The month of November is National Diabetes Awareness month.
In a poll conducted of 10 BC students, only four knew what diabetes was.
According to the Juvenile Diagnosis Research Foundation, diabetes (medically known as diabetes mellitus) is the name given to disorders in which the body has trouble regulating its blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels.
In Webster’s New World Dictionary, insulin is defined as a protein hormone secreted by the islets of Langerhans, in the pancreas, which helps the body use sugar and other carbohydrates.
There are two types of diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes. In Type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. In Type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin.
Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sugar. Sugar is the basic fuel for the cells in the body, and insulin takes the sugar from the blood into cells.
According to an American Diabetes Association Web site there are 20.8 million children and adults in the United States, or 7 percent of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, unfortunately, 6.2 million people (or nearly one-third) are unaware that they have the disease.
In order to determine if a patient has pre-diabetes or diabetes, health care providers conduct a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). In the FPG test, a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes.
A person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes.
In the OGTT, a person’s blood glucose level is measured after a fast and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage.
If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes.
If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes.
The American Diabetes Association recommends the FPG because it is easier, faster, and less expensive to perform.
The following symptoms are warning signs of diabetes and can occur suddenly (extreme thirst, frequent urination, sudden vision changes, sugar in urine, fruity, sweet or wine-like odor on breath, increased appetite, sudden weight loss, drowsiness, lethargy, heavy, labored breathing, stupor and unconsciousness.
Diabetes can also cause other complications such as heart disease (increased risk for heart attack, stroke and poor circulation), kidney disease (loss of ability to filter out waste products), eye complications (eye problems and blindness), diabetic neuropathy and nerve damage (damage to the nerves that connect the spinal cord to muscles, skin, blood vessels and other organs), foot complications (nerve damage in the feet or low blood flow).
Diabetes, if not taken care of, can become very problematic, say experts. However, people with diabetes can live, long, healthy, happy lives if the proper steps are taken to manage their disease.