Diabetes

Diabetes is a condition where the body fails to utilize the ingested glucose properly. This could be due to lack of the hormone insulin or because the insulin that is available is not working effectively.

The term diabetes is the shortened version of the full name diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes is the fastest growing long-term disease that affects millions of people worldwide.

There are two types of diabetes – type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes is called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and occurs at a younger age or childhood. In these patients there is complete lack of the hormone insulin that mandates external administration of the hormone regularly as treatment.Around 75% of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes mellitus. This was earlier termed non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or maturity-onset diabetes mellitus. The number of people with type 2 diabetes is rapidly increasing. In type 2 diabetes, not enough insulin is produced or the insulin that is made by the body is insufficient to meet the needs of the body. Obesidy or being overweight predisposes to type 2 diabetes.

Gestational diabetes occurs in pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women. After childbirth the mother may go on to develop type 2 diabetes.

Symptoms of diabetes

The main symptoms of diabetes are three – polydipsia, polyphagia and polyuria. These mean increased thirst, increased hunger and increased frequency of urination. In addition patients complain of feeling very tired and weight loss and loss of muscle bulk. Type 1 diabetes can develop quickly, over weeks or even days whereas type 2 diabetes may develop gradually.

What happens in diabetes?

Due to lack or insufficiency of insulin there is high blood glucose in diabetes. Excess glucose in the blood can damage the blood vessels. This leads to several complications like heart disease, kidney damage, nerve damage, eye damage and blindness, impotence and stroke.Diabetes, when not controlled, may raise the propensity for infections. Infections and gangrene of the lower limbs is common in uncontrolled diabetes. This may necessitate an amputation if severe. People with diabetes are also 15 per cent more likely to have an amputation than people without the condition.

Prevention, treatment and care

The risk of complications with diabetes can be reduced by adhering to medical advice and keeping diabetes under control. Blood sugar should be regularly monitored so that any problems can be detected and treated early.Treatment involves both healthy diet and exercise as well as oral medications to regulate blood sugar. In all type 1 diabetics and in severe uncontrolled type 2 diabetics one or more injections of insulin a day may be needed.

1.	ingested glucose	спожита глюкоза
2.	insulin-dependent	інсулінозалежний
3.	external administration	зовнішнє введення
4.	to meet the needs of the body	задовольняти потреби організму
5.	frequency of urination	частота сечовиділення
6.	weight loss	втрата ваги
9.	gradually	поступово
10.	insufficiency of insulin	нестача інсуліну
11.	kidney damage	ураження нирок
12.	propensity for infections	схильність до інфекцій
13.	to adhere to medical advice	прислухатися до порад лікаря