Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of metabolic diseases characterized by high blood sugar (glucose) levels that result from defects in insulin secretion, or its action, or both. Blood glucose levels in the body are controlled by a hormone known as ‘insulin’. Insulin is produced by an organ known as pancreas. When the blood glucose elevates insulin is released from the pancreas to normalize the glucose level by lowering it. In patients with diabetes, the absence or insufficient production of insulin often causes hyperglycemia. Diabetes is a chronic medical condition i.e. although it can be controlled, it lasts a lifetime.
Types of diabetes
There are three major types of diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes)
In this type, the body becomes unsuccessful in producing insulin or produces insufficient insulin. It usually occurs in childhood.. This type of diabetes accounts for 10-15% of all people suffering from the disease. Such people with type 1 diabetes must inject themselves with insulin several times a day supplemented by a careful diet and exercise plan.
Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes)
In this type, body fails to use the insulin produced by the pancreas. It usually occurs among adults but it can be easily controlled by diet, regular exercise and weight control. Type 2 diabetes covers 85-90% of the total people with diabetes.
Gestational diabetes mellitus
GDM, or carbohydrate intolerance, is initially diagnosed during pregnancy through an oral glucose tolerance test. Risk factors for GDM include a family history of diabetes, increasing maternal age, obesity and being a member of a community/ethnic group which a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Usually the carbohydrate intolerance returns to normal after the birth but the mother faces a significant risk of developing permanent diabetes while the baby is more likely to develop obesity and impaired glucose tolerance and/or diabetes later in life.
Its is a diabetic fact that diabetic people are more prone to heart diseases as compared to other people and they need to take extra care in the day to day life to check it.
Some of the common symptoms of diabetes are excessive thirst, excessive urination, extreme hunger, extreme fatigue, irritability, nausea, vomiting etc.
Diabetic Care Tips
1.Some of the tips to help you take care of your diabetes are:
2.Keep monitoring your blood glucose level regularly as suggested by your doctor.
3.You should take the prescribed doses of medicine or insulin regularly.
4.Regular exercise is useful in checking glucose levels. However, you should avoid such exercises which can cause further complications like cardiovascular diseases, hypoglycemia etc.
5.You should lose some extra weight as weight reduction helps significantly in checking diabetes.
6.Stop consuming alcohol and quit smoking.
7.You should avoid high sugar food items and follow your diabetes meal plan.
8.You should avoid stress, fear and anger.
How to Control Diabetes?
You can control your diabetes by:
•Taking medicines and insulin injections at prescribed intervals,
•Sticking to a healthy diet,
•Avoiding sweet items as much as possible, doing physical and regular exercises to burn the calories in the body.
These steps can surely help you control diabetes to a large extent.
By taking these precautions, you can monitor diabetes. There are various diabetic centers in Pune where you can go and get yourself checked for diabetes and get treated if you are suffering from it.
About the Author
Sahyadri Hospitals is the largest chain of hospitals in Maharashtra spread across Pune, Nashik, Karad and Navi Mumbai. Working continuously round the clock for brain tumor surgery treatment, Neurology treatment,bone marrow transplantation, breast cancer transplantation and many such treatments, Sahyadri Hospitals is one of the most efficient diabetic centers in Pune.