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The Disease Process of Diabetes

According to the American Diabetes Association, over 20 million people in the United States have diabetes and over six million are not aware that they have the disease. Symptoms are subtle and often overlooked. In fact, when some patients are diagnosed with the disease, they have already had the onset of diabetes for 10 to 15 years. Without proper care, diabetes can eventually cause organ damage such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and blindness.

  1. Function

    • When you eat, your intestines break the food down into sugar. The blood vessels then carry the sugar throughout the body. Your pancreas makes and releases insulin when the sugar passes through the bloodstream. The insulin lets the sugar move from the bloodstream into your cells where it is used for energy. If your body cannot produce insulin or you are insulin resistant, the sugar stays in the bloodstream where it will travel to the body's organs causing damage.

    Symptoms

    • When your body is not processing insulin correctly, you will experience symptoms. High blood sugar can cause frequent urination, tiredness, thirst, blurry vision, slow-healing cuts, frequent infections, numbness or tingling in your hands or feet, dry skin, and even weight loss when you may be eating normally. Low blood sugar results in dizziness, confusion, fast heartbeat, headache, blurry vision, sweat, shakiness, and numbness or tingling around the lips.

    Time Frame

    • Diabetes is a chronic disease that can move quickly or slowly. The process of the disease is dependent upon the type of diabetes and the patient's preventive measures. Type 1 diabetics are dependent upon insulin, so they are more apt to develop hypoglycemia, low blood sugar, which can lead to comas and possible death. Proper diet, exercise and medication are essential for a healthy lifestyle. Type 2 diabetics usually still produce some insulin, but their bodies do not use the insulin effectively. With proper diet, weight management, exercise and medication, if prescribed, the Type 2 diabetic can slow the disease down and live a long, productive life. However, the Type 2 diabetic may eventually become insulin dependent, too.

    Effects

    • Because the circulatory system affects all the organs of the body, high sugar levels can affect the eyes, kidneys, heart and nervous system. Some of the first signs of physical damage due to diabetes are blurred vision, numbness or tickling in the feet and hands, high blood pressure, yeast infections in women, and erectile dysfunction in men.

    Potential

    • If the disease is not treated, there is the potential of damaging tiny blood vessels in the eye, which can lead to a loss of peripheral vision, glaucoma, cataracts and possibly blindness. The kidneys work harder to filter albumen, a protein that leaks into the urine. Eventually the kidneys cannot work causing kidney failure. Because sugar weakens the walls of blood vessels, the heart works harder, leading to heart attacks and stroke. Infections become difficult to treat and commonly recur. Lack of blood circulation affects sexual organs as well as the nervous system. As the disease progresses, people with diabetes are more susceptible to other illnesses, too. Therefore, adherence to the doctor's orders are essential.

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