What really is Diabeties?!


Question:

What really is Diabeties?

I've been wanting to know because I might have it.


Answers:

To understand diabetes you must know how your body works. Your pancreas has some cells (beta cells) that produce insulin. Insulin is use to get the glucose in your blood inside your cells and thus keeping your blood sugar (glicemia) at normal levels.

There are several types of diabetes, the two main types are diabetes mellitus 1 (DM1) and DM2. DM1 is an autoimmune disorder in which your own body produces antibodies that destroy your pancreas (it`s like your body going against itself). Thus if your pancreas is destroy you won`t produce insulin and your blood sugar will be high. DM1 occurs especially in young people.
DM2 is caracterize by insulin resistance, this means that your pancreas produces normal amounts of insulin (well in some people it can be diminish or when the deseases progreses you can produce less insulin). The problem is that your body is resistant to the insulin you produce, it can`t act properly, and so glucose can`t get inside your cells. DM2 occurs in adults and the incidence increases with age (up to 20% of old people are diabetic). Also DM2 pacientes tend to be overweight .

This is a very basic explanation on the patofisiology of diabetes. The main symptoms are:
DM1
Abnormal thirst and a dry mouth
Frequent urination
Extreme tiredness/lack of energy
Sudden weight loss
Slow-healing wounds
Recurrent infections
Blurred vision
DM2
The same symptoms that are listed above can also affect people with type 2 diabetes, but they are usually less obvious. The onset of type 2 diabetes is gradual and therefore hard to detect. Indeed, some people with type 2 diabetes show no obvious symptoms early on. These people are often diagnosed several years later, when various complications are already present.

The diagnosis of diabetes is quiete simple, you need to know your glicemia (value of blood glucose). You can get tested at a hospital or other health care centers, or even at home is you have (or know someone who owns) a glucometer. To be diagnose you must have one of the following criteria:

1. One glicemia greater than 125 early in the morning without eating Plus symptoms (previosly listed)

2. Two glicemias greater than 125 early in the morning without eating even if you don`t hace symptoms.

3. One glicemia greater than 200 at any time of day or two hours after eating.

There is also a condition known as glucose intolerance or pre-diabetes, in which you glicemia will be between 100 and 125 early in the morning or between 140 and 199 at any time of day. A large number of patients with pre-diabetes develop diabetes after a few years and ther are several test you can get to know this.

All patients with diabetes must get treatmente, with includes diet, excersise and in some cases pills (perhaps you have heard of metformin or glidiabet) and some will need insulin. The correct treatment of diabetes will prevent short and long term complications, which include kidney damage (nephropathy), nerve damage (neuropathy), eye disease (retinopathy), diseases of the circulatory system and even amputation.
Hope this was useful




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