Posts Tagged ‘Diabetes Mellitus’

What is the metabolic abnormality that underlies the characteristic symptoms of diabetes mellitus?

A. A failure of the kidney tubules to reabsorb glucose from the urine.
B. A failure of the villi of the intestine to absorb glucose from food.
C. The body can’t switch from glucose metabolism to fat metabolism between meals.
D. The body’s cells can’t retain glucose absorbed from the blood.
E. The body’s cells can’t absorb enough glucose from the blood.

My brother has been just detected having Diabetes Mellitus with blood-sugar 281 after fasting and a triglyceride level of 544.  I solicit expert recommendation regarding total recovery from this disease.

• What foods should be taken?
• What foods should be avoided?
• At what intervals should food be taken?
• What should be the way of life?
• Why does a person get this disease?
• How it can be avoided altogether?

Our maternal grandfather had this and our mother aged 86 years also has it.

Please help me . My mom got diabetes mellitus and I don’t want her to have medicine because it will be bad for her health.
Thanks a lot .

I need help making a research about “Diabetes mellitus.”  Do you guys have any information or websites that may help?

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in which patients present with absolute or relative insulin deficiency. It affects about 6% of western populations and is a major contributing factor for heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and peripheral vascular disease. Diabetes mellitus is also the leading cause of new blindness without a cure.

Types of Diabetes

There are four types of diabetes and they are as follows:

1.  TYPE 1 DIABETES

Around 10 to 15 percent of all people diagnosed with diabetes have Type I diabetes.  It is a serious and chronic disease and usually affects young people below 18 years of age.  This is also known as insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or juvenile-onset diabetes.

People with Type 1 diabetes have high blood glucose levels because their pancreas is not producing insulin.  People with this form of diabetes require daily insulin therapy to survive. This form is further split into idiopathic diabetes and immune mediated diabetes.

2. TTYPE 2 DIABETES

Around 85 to 90 percent of all people diagnosed with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes.  This type of diabetes is more common among people aged 40 years and over.

It is marked by reduced levels of insulin (insulin deficiency) and/or the inability of the body to use insulin properly (insulin resistance).  It is also worth mentioning that most people with Type 2 diabetes are obese.

3. GESTATIONAL DIABETES

About three to eight percent of women who have not been diagnosed with diabetes, develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy.  It is a temporary form of diabetes and usually disappears after the baby is born.

When this occurs, it usually presents a greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life. Screening tests for gestational diabetes are usually performed around the 24th-28th week of pregnancy.

4. OTHER TYPES OF DIABETES

Other types of diabetes can develop among people who have diabetes as a result of a genetic defect, or exposure to certain drugs or chemicals.

Causes of Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is caused largely by the resistance to or the deficient production of the hormone insulin.  Insulin helps the glucose move from the blood into the cells.

In type 1 immune mediated diabetes, pancreatic beta cell destruction results in failure to release insulin and ineffective transport of glucose. There is no known cause for idiopathic diabetes.

In type 2 diabetes, the beta cells release insulin however, the receptors are resisting the insulin and the glucose transport is variable and inefficient. Some people may have conditions that can cause diabetes, such as Cushing’s syndrome, pancreatitis or liver disease.

Some of the risk factors for type 2 diabetes include:

a. Obesity
b. History of Gestational diabetes
c. Lack of physical activity
d. Hypertension
e. Age 45+
f. Ethnic groupings other than anglo-saxon
g. Low HDL cholesterol levels
h. Impaired glucose tolerance
i. Family history

Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes

Below is a list of symptoms to watch out for:

• dehydration
• unexplained weight loss
• excessive thirst
• frequent need to urinate
• fatigue
• lethargy
• severe irritation and itching
• excessive hunger
• blurred vision
• skin and urinary infections
• vaginitis

Testing for Diabetes

As the symptoms for diabetes are sometimes mild, some people go through life without finding out that they have diabetes.  Often, it only gets detected when a person suffers a problem that is caused by diabetes.  This includes heart attack, stroke, neuropathy, poor wound healing or a foot ulcer, certain eye problems, certain fungal infections, or delivering a baby with macrosomia or hypoglycemia.

Diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance may also be detected on routine blood tests as part of a general health check up or investigation for other symptoms or diseases. Diabetes tests check blood glucose levels. Someone with a random non fasting blood glucose level greater than 200mg/dl accompanied by other symptoms, or someone with a fasting blood glucose level greater than 126mg/dl can be diagnosed with diabetes.

Treating Diabetes

To normalize blood glucose and reduce complications, diabetics should adapt a healthy diet and an exercise program in addition to using insulin replacement.

Changes to their diet should focus on achieving weight loss and regulating your blood sugar.  It is best that they keep their blood sugar levels relatively stable throughout the day.

For Type 1 diabetes, the replacement of insulin combined with careful monitoring of blood glucose levels using blood testing monitors is highly recommended.

For Type 2 diabetes, oral anti-diabetic drugs may be required to stimulate the body’s insulin production and increase insulin sensitivity. Various forms of natural supplements for diabetes treatment have also been postulated as effective.

People with unstable diabetes, or those requiring many injections a day, may benefit from an insulin pump which is worn on the body and delivers a continuous infusion of insulin via a needle implanted into the body.

Gestational diabetes is fully treatable but requires careful medical supervision throughout the pregnancy. Even though it may be transient, untreated gestational diabetes can damage the health of the fetus or the mother.

As long as the diabetic has been properly trained, given appropriate care and has discipline in testing and dosing of insulin, the diabetic’s normal activities need not be impaired.

Complications

Diabetes mellitus is the most common cause of adult kidney failure. If undetected or poorly controlled, diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, lower limb amputation, heart attack, stroke and impotence.

A person with this condition may have to give oneself intramuscular injections in order to regulate glucose level in the blood. And I understand that glucagon injections aren’t as practical because the mere consumption of carbohydrates should do the trick.

So my question is: Does the pancreas of a person suffering from diabetes mellitus 1 produce glucagon?