Diabetes mellitus- What is it and its symptoms?

Diabetes mellitus

According to WHO estimates, Over 422 million peoples have diabetes mellitus. It is a condition in which person blood sugar rises above the regular blood sugar level. Everything we eat or drink has several nutrients, vitamins or glucose whether less or more. Beta cells of the pancreas produce the insulin necessary to absorb blood glucose. It is insulin which transports glucose into the various cells of the body. RBC present in the blood has the work of carrying oxygen into multiple cells and tissues. In cells, mitochondria produce energy by burning glucose in the presence of oxygen. If our body does not produce enough insulin or even stops producing insulin, the glucose from the bloodstream does not reach the cells. It results in more glucose left in the blood. If our body cannot convert the glucose into energy, then blood remains with more glucose. In simple words, we can say “It is an illness of pancreas.”

Our usual approach and what we need to do?

Most of the doctors try to normalize the blood sugar level. For this, they give pancreatic medicines for increasing the insulin’s production but after sometimes when the pancreas stops working, the patient left with no choice other than to take synthetic insulin. We prepare synthetic insulin after filtering of insulin taken from the pancreas of the pig. It is because Insulin taken from one animal can stay active in other animals if inserted in his body. Hence, a doctor with good knowledge always advises patients that while we need to keep sugar level mostly, we also need to make sure that our pancreas will stay healthy. Hence, we need to start two steps while dealing with the diabetic patient: maintaining blood sugar to a reasonable level and repairing of beta cells of the damaged pancreas.

Symptoms of diabetes mellitus:

• Thirsty
• Too much urination: if you have it then your kidney works overtime to absorb and filter the extra glucose. If it cannot absorb glucose, then extra sugar secretes into the urine along with fluids, emitted from the tissues. Another reason is due to thirst; we drink too much water which causes too much urination.
• Dehydration
• Weaker immune response to various illness
• cuts or wounds remains for an extended period without healing
• Fatigue after a small piece of work: Due to insulin deficiency, bloodstream’s glucose cannot reach cells in enough quantity because insulin is the only transporter of glucose from the blood stream to cells. As we all know that Glucose is the primary source of energy for cells, Due to its deficiency to cells, we feel tired even after a minor work.
• sometimes it may affect your vision
• Red swollen gums

Pre-diabetes:

Many peoples have blood sugar higher than the average value, but they have no diabetes mellitus. But the chances of full-blown diabetes are high in them. We sometimes called this condition as pre-diabetes. They only get to know when they have full grown type 2 diabetes. According to one’s survey, 1 out of 3 children in the USA has prediabetes. According to our study about it by consulting with various health care experts and patients, we came to know, pre-diabetes occur due to the deficiency of nutrients. Pre-diabetes mainly occurs to young one and adult upto the age of 45 years. At present, their early diagnosis is challenging. That’s why many peoples having pre-diabetes doesn’t know they have it.

Type of diabetes: 

Although there are many types of diabetes mellitus according to different ways of classification, But the three primary types of diabetes are:

• Type 1 Diabetes
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Gestational Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes:

Type I diabetes mellitus occurs when our immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells. Due to this, our body remains less in insulin or no insulin at all. Insulin opens the cell membrane so that the cell can accept glucose. When we eat anything, then carbohydrates contained in the food are broken down into glucose absorbed by insulin. If our body does not produce enough or no insulin at all, then we need a daily insulin intake in any other form. At present, there is no substitute for it. Without insulin, our blood sugar level will rises which may damage any organ of the body. To cure it, we need to do two things simultaneously: first, replace or repair already damage beta cells, other is need to protect beta cells from the immune system. But there is no cure for this problem except managing blood sugar level by insulin intake.

Type 2 Diabetes:

It occurs when our body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or not able to use insulin effectively for managing blood sugar level. Majority of peoples in the world have type 2 diabetes mellitus which comprises 90% of the total diabetic peoples. The best diet plan having more fiber content and exercise can help to manage blood sugar level because during exercise they burn more glucose in the form of energy. Symptoms of it include excess urination, obesity, lethargy, weight loss, fatigue, too much hunger, blurred vision, etc. You can manage your blood sugar by eating fiber-rich foods and using an artificial sweetener like stevia. Although it occurs mainly in adult and at old age, these days it frequently occurs in the children.

A person with obesity has high chances of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. Let us explain it with the example:

Suppose xyz has a weight of 50 kg which is a healthy weight considering his height and age. While supposing insulin production by the pancreas is 12 grams/ day. After one year, if his weight increases to 75 kg, To maintain this extra weight, the body needs excess glucose for energy production. But insulin production capacity of pancreas remains the same as 12 grams/ day even our body weight increases.  It leads to more glucose level in the bloodstream with less insulin level which increases blood sugar level. Hence, obesity person has more chances of diabetes mellitus than ordinary people.

Gestational diabetes:

It is also known as pregnancy diabetes mellitus, as it mainly occurs in women at the time of pregnancy. After pregnancy, there blood sugar level goes to normal. Women with gestational diabetes suffer primarily at the time of delivery, as it may impact the unborn baby. Although women with gestational diabetes blood sugar level come to normal, they have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes in later stages of life. Women in this show frequent early bleeding at the time of pregnancy. Gestational diabetes exact causes are still unknown, but it may occur:

• The family history of diabetes mellitus
• Genetic causes
• Obesity
• Damage to pancreas or infection of the pancreas due to many factors like a tumor, surgery, etc.

Common Misconception related to it:

• It is a general misconception that if we overeat sugar, then we have high chances of diabetes mellitus but in reality, it is not true.
• It is a general misconception that Fasting will reduce the blood sugar level which is not always true. At the initial state of fasting, our body uses stored glucose in the liver for their energy needs. When we continued fasting for the more extended period and stored glucose empty, then our body uses fats for their energy need. It is highly beneficial for a person having excess weight. But we need to be careful with it because excessive fat loss may damage your vital organs. If we continuously not drink water then due to thirst and continuous dehydration, there are high chances you may need an immediate admit in hospital.I
• t is not a serious illness, but it’s not true. In reality, it causes more deaths than any other diseases like cancer, etc.
• One of the major misconceptions is that it occurs only at the older ages, but it’s not true. It can happen even to children. There is no theory in medical science which says it occurs only to older ones.
• If you have diabetes, you need an insulin intake but its not true. You can manage your blood sugar even by changing your diet plan and by exercising regularly. As I said, earlier insulin intake only needs at type 1 diabetes, not in type 2 diabetes.

NOTED:

While high blood sugar level is harmful to our body, the lower blood sugar level is also equally dangerous. Infact, a lower blood sugar level person can lead to the stage of unconsciousness. It has the fatal result as it may cause the death of a person if blood sugar stays lower for a more extended period. It may be related to diabetes or not because a person without it may have lower blood sugar due to more production of insulin by the pancreas.

Stress can also lead to high blood sugar due to the rise in cortisol level.

Diabetes mellitus can affect our eyes:

Having too much blood sugar can damage our eyes blood vessel which mat leads to blurred vision or total loss of vision. Hence, it is recommended that you need to visit your eyes specialist at least twice a year if you have diabetes.

In later posts, I will discuss each type more thoroughly and what are their causes? , how it impacts our body? how to prevent them and what is the method by which we maintain our blood sugar?