Knowing What Type 1 Diabetes Is

Type 1 diabetes is a form of diabetes wherein the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells in the pancreas that are responsible for producing insulin. Having low levels of insulin, increases glucose levels in the blood and urine which makes the diabetes patient always thirsty and hungry. Frequent urination and a sudden unexplained loss of weight are also symptoms of type 1 diabetes. Since the condition is caused by a faulty immune system, obesity and poor diet habits are main contributing factors.

Although the causes of type 1 diabetes are yet to be known, the disease is often attributed to a combination of genetics, environmental triggers, and viruses.

Diagnosing Type 1 Diabetes

There are many misconceptions about Diabetes. Unfortunately, these wrong perceptions about the disease often prevent early detection. And since most people believe that diabetes is a disorder prevalent only among adults, children manifesting symptoms of type 1 diabetes are not given the best treatments in the earliest time possible. Therefore, parents should be observant enough to notice these symptoms so that proper tests can be applied and if found that the child suffers from type 1 diabetes, a special treatment can be made so that the disease is kept under control as early as possible.

Treating Type 1 Diabetes

Sadly, there is no cure for type 1 diabetes.  However, the symptoms of the disease can be controlled through insulin replacement therapy. Given that the pancreas of type 1 diabetes patient is unable to produce a sufficient amount of insulin, injections and pumps are used to infuse synthetic or animal insulin into the body.

Diet management is also an important part of therapy. In this aspect of the treatment, glucose levels in the blood are checked before and after a meal. Sugar and carbohydrate intake is also heavily controlled.

In extreme cases of type 1 diabetes, a pancreas transplant can be done to replace the damaged pancreas.  Although, the new pancreas is able to produce enough insulin for the body to efficiently convert glucose into energy, the surgical process itself and the medications that are need to suppress the body from rejecting the new organ is more costly and dangerous than insulin replacement therapy. Consequently, the transplant is only considered when the patient is no longer responding to the insulin replacement therapy at the same time is in need of a new kidney.

Currently research has been going on regarding the use of stem cells to create beta cells (cells of the pancreas responsible for producing insulin) in the damaged pancreas.

Diabetes Insipidus: Another Type of Killer

When you think of diabetic issues, you usually associate it with “sugar”, which falls under the category of diabetic mellitus. Nevertheless, there’s a completely different type of diabetic issues that presents with comparable signs but happens for totally different causes. This kind of diabetic issue is known as diabetes insipidus, which can also be recognized as “water” diabetic issue.

Even though the signs of diabetes insipidus and diabetic mellitus can be similar, the illnesses are really varied as night and day. Whilst diabetic mellitus may be the outcome from the body’s inability to effectively use the sugar in the bloodstream as it’s designed to, diabetes insipidus is really an issue that immediately impacts the kidneys and their capability to manage the quantity of fluid inside your body. This illness is usually characterized by elevated thirst and elevated urine output.

Trigger Points for Diabetes Insipidus

There are two locations of your body that may malfunction to trigger a kind of diabetes insipidus. First, problems in the hypothalamus or pituitary gland: this can occur because of a surgical treatment, tumor, injury or sickness. The hypothalamus is accountable for that manufacturing of the hormone know as the anti-diuretic hormone (ADH), also recognized as vasopressin. ADH will concentrate the urine inside your body, and manage the quantity of fluid your body can handle. When the hypothalamus is damaged, you body cannot create the suitable quantity of ADH.

Second trigger is damage to the kidneys. Your kidneys are accountable for the elimination of excess fluid out of your body via urination. If your kidneys are damaged, you can’t produce ADH correctly: nephrogenic diabetes insipidus might happen. This kidney damage may due to a genetic problem, kidney defect or perhaps a response to particular kinds of medicine. In around one-fourth of all instances of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, physicians might not be capable to figure out the trigger whatsoever.

Diabetes Insipidus Remedy

Remedy of diabetes insipidus will largely depend on the kind of problem that you have. In some instances, merely increasing water intake will probably be adequate to handle the illness. Some case require medicine in order to reduce urine output. This kind of remedy is especially useful for people who can’t obtain a complete night of sleep simply because they have to get up and go towards the bathroom regularly. Should you believe that you might be struggling with diabetes insipidus, you ought to make an appointment together with your physician. That way, the diagnosis and precise trigger could be determined, to ensure that one of the most efficient remedy choices could be explored.

Important Information on Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is what people outside the medical world call simply as diabetes. The term diabetes was first coined by Aretaeus (81–133 CE) and comes from the Greek word ‘diabaínein’ meaning passing through which is a reference to diabetic’s frequent urination.  The word, mellitus was added in 1675 and comes from the Greek word ‘mel’ meaning sweet, referring to a diabetic’s sweet urine.

Diabetes mellitus is term that covers a set of medical conditions that is caused by an accumulation of high levels of sugar in the bloodstream. There are two ways to explain this buildup. First, the cells are no longer responding to the insulin. Second, the pancreas cannot produce sufficient amounts of insulin because it is under attack by the body’s own immune system.  Another manifestation of diabetes mellitus is that it was brought about by hormonal imbalance due to pregnancy.  Although there is no cure for all the different forms of diabetes mellitus, the condition is treatable since insulin became medically available ever since 1921.

