Diabetes

Health and Science for Sunday 052409

Hey folks,

My Neighbor has Diabetes. I just learned not to long ago that my Aunt has Diabetes. She was always thirsty, tired, and wasn't feeling well. Since I have been going to the Doctors a bit more than I care to lately, she thought why not go get checked out herself. That was the first thing they checked on me, and I'm not Diabetic, but she turned out to be.

You know me. Diabetes? My Neighbor, my Aunt? I had to do a bit of research to learn more about it. What I found fascinated me and I wanted to share it with all of you. So here is just some of the stuff I found. Maybe it will help someone out there that has just been diagnosed or is showing signs of Diabetes.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a set of related diseases in which the body cannot regulate the amount of sugar (specifically, glucose) in the blood.

Glucose in the blood gives you energy to perform daily activities, walk briskly, run for a bus, ride your bike, take an aerobic exercise class, and perform your day-to-day chores.

From the foods you eat, glucose in the blood is produced by the liver (an organ on the right side of the abdomen near your stomach).

In a healthy person, the blood glucose level is regulated by several hormones, including insulin. Insulin is produced by the pancreas, a small organ between the stomach and liver. The pancreas secretes other important enzymes that help to digest food.

Insulin allows glucose to move from the blood into liver, muscle, and fat cells, where it is used for fuel.

People with diabetes either do not produce enough insulin (type 1 diabetes) or cannot use insulin properly (type 2 diabetes), or both (which occurs with several forms of diabetes).

In diabetes, glucose in the blood cannot move into cells, so it stays in the blood. This not only harms the cells that need the glucose for fuel, but also harms certain organs and tissues exposed to the high glucose levels

Here is an interesting tidbit, and one of the reasons that you should go get checked out if you are showing signs.

About 17 million Americans (6.2% of adults in North America) are believed to have diabetes. About one third of diabetic adults do not know they have diabetes.

About 1 million new cases occur each year, and diabetes is the direct or indirect cause of at least 200,000 deaths each year.

The incidence of diabetes is increasing rapidly. This increase is due to many factors, but the most significant are the increasing incidence of obesity and the prevalence of sedentary lifestyles.

Which of course go hand in hand. I've talked about this before. Kids nowadays no longer "go out and play." They are more content to stay on the computer, video games, TV, ETC. Not to mention, depending on where you live, kids can not go out dawn to dusk and be safe anymore. So Parents have to get creative and lead by example. If your kids see you sitting on your but watching hours of TV or on the Computer, while stuffing your face with Ho Hos, they will do the same.

Some of the signs?

Diabetes Symptoms

Symptoms of type 1 diabetes are often dramatic and come on very suddenly.

Type 1 diabetes is usually recognized in childhood or early adolescence, often in association with an illness (such as a virus or urinary tract infection) or injury.

The extra stress can cause diabetic ketoacidosis.

Symptoms of ketoacidosis include nausea and vomiting. Dehydration and often-serious disturbances in blood levels of potassium follow.

Without treatment, ketoacidosis can lead to coma and death.

Symptoms of type 2 diabetes are often subtle and may be attributed to aging or obesity.

A person may have type 2 diabetes for many years without knowing it.

People with type 2 diabetes can develop hyperglycemic hyperosmolar nonketotic syndrome.

Type 2 diabetes can be precipitated by steroids and stress.

If not properly treated, type 2 diabetes can lead to complications like blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, and nerve damage.

Common symptoms of both major types of diabetes:

Fatigue: In diabetes, the body is inefficient and sometimes unable to use glucose for fuel. The body switches over to metabolizing fat, partially or completely, as a fuel source. This process requires the body to use more energy. The end result is feeling fatigued or constantly tired.

Unexplained weight loss: People with diabetes are unable to process many of the calories in the foods they eat. Thus, they may lose weight even though they eat an apparently appropriate or even excessive amount of food. Losing sugar and water in the urine and the accompanying dehydration also contributes to weight loss.

Excessive thirst (polydipsia): A person with diabetes develops high blood sugar levels, which overwhelms the kidney's ability to reabsorb the sugar as the blood is filtered to make urine. Excessive urine is made as the kidney spills the excess sugar. The body tries to counteract this by sending a signal to the brain to dilute the blood, which translates into thirst. The body encourages more water consumption to dilute the high blood sugar back to normal levels and to compensate for the water lost by excessive urination.

Excessive urination (polyuria): Another way the body tries to get rid of the extra sugar in the blood is to excrete it in the urine. This can also lead to dehydration because excreting the sugar carries a large amount of water out of the body along with it.

