Diabetes - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Diabetes is a disorder that affects the way your body uses food for energy. Normally, the sugar you take in is digested and broken down to a simple sugar, known as glucose. The glucose then circulates in your blood where it waits to enter cells to be used as fuel. Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, helps move the glucose into cells. A healthy pancreas adjusts the amount of insulin based on the level of glucose. But, if you have diabetes, this process breaks down, and blood sugar levels become too high.

Main Causes of Diabetes

We know that diabetes develops as a result of your body's cells not getting enough insulin (a hormone which helps convert blood sugar/glucose into energy). This is usually because your pancreas fails to generate enough insulin or because your body's cells start to resist insulin. Although we know what leads to the development of diabetes we do not currently know why this happens in certain individuals and not others.

This means no matter how much or how little insulin is made, the body can't use it as well as it should. As a result, glucose can't be moved from the blood into cells. Over time, the excess sugar in the blood gradually poisons the pancreas causing it to make less insulin, and making it even more difficult to keep blood glucose under control. Obesity is a leading cause of insulin resistance; 90% of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight.

here are some common diabetes causes that include genetic causes as well as environmental causes. The risk of diabetes is higher if there is a family history of diabetes. Environmental factors that can lead to the onset of diabetes include poor diet, lack of exercise, obesity, and stress. Diabetes is a disease that can be prevented - or controlled once a diagnosis has been made.

Type 2 diabetes usually occurs gradually. Most people with the disease are overweight at the time of diagnosis. However, type 2 diabetes can also develop in those who are thin, especially the elderly.

Diabetic Symptoms

Type 1 diabetes is usually recognized in childhood or early adolescence, often in association with an illness (such as a virus or urinary tract infection) or injury.

The extra stress can cause diabetic ketoacidosis.

Cuts or sores that take a long time to heal.

Slow-healing wounds.

Frequent urination (especially at night)

Diabetes Treatment

Intranasal, Transdermal

Other routes for the delivery of insulin have also been tried. Intranasal insulin delivery was thought to be promising. However, this method was associated with poor absorption and nasal irritation. Transdermal insulin (skin patch delivery) has also yielded disappointing results to date. Insulin in pill form is also not yet effective since the digestive enzymes in the gut break it down.

Many, but not all, of the symptoms of diabetes can be controlled by the administration of insulin. The forms of insulin available early in the 20th cent. had to be injected frequently because they were quick-acting. Later modifications gave the insulin solution a more prolonged action so that hypodermic injections could be made less frequently. Some now control their insulin levels via a small, portable insulin pump. In certain cases of mild diabetes, oral medications that stimulate production of insulin can be taken in lieu of insulin

"Diabetes knowledge, treatment, and prevention strategies advance daily. Treatment is aimed at keeping blood glucose near normal levels at all times. Training in self-management is integral to the treatment of diabetes. Treatment must be individualized and must address medical, psychosocial, and lifestyle issues."