Type 1 Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus type 1, also called as juvenile diabetes, results from the attacks made by immune system on the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas.  It is not known why causes the disorder; however, symptoms are easy to detect: frequent urination, constant hunger and thirst, and sudden unexplainable loss of weight.  Type 1 diabetes is fatal unless treated with insulin through injections, pumps, and inhalers. Pancreas transplant is a procedure that is still in its experimental stages.

Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus type 2, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, is a result of insulin resistance. Although a common notion is that this type diabetes comes with age paired with an unhealthy lifestyle, more and more children are being diagnosed with this form of diabetes as obesity rates continue to rise. There is no cure for type 2 diabetes; however, introducing exercise and a high-fiber, low-sugar diet can reverse the effects of the disease.

Gestational Diabetes

Women are quite susceptible to a form of diabetes mellitus, which develops during pregnancy.  Compared to the two other types, gestational diabetes has a few very noticeable symptoms and is only detected through screening when the woman gets pregnant. It is unknown what causes this type of diabetes mellitus, but it is theorized that the hormones produced during pregnancy causes the cells of the body to resist the effects of insulin. The condition rarely needs insulin injections, and is treated with diet modifications and exercise.

Better Understanding Type 2 Diabetes

There are still a lot of people who need to be informed correctly regarding diabetes. Typically, most people see diabetes as condition wherein the body has too much sugar in its system which leads to the development of other ailments such cardiovascular disease, blindness, and kidney failure.  Actually, what most people label as ‘diabetes’ is, in more accurate terms, type 2 diabetes.

What is Type 2 Diabetes?

There three major forms of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is caused by the lack of insulin produced by the pancreas. Type 2 diabetes is when the cells of the body no longer respond with insulin. Lastly, you have gestational diabetes, a type that is similar with type 2 diabetes but is brought about by pregnancy. Among the three, type 2 diabetes is the most prevalent but it is also the easiest to manage. Nonetheless, just like the other types of diabetes, type 2 diabetes does not have a cure.

The main culprit behind type 2 diabetes is cellular resistance against insulin. Lifestyle and eating habits contribute greatly to the development of the disease. People who are obese and have a diet with high levels of sugar are most susceptible. Another vital factor in the progress of the disease is genetics. Those who have a long history of diabetes in the family tree run the risk of developing the disease sometime in their lives.

Thus, individuals who are overweight and have family members who are suffering from type 2 diabetes must have annual check-ups in order to get a proper diagnosis.

Symptoms of Diabetes Type 2

There are many symptoms of Type 2 diabetes which taken for granted by most people. This is the reason why people should educate themselves about the disease for them to be aware that the symptoms there experiencing might be the result of type 2 diabetes; among these symptoms are increased urination, excessive thirst, blurry eyesight, numbness in the fingers and toes, or an unexplainable sudden weight loss.

Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes

Sticking to a low sugar and carbohydrate diet, also known as type 2 diabetes diet, and exercising regularly can help reverse the effects of Type 2 diabetes. For this type of treatment, weight loss is the main goal since the shedding of unwanted pounds would often restore insulin sensitivity of the body’s cells.

There are also drugs and medication which can control the release of blood glucose and also increase the body tissues’ uptake of glucose. These drugs normalizes the blood sugar levels of the body; ultimately, giving the diabetic person a chance to experience a normal life.

Pregnant Women’s Introduction to Gestational Diabetes

When a woman experiences abnormally high blood sugar levels during pregnancy may be sign that she has gestational diabetes. Generally, women suffering from the disease were not diagnosed with diabetes prior to their pregnancy. This sudden development of diabetes is attributed to the imbalance of hormones in woman’s body, which is caused by the pregnancy.

In most case, women who are prone to diabetes are at higher risk for gestational diabetes. This means that women are overweight having close relative suffering from type 2 diabetes are especially susceptible. Women who fit the profile must undertake the necessary exams to identify whether they have gestational diabetes. The reason for this vigilance is that the complications due to gestational diabetes endanger the life of both mother and child.

On a good note, women who experience gestational diabetes may lose the symptoms after child birth, as their body normalizes the amount of production of hormones once again. Even so gestational diabetes is a serious condition that requires the proper treatment.

Symptoms and Complications of Gestational Diabetes

Many pregnant women are not aware that they have gestational diabetes since its symptoms are often identified as an effect of pregnancy. Then again, women should not hide any details of their pregnancy from their doctors. Being thirsty a lot, fatigue or tiredness, nausea, increased urination, blurred vision and recurrent yeast infections are signs that the pregnant woman might be suffering from gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes poses a great risk to mother and child. The high levels in sugar may cause growth abnormalities and chemical imbalances after birth.

Treatment

Gestational diabetes can be controlled with strict diet and exercise. In a gestational diabetes diet, the intake of sugar and carbohydrates is significantly reduced.  On the other hand, food with high fiber and complex carbohydrates is introduced. The idea here is to supply a sufficient amount of calories, while making sure to prevent sudden spikes of blood sugar levels. Beans, root crops, and whole grains are good for a gestational diabetes diet, as they take longer to break down into glucose providing a steady supply of fuel instead of a quick burst that cannot be processed with a dwindling supply of insulin. Although normally fruits are good for the body, for women having gestational diabetes, fruit intake is as well decreased.

There are cases that doctors will recommend the pregnant woman to have insulin injections to help control her blood sugar levels.