Diabetes Mellitus: What do you know about?

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The term diabetes, when not qualified, refers to diabetes mellitus, a serious metabolic disorder characterized by the malfunction in the body’s use of carbohydrates. The other kind of diabetes is called diabetes insipidus which is quite a different disease and is relatively rare.

Diabetes mellitus, once developed, will be in the system throughout life and often results to life-threatening complications. Although this kind of disease is not curable, modern treatment when faithfully followed can relieve the patient of symptoms and reduce the risk of developing complications. Rigid adherence to treatment is necessary for those who developed the disease in early life for a more comfortable and productive living.

Those who are prone to develop diabetes mellitus are very young children and late adults. The diabetes that begins in childhood also known as juvenile-onset diabetes is often the insulin-dependent type of diabetes while the type that occur during later adulthood or known as maturity-onset diabetes is non-insulin dependent.

What causes diabetes?
The fundamental cause of insulin-dependent type of diabetes is a reduction in the production of insulin by the pancreas. Children of diabetic parents have greater chance of developing diabetes. A hereditary factor makes one susceptible to diabetes. The insulin-dependent diabetes is more serious but accounts for only 10 percent of the total cases of diabetes mellitus.
In the non-insulin-dependent type of diabetes which often occurs in later adulthood, insulin may be adequately produced but a defect has developed in the mechanism by which insulin enables the cells t make use of glucose. In such case, injection of insulin may not be necessary. The common cause of this type liew on the overburdening of the body’s energy-producing mechanism. Obese people are particularly susceptible to this type of diabetes.

What are the common symptoms of patients with diabetes mellitus?
Symptoms include excess production of urine, excessive thirst, bedwetting, an increase in appetite in spite of weight loss, weakness and itching of the skin.

Complications
Common complications include:

arterosclerosis
norrowing of blood capillaries
development of new capillaries particularly in the eyes
degenrative changes in the nervous system
Susceptibility to coronary heat diseases
Foot problems due to poor circulation
Kidney diseases
Susceptible to proliferative retinopathy with its prospect of blindness
May face the danger of loss of consciousness-
Diabetic coma – when the glucose level in the blood reaches high levels and is not controlled by insulin
Hypoglycemic coma – when the glucose level in the blood reaches such a low level.