways to stay healthy, but it can also be very difficult to follow a good diet plan all the time. I know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I have tried to eat well before all of my classes. I include the necessary protein of eggs and sausage, and include a fruit of some kind.
A healthy lifestyle is usually picked up as we get older. However, think of how much more beneficial it would be for our bodies when we get older, if we would have learned and adapted to a healthier lifestyle when we were younger? Teaching your kids how important a healthy diet is, will help them maintain that lifestyle in their older years. Not to mention have lower health risks, higher self-esteem and it will give them the energy they need to keep up with their eating habits and maintain their body weight.