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Uncomplicated Diabetes

Diabetes is the third most common killer in the United States, and the number of victims is growing daily. Diabetes is brought on by a hormonal malfunction in the body, and can be hereditary or developed through an unhealthy lifestyle that damages the body.

  1. The Facts

    • Diabetes is a metabolic disease brought on by a body's inability to control glucose levels and metabolize sugar. It occurs in one of two ways: Type I, or lack of insulin production in the body, or Type II, which is a resistance to the insulin the body produces.

    Causes

    • Both Type I and Type II diabetes are caused by a chain of events that lead to a body's inability to use the sugar it takes in from food. When a person eats, the food becomes glucose, or blood sugar, which is then metabolized by insulin. Lack of insulin (Type I diabetes) results in uncontrolled and unused glucose flooding the bloodstream. Resistance to insulin (Type II diabetes) produces the same results through a different method.

    Symptoms

    • According to Medicine Net, diabetes "was first identified as a disease associated with ... excessive muscle loss." The body's inability to use sugar effectively leads first to excessive hunger and thirst, as a body seeks to gain the nutrition it lacks, and then to a gradual wasting of body mass, as the body fails to sustain itself. Common symptoms are fatigue, nausea, vomiting, flawed vision, increased infections and lethargy.

    Treatments

    • Doctors treat diabetes through a combination of medicine and lifestyle management. Patients learn to measure their blood glucose levels and inject themselves with insulin when their levels reach dangerous territory. Oral and injectable medications work to control the body's reactions to blood glucose and insulin. Diabetics also learn to control their diets, eat healthy foods and avoid foods that rapidly increase glucose levels and can cause diabetic episodes.

    Considerations

    • Diabetes, when untreated, leads to blindness, kidney failure and nerve damage. Diabetics experience hardened arteries and increased tendency for strokes, coronary heart disease and decreased circulation. If untreated, diabetes can lead to fatal complications.

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