Diabetes: Types, Symptoms, Management, and Treatment

Source: Nature

Mostly everyone, from children to adults, is having a disease named Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes. Even you have also seen in your family, that someone is taking diabetes medicine or having a diagnosis for this.

But what is diabetes? It is a metabolic disease in which your body either doesn’t make enough insulin hormone or can’t effectively use the insulin it does make. Insulin moves sugar from the blood into your cells to be used for energy. In diabetes, extra sugar (glucose) builds up in the blood.

If diabetes is not controlled properly, it can lead to serious consequences such as damaging a wide range of your body parts including your heart, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

What Are the Different Types of Diabetes and Their Causes?

There are mainly 4 types of diabetes:

Type 1

About 10% of people have Type 1 diabetes. It is an autoimmune disease in which your immune system attacks and destroys cells in the pancreas where insulin is made. The cause is unclear. It usually happened in childhood or adolescence (but can develop in adults too). Maybe that’s why it is also known as juvenile diabetes. Not only is this but it is also called insulin-dependent as people with this need insulin every day.

Type 2

It is the most common type of diabetes in which your body doesn’t make enough insulin or your body’s cell doesn’t respond to it. It occurs in middle-aged and older people. This type is also known as adult-onset diabetes and insulin-resistant diabetes.

Prediabetes

It’s a type of diabetes in which blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes

Women without previous history of diabetes develop this type of diabetes at the time of pregnancy. This is because the hormones produced by the placenta make your body cells more resistant to insulin. It usually goes away after the pregnancy but there is a higher chance that they will get type 2 diabetes later on in life.

What Are Its Symptoms?

Some common symptoms you will see in a diabetic person are:

Increased thirst
Increased hunger
Weight loss
Tiredness
Frequent urination
Blurry vision
Slow-healing sores
Frequent infections

In addition to the above, more symptoms are based on gender. Like men with diabetes may have a decreased sex drive, erectile dysfunction, and poor muscle strength while women have urinary tract infections, yeast infections, and dry, itchy skin.

How Is Diabetes Managed?

If you have diabetes, here are some steps you should keep in your mind.

Monitor Your Blood Glucose

From time to time you should check your blood sugar as well as your blood pressure. Your BP should not be over 140/90 mmHg. If you are talking about glucose levels, it should be between 80 and 130 mg/dL before the meal and less than 180 mg/dL after the meal.

You can monitor both the things at your home also with their meters.

Take Medication

You should take your medicine and insulin as prescribed. Follow how and when to be taken. If your doctor has ordered you to have laboratory tests, you should do that. And keep visiting your doctor also.

Healthy Diet Plan

If you have diabetes, you must plan what you have to eat. You should follow a Mediterranean diet or dash diet as these are high in nutrition and fiber and low in fats and calories. For help, you can go to a dietitian also.

Regular Exercise

Exercising is the best for diabetic people and you should do it on regular basis, then only it will have some effect. 30 minutes a day can help you a lot. Instead of exercise, you can also walk, swim or do other activities you like.

If you are overweight, lose some of your weight and any physical activity may help you. You can also make a plan and work with your healthcare team.

Quit Smoking

If you smoke, you should quit doing that. Smoking is very harmful and may lead to severe health issues.

How Is Diabetes Treated?

A diabetic person is treated depending on the type of diabetes he/she has and how well blood glucose level is controlled.

If you have type 1 diabetes, then you must take insulin every day. This is because your pancreas no longer produces insulin. And if you are having type 2 diabetes, your treatments must include medication, insulin, and changes in lifestyle such as having healthy food, losing weight, and being more physically active.

Apart from them, if you have prediabetes, your goal is to prevent diabetes from progressing. You should lose weight by eating a healthy diet and doing exercise.

In case of gestational diabetes and if your glucose level is not so high, you can do the same thing like having healthy food and exercise. But if it’s high, you should start medication or insulin as prescribed.

How Is Diabetes Diagnosed?

Diabetes can be diagnosed and managed by checking glucose levels in blood tests. There are mainly 4 tests that measure blood glucose levels: