Understanding Diabetes and Its Complications
An estimated 16 million people in the United States have diabetes-more than one third are not aware that they have the disease. This year alone, more than 798,000 cases will be diagnosed. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death by disease in the United States; this year alone, more than 187,000 Americans will die from this disease and its complications (CDC). Education about diabetes is essential to understanding the disease and preventing its complications.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, systemic disturbance in the metabolism of carbohydrates, protein, and fat (ADA, Medical Management 3). The term diabetes derives from the Greek word which means “to go through a siphon.” Thus diabetes refers to the overproduction of urine known as polyuria. Mellitus comes from the Latin word mel (honey) and describes the sweet odor of the urine. Diabetes occurs when the beta cells of the pancreas fail to produce or secrete an adequate amount of insulin. Diabetes also effects the vascular and nervous system.
In order to understand diabetes, it is important to understand how we normally metabolize food. Our bodies are composed of millions of cells, and in order to function, these cells must create energy. This energy comes from glucose. Glucose is mainly obtained from food.
When we eat, food enters the digestive system and is broken down into glucose. The three components from which glucose is made are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Carbohydrates convert 100% into glucose; protein converts 50-60%; and fat converts 10%. Once food is broken down into glucose, it can be absorbed in the blood and carried to the cells of the body. However, for glucose to enter the cells, insulin must be present.
Insulin is a hormone that regulates the entire absorption process. It acts like a key that can unlock the doors of the cell. Cells have receptor sites, like keyholes, that receive insulin. When insulin attaches to a receptor site, a passageway is created that enables glucose to enter the cell. Once glucose is absorbed in this manner, it can be immediately used for the use of energy or it can be stored as glycogen in the liver and muscle cells for future use. Excess glucose is converted into fat. The normal fasting glucose level is 70-100 mg/dl; after meals is 70-140 mg/dl.
There are two classifications of diabetes. These are Type 1 and Type 2. In Type 1 diabetes, individuals have no insulin secretion, therefore they are prone to breaking down fat and having high ketone levels, which requires insulin injections to maintain life.
Type 1 diabetes develops when the beta-cells are killed off by the immune system. This is because an inflammation is caused which the immune system fights off, ultimately destroying all/majority of beta cells. The role of the beta cells is to produce insulin within the pancreas. The beta cells are signalled when to release insulin’s to certain parts of the body. A person with type 1 diabetes is likely to have lost 70-80%1 of their beta-cells mass which is why they must manually inject insulin into themselves to maintain a healthy blood glucose level. When the blood glucose level falls (hypoglycaemia) you begin to lose energy.
Our body obtains the energy by digesting the carbohydrates into glucose. Volumes of glucose are required by the body to create ATP. ATP is short for 'Adenosine Triphosphate ' and is an energy carrier. When we consume too many carbohydrates our body produces a lot of glucose and as a result blood glucose levels rise and sometimes they may rise over the normal range of blood glucose concentration. To bring it back within the healthy range, the homeostatic system of blood glucose regulation is used. The blood flows through the pancreas where the beta cells, receptors, detect the high blood glucose level. To counteract this stimuli beta cells alert the control centre, which are also the beta cells located in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. The secretion of insulin has to be done quickly but can only be carried out when insulin gene is switched on. Turning on the insulin gene switch can take 30 minutes to an hour therefore, the production of insulin by beta cells are done in advance and are packaged in vesicles right until blood glucose rises. Glucose comes into the beta cell to trigger the vesicle that contains the insulin to move towards the plasma membrane and fuse. This releases the insulin into the bloodstream where they are distributed throughout the body and only affect specific target cells. The receptor, a protein, on the target cell’s plasma membrane recognises and connects
The pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus in is related to the insulin hormone. Insulin is secreted by cells in the pancreas and is responsible for regulating the level of glucose in the bloodstream. It also aids the body in breaking down the glucose to be used as energy. When someone suffers from diabetes, however, the body does not break down the glucose in the blood as a result of abnormal insulin metabolism. When there are elevated levels of glucose in the blood, it is known as hyperglycemia. If the levels continue to remain high over an extended period of time, damage can be done to the kidneys, cardiovascular systems; you can get eye disorders, or even cause nerve damage. When the glucose levels are low in one’s body, it is called hypoglycemia. A person begins to feel very jittery, and possibly dizzy. If that occurs over a period of time, the person can possibly faint. Diabetes mellitus occurs in three different forms - type 1, type 2, and gestational.
1. Type 1 diabetes is a result from the body’s failure to produce insulin, which requires the individual to inject insulin in other ways (RCT).
Diabetes mellitus, habitually referred to as diabetes is caused by a decline in insulin secretion by the cells of the pancreatic islet resulting into a surge in blood glucose concentration, a condition known as hyperglycemia. Diabetes insipidus is a disorder defined by the secretion of huge quantities of highly diluted urine, this is regardless if a reduction in fluid intake. This is as a result of a deficit of anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) also known as vasopressin produced by the posterior pituitary gland. The disorder diabetes mellitus is associated by extreme reduction in weight, a higher urge for urination, also known as polyuria, higher levels of thirst (polydipsia) and an extreme craving to eat known as polyphagia. This disorder has been categorized as Type 1 or insulin dependent diabetes and Type 2 or non-insulin dependent diabetes another type is the Gestational diabetes. The Type 1 diabetes mellitus is portrayed by a deficiency of the insulin-secreting beta cells of the islets of Langerhans found in the pancreas, this leads to a shortage of insulin. The principal cause for this deficiency of beta cells is a T-cell mediated autoimmune onslaught. In children, Type1 diabetes is known as juvenile diabetes. The Type 2 diabetes mellitus is as a result of insulin resistance or diminished insulin sensitivity coupled to a reduction in insulin production.
According to Clark, M. L., & Utz, S. (2014) diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and
Every year, one point five million Americans are diagnosed. Diabetes remains the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2015. 79,535 death certificates listed it as the underlying cause of death, and a total of 252,806 death certificates listed diabetes as an underlying or contributing cause of death in 2015. The total cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2012 was two-hundred and forty-five billion (Statistics About
Diabetes is a disease in which a person’s body in unable to make or utilize insulin properly which affects blood sugar levels. Insulin is a hormone that is produced in the pancreas, which helps to regulate glucose (sugar) levels, break down carbohydrates and fats, and is essential to produce the body’s energy. The CDC (2013) offers reliable insight, summarized here, into the different types of diabetes, some causes, and health complications that may arise from the disease.
When the blood glucose is higher than the normal levels, this is known as diabetes disease. The body turns the food we eat into glucose or sugar and use it for energy. The insulin is a hormone created by the pancreas to help the glucose get into the cells. The sugar builds up in the blood because either the body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t well use its own insulin (CDC, 2015). In the United States diabetes is known as the seventh leading cause of death. There are different types of diabetes. However, there are two main types of diabetes and these are; Diabetes type 1 and Diabetes type 2 (CDC, 2015).
Insulin is a hormone produced by the B cells in the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas. Under normal conditions, insulin is continuously released into the bloodstream in small pulsatile increments (a basal rate), with increased release (bolus) when food is ingested. The activity of released insulin lowers blood glucose and facilitates a stable, normal glucose range of approximately 70 to 120 mg/dl. The average amount of insulin secreted daily by and adult is approx. 40 to 50 U, or 0.6 U/kg of body weight.
(Relevancy statement) Even though, we all in this classroom may not have diabetes, it still is a vast threat to one's health worldwide. It is starting to become a quick outbreak globally within every age group and as said by the American Diabetes Association approximately 29.1 million people in the United States have diabetes.
Diabetes is a disease that causes an abnormally high level of sugar, or glucose, to build up in the blood. Glucose comes from food we consume and also from our liver and muscles. Blood delivers glucose to all the cells in the body. In people without diabetes, the pancreas makes a chemical called insulin which is released into the blood stream. Insulin helps the glucose from the food get into cells. When the pancreas doesn’t make insulin, it can’t get into the cells and the insulin stays in the blood stream. The blood glucose level gets very high, causing the person to have type one diabetes.
If my friend came to me with this kind of problem for advise the first thing I would do as a student going into the health care feild, is to educate him of type 2 herpes virus and how he got it. To fully understand type 2 herpes, he will first need to understand what type 1 herpes is. Type 1 herpes is transmitted through oral secrections or getting in contact with the skin of someone who has it. It can cause sore and fever blisters around the mouth and lips. Type 1 herpes is also known as oral herpes. Type 2 herpes on the other hand cause sores around the genital areas and below the waist. it is contracted and transimitted during sex, so it means that my friend either got it from his fanciec or he got it from a previous relationship, worse case seneriol one of them cheated or is cheating on the other.
The body uses glucose for the main source of energy and all the body's cells use glucose to function properly. Some cells can not function with out glucose, brain cells can have permanent damage when there is very low levels of glucose in the body. Insulin is needed in the body to allow the glucose to enter the cells. If the body does not have enough insulin the patient will have a high blood sugar but it can not get into the cells to be used.
“Diabetes mellitus (sometimes called "sugar diabetes") is a condition that occurs when the body can't use glucose (a type of sugar) normally. Glucose is the main source of energy for the body's cells. The levels of glucose in the blood are controlled by a hormone called insulin, which is made by the pancreas. Insulin helps glucose enter the cells” (Diabetes Mellitus).