Diabetes Symptom

Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above
normal. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose (sugar)
for our bodies to burn to create energy. The pancreas, an organ
that lies near the stomach, produces a hormone called insulin to
help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have
diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t
use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes large
amounts of sugar to build up in your blood.

The actual cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although
both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity appear
to play major roles. Diabetes can cause serious health
complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney
failure, and lower-extremity amputations. According to the
Center for Disease Control, diabetes is the sixth leading cause
of death in the United States. As of 2002, 18.2 million people
in the U.S.–6.3 percent of the population–had diabetes, with
1.3 million new cases being diagnosed each year. The National
Institutes of Health also estimate that an additional 5.2
million people have diabetes without actually being aware of it.

There are two main types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, which was
previously called insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile-onset
diabetes, accounts for about 10% of all diagnosed cases of
diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, which was called
non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset diabetes, accounts for the
remaining 90%. Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that
only pregnant women get. If not treated, it can cause problems
for both the baby and the mother. Gestational diabetes develops
in 2% to 5% of all pregnancies, but usually disappears when the
pregnancy is over.

Diabetes is a serious disease and phrases such as “a touch of
diabetes” or “your blood sugar is a little high” tend to dismiss
the fact that diabetes is a major killer of Americans. In
addition to the lives that are lost, diabetes has a tremendous
economic impact in the United States. The National Diabetes
Education Program estimates the cost of diabetes in 2002 was
$132 billion. Of this amount, $92 billion was due to direct
medical costs and $40 billion due to indirect costs such as lost
workdays, restricted activity, and disability due to diabetes.
The average medical expenditure for a person with diabetes was
$13,243, or 5.2 times greater than the cost for a person without
diabetes. In addition, 11 percent of national health care
expenditures went to diabetes care.

In response to this growing health burden of diabetes, the
diabetes community has three choices: prevent diabetes; cure
diabetes; and improve the quality of care of people with
diabetes to prevent devastating complications. All three
approaches are being actively pursued by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services. Many government agencies, at all
levels, are involved in educational campaigns in an attempt to
prevent diabetes, especially type 2. Several approaches to
“cure” diabetes are also being pursued: pancreas
transplantation, islet cell transplantation (islet cells in the
pancreas produce insulin), the development of an artificial
pancreas, and genetic manipulation where fat or muscle cells
that do not normally make insulin have a human insulin gene
inserted and are then transplanted into people with type 1
diabetes.

While there is yet no cure for diabetes, healthy eating,
physical activity, and insulin injections are the basic
therapies for type 1 diabetes. For those with type 2 diabetes,
treatment includes healthy eating, physical activity, and blood
glucose testing. Many people with type 2 may require oral
medication to control their glucose levels. People with diabetes
must take personal responsibility for their day-to-day care, and
keep blood glucose levels from going too low or too high. The
key to living a long and healthy life with diabetes is to learn
about the disease, exercise daily, follow a diabetes food plan
(right portions of healthy foods, less salt and fat), stop
smoking, take prescribed medications, get routine medical care,
brush your teeth and floss every day, monitor your blood glucose
the way the doctor tells you to and remain positive. Using the
correct routines, thousands of people with diabetes have lived
long, happy and productive lives.

About the author:
Larry Denton is a retired history teacher having taught 33 years
at Hobson High in Hobson, Montana. He is currently Vice
President of Elfin Enterprises of Montana, Inc. an Internet
business dedicated to providing information and resources on a
variety of topics. For more info on diabetes visit http://www.DiabetesAide.com

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 4th, 2006 at 2:16 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.