Diabetes Mellitus: The Silent Killer
All You Need To Know About Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, or diabetes, is one of the most widespread health conditions today, as well as one of the most dangerous. Diabetes occurs when your body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or can’t effectively use the insulin it produces to regulate your blood sugar levels. This condition can cause long-term complications that affect nearly every part of your body, so it’s important to get diagnosed and treat it as early as possible. Learn about causes, symptoms, and treatment methods here.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. Diabetes is one of two types of endocrine disorders (the other being hyperthyroidism) that can increase blood sugar levels to pathologically high levels (hyperglycemia). The increased blood glucose in diabetes mellitus may cause many complications, often without warning. Left untreated, it can cause long-term damage throughout the body.
Types of diabetes mellitus
Diabetes can be classified in a number of ways. Two common classifications are
1) Type 1 diabetes (formerly called insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile-onset diabetes). In type 1 diabetes, patients do not produce insulin.
2) Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent diabetes or adult-onset diabetes). in type 2, they do not produce sufficient amounts of it.
3) Gestational diabetes is a condition related to gestational hormones that causes high blood sugar during pregnancy.
Causes of diabetes
Insulin is a hormone produced by beta cells in your pancreas. This hormone is responsible for regulating glucose levels in your body; when you have diabetes mellitus, either your pancreas isn’t producing enough insulin or your body can’t properly utilize it. Diabetes mellitus occurs due to one of these two scenarios. Either way, there are two main causes of diabetes: autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells or genetic inheritance that puts you at risk for type 2 diabetes.
Symptoms of diabetes mellitus
According to National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC), symptoms of diabetes mellitus include frequent urination; unexplained weight loss; fatigue; blurred vision; sores that do not heal; tingling or numbness in your hands or feet. These symptoms are not caused by diabetes but can be a sign of other health problems. Many people do not have any symptoms when they have diabetes mellitus. If you think you might have diabetes, contact your doctor for a blood test to measure your blood glucose level.
Treatments for diabetes
There are many treatment options for diabetes. Most health care providers agree that a combination of diet modification, exercise program, oral medications, and insulin injections work best. Depending on your type of diabetes and complications from it (if any), you may need to take more than one of these treatments to keep your blood sugar levels in a healthy range.
It’s important to talk with your doctor about what kind of treatment plan is right for you. Once you decide which treatments will be part of your regimen, there are several things you can do to help them be most effective.
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