Diabetes - The Growing Threat to Americans

The answer to that is of course. We can take a look at some of the risk factors for example and almost half of the list points to obesity and last but not least an inactive lifestyle.

Risk Factors increases with age, and the following factors:

Being Overweight

Blood Pressure of 140/90 or higher

High Cholesterol levels

Family History of diabetes

Ethnicity :African-Americans, Hispanic, Pacific Islanders, Native American

Gestational Diabetes or Giving Birth to a baby weighing more than nine pounds

Sedentary Life Style

Knowing what kind of disease is diabetes will help educate people in actually preventing and treating the disease and actually keeping it under control. To put it very simple diabetes is a metabolic disorder that happens when the body cannot convert sugar (glucose) from food into energy so people end up with too much sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream. If this is left unchecked can cause major problems with the your body.

There are two types of diabetes:

Type 2: the body no longer responds to insulin (the hormone needed to convert sugar (glucose) into energy and stops making insulin altogether

Type 1: The immune system destroys the insulin producing cells (beta) in the pancreas.

Diabetes and its Effects on the Body

These are some of the symptoms:

Frequent urination

Extreme thirst

Unexplained weight loss

Hunger

Fatigue

Blurred vision

Tingling and burning and hands and feet

Many people with diabetes do not realize that over time too much glucose in the blood stream can lead to severe damage in every system of their body. It can damage the eyes causing glaucoma, cataracts, blurred vision, and in extreme cases blindness because during the process blood vessels in the eyes do not get nourished with a sufficient blood supply due to excess insulin in the body therefore damage occurs.

The kidneys get forced into overdrive as they struggle to eliminate the glucose in the body and that causes a stain and over usage and finally burn out of this organ.

Nerve damage in the bladder occurs making the patient unaware that the bladder is full or empty. This leads to incontinence and also to urinary tract infections.

Overall the circulatory system no longer functions well causing bought of circulation in the whole body which lead to worse complications such as amputation of the limbs (feet) due to ulcerations and gangrene (necrosis of tissue due to open ulcers and lack of blood circulation due to thinning blood vessels, and stroke and heart attacks (same concept with blood vessel walls thinning and increases rate of hemorrhage in the brain and heart).

History of Diabetes: The Evolvement of the Disease and Treatment Advances

Just about a century ago Type 2 diabetes was not understood and having Type 1 diabetes was having a death sentence. Drastic measures were taken to spare the lives of those with the disease such as starvation, blood letting, patients given large amount of fluid, drugging of patients with opium and other special diets that finally came to show a rather futile and failed effort because with in a few years or less of diagnosis with the disease most all the patients died.

Finally in 1921 the discovery of insulin and a class of drugs found by accident during World War II called sulfonylureas were found to actually lower blood sugar advanced the treatment of diabetes and and actually made diabetes less life threatening. In fact science advanced so much that now in modern times scientist have been able to create a synthetic insulin to mimic the actions of natural insulin.

Types of Medications Used to Treat Diabetes

Some of the injectible medications are Novalin and Humalin and these are injected on a regularly daily regimen carefully prescribed by your doctor according to your blood glucose level reading and adjusted accordingly. Others include oral medications (Metformin, Avandia, i.e.) these are also taken with strict physician patient supervision with blood sugar testing as a part of the treatment. The patient must adhere to following a very rigid and serious monitoring of their blood glucose levels in order to achieve the maximum benefit from these medications.

Along with the rigidity of these medications and blood sugar monitoring and importance of exercise and proper diet sets in as a part of this regimen. Exercise plays a major role in preventing and controlling diabetes. Activity makes your body use up more glucose and converts it into energy. Proper consumption of a well balanced diet low in carbs no processed sugars. Limited quantities of fruits and fruit juices. The ADA has gone as far as printing up a food serving exchange list which includes a pyramid for the patient to visualize what are the most important food groups to maintain a healthy blood glucose level and a good state of well being.

With all this said as people gain knowledge about diabetes and make themselves aware of its causes and effects and with all this information and help there is out there today there should not be a reason for people to neglect this disease.Americans are diagnosed with diabetes at the rate of 1.3 million a year. At least 18 million Americans are now diabetics and what is alarming is that 5.2 million don't even know they have it. All this is happening while our nation is also becoming more obese and leading more sedentary lives. Is there a connection here?