Useful Information About Diabetes

In the United States alone, there are 18. 2 million people living with diabetes. While another 13 million people are already diagnosed with diabetes.

About Diabetes:

Diabetes comes from the Greek word 'Diabeinain'. That means 'To pass through' talking about copious urination, and Mellitus from your Latin word meaning 'Sweetened together with honey'. These two terms signify sweetened urine or perhaps sugar in urine.

Diabetes is a disease when the body does not generate or properly use Insulin. Insulin is a hormone which controls the rate at which starch, sugar and other food are changed into glucose. An organ called pancreas produced and released the hormone into the blood. Insulin helps to maintain the blood glucose level within a normal range.

After having a meal the liver stores the glucose from the meal as glycogen and releases it into the blood in between meals. Role of insulin is the control of this storage and release of glucose. It ensures that the amount of glucose in the blood at each particular time does not go beyond or below the normal range.

Types Of Diabetes:

According to the World Health Organization, 5 classes of diabetes are recognized.

These are:
1. Insulin Dependent Diabetes or Type I Diabetes
2. Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes or Type II Diabetes
3. Gestational Diabetes
4. Diabetes Insipidus
5. Bronze Diabetes

1. Insulin Dependent Diabetes or Type I Diabetes: Type One attacks children and young adults and is characterized by the pancreas which failing to produce insulin, which is a hormone that breaks down sugars and starches while converting them into energy.
2. Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes or Type II Diabetes: Type Two occurs later in an adult's life and is characterized by the pancreas being unable to produce enough insulin due to several factors.
3. Gestational Diabetes: This type of diabetes occurs during pregnancy and disappears after delivery, within 3 weeks. An estimated 3% of all pregnancies are accompanied by gestational diabetes and almost half of these patients are prone to developing permanent diabetes later in their life.
4. Diabetes Insipidus: Diabetes insipidus is a rare disorder where the body used the system to regulate its water levels becomes disrupted.
5. Bronze Diabetes: Bronze diabetes is a genetic disorder caused by an over storage of iron in the body which leads to organ damage, including damage to the pancreas causes the patient to develop diabetes.

Cause Of Diabetes:
No clear cut cause is usually attributed to the most prevalent type of diabetes. Some factors are able to increase one's chances of getting diabetes and these may be called risk factors. Some factors are given below:

Obesity: Approximately three quarters of almost all Type II diabetes affected persons are obese. So, obesity may be a cause of getting diabetes.

Family History: A family history of this disease increases one's chances of getting the disease.

Lack of sufficient exercise: Insufficient and irregular exercise may increase chances of becoming diabetic.

History of Gestational Diabetes: In this case, a woman also increases her possibility of developing permanent diabetes later in life.

Tests Help Diagnose Diabetes:

There are two, main tests used for determining if or not a person has glucose intolerance:
1. Fasting Plasma Glucose Test
2. Oral Glucose Tolerance Test

Preventing Diabetes:
Diabetes has no permanent cure once it develops, it is managed all through life. But you can prevent ever falling into this life long pain.

The following tips may help to reduce diabetes risk.
1. Do sufficient exercise.
2. Reducing body weight as well as fat and maintaining a typical body weight is really essential. So, decrease weight.
3. Choose whole grains and whole grain products over highly processed carbohydrates.
4. Skip the sugary drinks, and choose water, coffee, or tea instead.
5. Choose good fats instead of bad fats.

6. Limit red meat.
7. Choose nuts, poultry, or fish.
8. Cigarette smoke contains several poisonous substances. So, stop smoking.
9. Reduce salt intake.
10. Monitor your blood sugar level.

Some changes in lifestyle, such as regular exercise, maintaining a moderate body weight, reduction of fat intake and high fiber diet all help to live a normal healthy life. These measures are recognized to increase insulin sensitivity as well as reduce blood pressure.



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