Here is your short essay on diabetes!
Diabetes mellitus, commonly called as diabetes is a disease of metabolic disorder where the blood sugar levels tend to remain high either because insufficient insulin is produced in pancreas or because the cells not responding to the insulin produced.
Frequent urination, increased thirst and increased hunger are most common early symptoms of this disease. There are three major forms of diabetes namely Type1, Type 2 and third form is known as gestational diabetes.
Type1 and Type 2 were formerly known as insulin dependent and insulin non-dependent diabetes. In patients of Type1 diabetes, body fails to produce insulin and thus an insulin pump is required to inject it. In Type 2 diabetes, the cells are not able to use the insulin properly because of insulin resistance. Third form is when a pregnant woman develops a higher blood sugar level without having any previous history of diabetes.
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Diabetes has other forms too like congenital resulting from genetic defects in secreting insulin, cystic-fibrosis related, steroid diabetes and other monogenic forms of the disease.
Patients diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes have to depend upon insulin injections for lifetime and have to undergo regular tests for blood glucose level with special diet to prevent sugar levels from increasing. Type 2 is the most common and prevalent form of diabetes around the world.
Overweight or obese people have higher risks of developing Type2 diabetes. Increased abdominal or belly fat also known as visceral fat also puts people on a higher risk as body’s cardiovascular and metabolic systems are destabilized in obese bodies. By losing excessive weight, controlling and maintaining healthy diet, doing regular physical activity, Type 2 diabetes can be controlled and patients can prevent the problem from progressing where they have to take regular insulin tablets.
Diabetes that stays over a period of time can cause other health problems too. Eyes, kidneys and nerves can get damaged and chances of heart stroke are always high. Old age, family history of diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, prior history of gestational diabetes and physical inactivity are some factors that put an individual on the risk of Type2 diabetes. Men with lower testosterone levels are at higher risk of developing the Type2 diabetes. Auto-immune, genetic and environmental factors play considerable role in the onset of Type 1 diabetes although the risk factors are not clearly defined.
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Prevention techniques of the Type 1 diabetes are not highly determined since it is the environmental triggers that predispose individuals at the risk of this ailment. Type 2 diabetes which is mostly associated with obesity can be prevented by doing regular physical activity.
Although prevention is always better, but in case diabetes develops in an individual, there are mechanisms to cure it too. Pancreas transplantation, artificial pancreas development and genetic manipulation are recent advancements in research and science which have made cure of diabetes a possibility. But there are many hurdles in trying out these ways which include preventing rejection of immunes, finding appropriate number of insulin cells, keeping them active etc.
Type1 diabetes lasts for life and there is no defined cure. Type2 diabetes is where a person can reduce dependence on medication with controlled diet to check glucose levels and bringing lot of exercise in their routine.