Diabetes, the silent killer

Some three months back, one of my cousins had a rather tragic death. He was only fifty seven years, not an age to die. The villain was diabetes, the silent killer. He was a chronic diabetic. He was not aware how dangerous this disease could be and lived a life a diabetic was not expected to. He did not add much importance to the doctor’s advice and did not take medicins regularly. He wasn’t ready to alter his food habits and adopt one suitable for a diabetic. He did not visit the doctor regularly for check ups. He did not check his blood sugar regularly in a lab. Only when his health deteriorated cosiderably did he think of such things seriously. Then it was too late. He became partially blind due to a complication called diabetic retinopathy. Worse was yet to come. Both his kidneys became affected and later they failed totally. No doctor could save him now. And he died a painful death.

A diabetic need not die at rather a young age like this. He could have added many more years to his life and led a nearly normal life. A diabetic must see the doctor regularly. He must take medicines regularly at the right dosages as the doctor advises. He must regularly check his blood sugar levels in a clinical lab and make sure that it is well controlled. He must adopt a food habit suitable for the diabetic, exactly in accordance with the doctor’s advice. After the death of my cousin, I thought I should know more about this disease. So I dug up some valuable information about it. Here is an overview.

Causes

A gland inside our body known as pancreas produces a hormone called insulin. Diabetes results when pancreas produces too little insulin, or when there is resistance to insulin, or both. When food is digested, a sugar called glucose enters our blood. Glucose is the fuel for our body. Pancreas produces insulin. It is this insulin that moves glucose from the blood into muscle, fat and liver cells where it can be used as fuel. In a diabetic patient the transfer of glucose from blood is not effectively done and as a result the level of sugar in his blood increases alarmingly. This happens due to the following reasons:

1. The amount of insulin produced by the pancreas is not adequate.

2. The muscle, fat and liver cells do not respond to insulin normally.

3. Both the above reasons.

There are mainly three types of diabetes:

· Type 1 Diabetes – It is diagnosed in chidhood. In this case, the body produces little or no insulin. Daily insulin injection is necessary. The cause of this disease is not clearly known. But the incidence is very rare.

· Type 2 Diabetes – This is the most common type of diabetes.It usually occurs in the middle ages, but young people are increasingly diagnosed with this disease. In this case the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to keep the blood sugar level normal.

· Gestational Diabetes – This is because of high blood sugar level that develops at any time during pregnancy in a woman who does not have diabetes.

Since type 2 diabetes is the most common type we concentrate on that. Some of the common risk factors are listed below.

· Age (this type of diabetes mostly occurs during middle age, say over 45years)

· Heredity - Heredity plays a major role. If one of your parents has it, you are at a high risk of getting it. If both of your parents have it, you are almost sure to get it.

· Heart disease

· High blood cholesterol level

· Obesity

· Lack of exercise

Symptoms

Occurrence of high blood sugar level can prduce the following symptoms:

· Frequent urination

· Excessive thirst

· Fatigue

· Excessive hunger

· Weight loss

· Blurry vision

But, since high blood sugar develops slowly, a person with high blood sugar may experience none of the above symptoms and he may live many years without knowing it. So it is very important that everyone past the age of forty check his blood sugar level at least twice a year. One with a family history of diabetes must start regular blood sugar monitoring at a much earlier age.

Tests

A urine analysis may be used to look for glucose and ketones. But a urinary analysis alone cannot confirm diabetes.

The following blood tests are generally used for diagnosis of diabetes:

· Fasting blood sugar level – diabetes is diagnosed if higher than 126 mg/dL on two occaasions. Levels between 100 and 126 mg/dL are considered prediabetes.

· Oral glucose tolerence test – diabetes is diagnosed if glucose level is higher than 200 mg/dL after two hours.

· Random (non-fasting) blood sugar level – diabetes is suspected if higher than 200 mg/dL and accompanied by symptoms like thirst, urination, fatigue etc.

Treatment

A person diagnosed with diabetes must consult a doctor and undergo the treatment he suggests. There may be regular dosage of medicines in the form of tablets or insulin injections. Visiting the doctor on a regular basis is very impotant. Medicines must be taken strictly as advised. Regular tests shall be done to monitor blood sugar level. Food habits and life style have to be changed in accordance with the doctor’s advice. Physical exercise is a must.

Undergoing the right kind of treatment and adapting a suitable life style and food habit a diabetic can live almost a normal life. So there is no need to panic, even if you become a diabetic. If it is ignored, complications may result when it affects your vision, heart, kidneys and what not!. Then you will feel that the hell has broken out.

Statistics

The World Health Organization(WHO) predicts that developing countries will bear the brunt of this epidemic in the twenty first century. At present, more than 70% of people with diabetes live in low and middle income countries.

· An estimated 285 million people, corresponding to 6.4 % of the worlds adult population will live with diabetes in 2010. The number is expected to grow to 438 million by 2030, corresponding to 7.8 % of the adult population.

· The largest age group currently affected is between 40-50 years. By 2030 this is expected to become 60-79 years.

· India is said to be the diabetic capital of the World, because it has the largest number of diabetics(40.9 million in 2007). It is followed by China(39.8 million), the U.S.(19.2million), Russia(9.6 million) and Germany(7.4 million)

An important day to remember

Every year 14 November is observed as World Diabetes Day. Awareness programmes for the benefit of the people will be organized widely on this day.