Everything You Need To Know About Diabetes

Dr. Purushothaman
April 18, 2018

Most of us are aware of diabetes, but we know only about one type. We are unaware of other types of diabetes and its consequence on our healthy lifestyle. Recently there has been an increase in the number of people having diabetes. This article will provide a detailed explanation of diabetes. The more you know about it, the better you will be able to prevent and manage it.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease where the blood sugar level in the body is above normal. This condition occurs when glucose is unable to enter the cells. Glucose needs another thing called insulin to perform its function. If it does not receive that support from insulin, it can be very harmful. Diabetes can be very harmful and can cause serious complication like heart diseases, kidney failure, and blindness. A common cure for diabetes is keeping the blood sugar under control.

Types of Diabetes, causes and treatment

  1. Diabetes type 1

This type of diabetes is generally found in young adults and children. This type is less popular because only a few people are affected by this disease.

Cause

Diabetes type 1 occurs when the pancreas cannot produce insulin. In this case, there is very low or even no insulin released in the body. Hence the body cannot absorb sugar from the food and cannot turn into energy. From this, we can say that diabetes type 1 occurs due to the wrong body procedure.

Symptoms

  • Excessive urination and thirst

  • Weakness and exhaustion

  • Skin infections

  • Weight loss, etc.

Treatment

Because of lack of insulin, tablets or injections are taken. To control blood sugar healthy diet tips are advised by the doctor. Moreover, you should go for regular checkups and be physically active.

Prevention

This type of diabetes cannot be prevented directly as the action of killing the beta cells do mistakenly. To prevent these mistaken actions one must adopt a better lifestyle.

  1. Diabetes type 2

This type of diabetes is very common and about 80 to 90 % of cases are reported of this type II diabetes. People with age of 45 and above suffer from this disease.

Causes

The type II diabetes is caused because of an unhealthy lifestyle, overweight, blood pressure, obesity or bad diet. Another main cause is the inability of the body to produce insulin. This condition can worsen if there is a deficiency of insulin in the body.

Symptoms

There are no symptoms, particularly for diabetes type II. Conditions can get worse even before it has been diagnosed. The patient suffering from this disease may gain weight as the food supply is not distributed to other parts.

Treatment

Treatment for this disease includes planning healthy meals, weight control, proper and regular exercise. It may also include taking injections or tablets for insulin.

Prevention

  • Maintaining a healthy lifestyle

  • Being physically active

  • Maintaining body weight

  1. Gestational diabetes

This type of diabetes found normally in pregnant women in her second trimester. During pregnancy, a certain hormone triggers the insulin resistance. It is called gestational diabetes as it is recovered soon after giving birth. Gestational diabetes occurs even for the next pregnancies. If proper care is not taken, it will affect the health of the baby. Hence, pregnant women having this kind of diabetes should take care to control the level of glucose in blood.

How to control diabetes

Putting a control on the menu can help in controlling diabetes to a very large extent. People who want to stay away from diabetes too need to be careful regarding consumption of the right food. It has to be noted that the food we eat does play a major role in supporting or damaging the metabolism of the body. People diagnosed with diabetes need to consume the right food to control it.

Consuming fruits and vegetables daily can be very healthy for the body. Avoid sugar in fruit juices. Fruits with rich sugar have to be avoided and taking in low sugar fruits can be great for diabetes patients. Fried food has to be avoided. Fat filled food too is not good as the blood stream will be filled with high level of cholesterol. Consuming low fat food meat such as chicken and fish can be good for health.  Regular exercise too is essential for a healthy body that will help in controlling the disease to a very large extent. Apart from all these, living healthy and eating healthy can control and prevent diabetes.

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