Excessive eating (polyphagia): If the body is able, it will secrete more insulin in order to try to deal with the excessive blood sugar levels. Moreover, the body is resistant to the action of insulin in type 2 diabetes. One of the functions of insulin is to stimulate hunger. Therefore, higher insulin levels lead to increased hunger and eating. Despite increased caloric intake, the person may gain very little weight and may even lose weight.

Poor wound healing: High blood sugar levels prevent white blood cells, which are important in defending the body against bacteria and also in cleaning up dead tissue and cells, from functioning normally. When these cells do not function properly, wounds take much longer to heal and become infected more frequently. Also, long-standing diabetes is associated with thickening of blood vessels, which prevents good circulation including the delivery of enough oxygen and other nutrients to body tissues.

Infections: Certain infection syndromes, such as frequent yeast infections of the genitals, skin infections, and frequent urinary tract infections, may result from suppression of the immune system by diabetes and by the presence of glucose in the tissues, which allows bacteria to grow well. They can also be an indicator of poor blood sugar control in a person known to have diabetes.

Altered mental status: Agitation, unexplained irritability, inattention, extreme lethargy, or confusion can all be signs of very high blood sugar, ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar hyperglycemia nonketotic syndrome, or hypoglycemia (low sugar). Thus, any of these merit the immediate attention of a medical professional. Call your health care provider or 911.

Blurry vision: Blurry vision is not specific for diabetes but is frequently present with high blood sugar levels.

This is not to be taken lightly.

Complications of diabetes

Both forms of diabetes ultimately lead to high blood sugar levels, a condition called hyperglycemia. Over a long period of time, hyperglycemia damages the retina of the eye, the kidneys, the nerves, and the blood vessels.

Damage to the retina from diabetes (diabetic retinopathy) is a leading cause of blindness.

Damage to the kidneys from diabetes (diabetic nephropathy) is a leading cause of kidney failure.

Damage to the nerves from diabetes (diabetic neuropathy) is a leading cause of foot wounds and ulcers, which frequently lead to foot and leg amputations.

Damage to the nerves in the autonomic nervous system can lead to paralysis of the stomach (gastroparesis), chronic diarrhea, and an inability to control heart rate and blood pressure during postural changes.

Diabetes accelerates atherosclerosis, (the formation of fatty plaques inside the arteries), which can lead to blockages or a clot (thrombus). Such changes can then lead to heart attack, stroke, and decreased circulation in the arms and legs (peripheral vascular disease).

Diabetes predisposes people to high blood pressure and high cholesterol and triglyceride levels. These conditions independently and together with hyperglycemia increase the risk of heart disease, kidney disease, and other blood vessel complications.

Is this new? Nope. I found this timeline on Diabetes very interesting.

Timeline Of Diabetes History

According to the timeline of diabetes history, the history of diabetes begins shortly after the birth of Christ.

First century B.C. – Ancient Greek physician Aretaeus of Cappadocia coins the term diabetes, meaning “one who straddles” or “siphon.” Both terms are appropriate for a disease where patients must pass excessive amounts of urine.

Ancient times – Ancient Indians call diabetes “sweet urine disease,” and observe whether ants are attracted to urine as a test for diabetes.

1425 – The word diabete is first recorded in English in a medical text.

1675 – English physician Dr. Thomas Willis adds the word mellitus, Latin
for “honey,” to the term diabetes, due to the sweet taste of diabetic urine.

1900 – Based on animal resesarch, Drs. Joseph von Mering and Oskar Minkowski discovered that the pancreas plays a role in diabetes.

1910 – Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer dubs the chemical produced by the pancreas insulin.

1922 – The first diabetic patient is treated with insulin injections, resulting in the treatment team’s receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923.

1936 – Type 1 diabetes is distinguished from type 2 diabetes by Sir Harold Percival Himsworth.

1942 – The first sulfonylureas are identified.

1977 – The radioimmunoassay for insulin is discovered by Rosalyn Yalow and Solomon Berson.

1988 – Dr. Gerald Reaven identifies metabolic syndrome.

1990s – Thiazolidinedione is identified as an effective insulin sensitizer.

2007 – A trial of 15 newly diagnosed patients treated with stem cells raised from their own bone marrow showed that most of the patients no longer required insulin treatment for extended periods of time.

By studying the history of diabetes, science may finally be able to find a cure for this devastating disease.

Now there is a growing debate if Insulin use is the best treatment out there. But so far, those advocating NOT using Insulin have not really proved there case. As far as I'm concerned anyway. But I will continue to look at the argument more closely now.

The simple fact is folks, if you are showing the signs, go get checked out. It just might save your life.
Peter

Sources:
EMedicineHealth - Diabetes
Health Savvy - A Timeline Of The History Of Diabetes