What Is Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, also known as “diabetes” is basically a group of metabolic diseases attributed by high blood sugar levels. Diabetes mainly results from the disorder in insulin secretion. Insulin reduces the blood glucose level to a low point.
Pancreas is an organ near the stomach and this is where the hormone, insulin is produced. Insulin is an essential hormone responsible for turning sugar and other food into energy. When a person is suffering from diabetes, the body fails to produce enough insulin and is neither able to use its own insulin. As a result the sugar builds up at an alarming amount in the body. The high increase in sugar leads the spillage of glucose into the urine.
Elevated levels of glucose in the blood can greatly damage the body specially eyes, nerves, kidneys and heart. When people are at pre diabetes stage then they are prone to risk of two types of diabetes namely, impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance. Diabetes is not contagious neither an infectious disease but a lifelong disease.There are many symptoms of diabetes such as excessive thirst, excessive urination, unusual weight loss and extreme hunger. Once people experience these symptoms, they must see a doctor.
Although diabetes can not be cured but there are many ways to control it. The patients should always have a control over their weight and blood glucose levels. Doctors design a specific diet plan for diabetic people and once it is followed correct then you can always control your diabetes. Exercise also plays an important role in controlling diabetes. If one fails to control diabetes then it may severely damage the body.
There are several treatments for diabetes such as diabetes pills, excessive exercise, insulin and islet Cell Transplantation. However diabetes pills may have many side effects which include nausea, low blood glucose, headache and excessive gain of weight. At extreme cases diabetic pills may also cause liver failure.
A person can diagnose diabetes by fasting for at least 8 hours overnight. After this a fasting plasma glucose test is performed in which the patient’s sample of blood is extracted for further analysis in the laboratory.
Women suffering from diabetes can become pregnant but they will have to be extra concerned about their health and food. They will have to keep good control of blood glucose levels at all times and manage their medication of diabetes. Regular exercise is very important for every diabetic patient and must ensure they appropriately adjust their meal plans.
Many diabetic patients concentrate more on their medication and diet and fail usually do not add exercise in their managing diabetes plan. When you combine exercise with your medication and plan, you will realize how good it feels. Exercise is very important as it helps to lower the blood sugar by transporting glucose in the cells at a faster rate. It maintains the body weight. Moreover the cardiovascular risk also decreases as heart pumps more efficiently and thus improving circulation.Diabetic patient are increasingly at a faster pace every year. It is important that you control your diabetes as it will prevent you from many severe diseases .
- Following an appropriate meal plan
- Frequent self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG)
- Administering insulin injections and knowing how to adjust the doses depending on results of SMBG
- Controlling/treating hypoglycemia
- Adding or maintaining an appropriate level of physical activity
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