Diabetes Mellitus popularly known as Diabetes is a metabolic disorder. This applies to the way our bodies make use of digested food that we eat for growth and energy. Most of the food we eat is ultimately broken down to glucose, this is a type of sugar in the blood. It is our bodies’ primary source of energy or fuel.
Whenever food is digested in our bodies, the glucose gets into our bloodstream. The cells in our body use this glucose for growth and energy. However, the glucose on its own cannot be used by the cells in our bodies without Insulin being present. This insulin is what makes it possible for the cells in our body to absorb the glucose.
Insulin is a body hormone which is produced by the pancreas. It is the work of the pancreas to automatically release an adequate dose of insulin into our bodies after eating to move the glucose in our blood from the digested food into the cells and thereby lowering our bodies sugar level.
A person with a diabetic condition is one whose quantity of glucose in the body is very high, a situation which is also known as Hyperglycemia. The cause of this is usually that the body is not producing enough insulin or that some body cells are not responding well to the insulin that the pancreas is producing. This causes a building up of too much glucose. However, this excess glucose in the blood is finally passed out of the body as urine. So in spite of the blood having excess glucose, yet the cells are starved of them for their vital growth and energy requirements.
There are three main types of diabetes which are:
Diabetes Type 1 – This is a condition where the body does not produce insulin at all.
Diabetes Type 2 – This a condition where there may be a resistance to insulin or the body cells inability to use insulin properly, this sometimes goes with a total insulin deficiency.
Gestational Diabetes – This condition occurs when a pregnant woman who had never experienced diabetic conditions suddenly started having a rise in glucose level during the time of pregnancy. If not properly taken care of, this may precede the development of the type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
Question: Can diabetes be cured?
Answer: Diabetes has been treated effectively ever since insulin became easily available in 1921. However, type 1 and type 2 diabetes are acute conditions that are often very difficult to cure.
Treatment methods like pancreas transplants have been used with a limited success in type 1 diabetes. However, with the right treatment the effects of Diabetes Mellitus can be controlled, especially with type 2 diabetes. Today, there are many ways to acquire medications necessary for testing and treatment, and it is possible often to get cheap diabetic supplies online or by mail. Gestational diabetes usually ends soon after delivery.
A lot of complications can occur when diabetic conditions are not properly treated, some of them are hypoglycemia, or nonketotic hyperosmolar coma, and diabetic ketoacidosis. Proper treatment of diabetes is very important plus blood pressure control and living a healthy lifestyle, while avoiding harmful acts like smoking, excessive sugar intake and also maintaining a healthy body weight.