The following article will cover basic points such as “what is diabetes?”, symptoms, classification, causes, treatment, cost of diabetes treatment. Through this article, everyone will have basic knowledge about diabetes!
1. What is diabetes like?
Find out what diabetes is?
We eat every day. The amount of carbohydrates from meals is absorbed into the intestinal tract as glucose and dissolved in the blood. Once there, a hormone called insulin is secreted, thanks to the secretion of insulin, glucose is introduced into the cells and becomes the body’s source of energy.
If insulin works inefficiently and if glucose rises to a level where insulin processing cannot be met, then there is a large amount of glucose that is not converted into the body’s energy source and is in excess in the blood. “A condition in which the amount of glucose in the blood (blood sugar) exceeds a certain percentage” is called “diabetes.”
Because diabetes has several different types, it cannot be lumped into one category, but generally the typical symptoms of diabetes are as follows:
– Polyuria (high urine output)
Dry mouth, heavy drinking (or thirst and drinking a lot of water)
– Weight loss
– Easily tired
What’s so scary about diabetes?
With diabetes (a condition in which blood sugar exceeds a certain rate), what difficulties will a person have?
If blood sugar levels rise, the blood becomes thicker, putting great pressure on blood vessels. This phenomenon will cause many complications in the long term and this is the scary point of diabetes. In particular, the majority of complications of diabetes are related to capillaries and depending on the case, the patient may lose vision, even the limbs may become necrotic.
>> To know if you have diabetes, read the article right away: Symptoms of diabetes
The Three Types of Diabetes
As mentioned earlier, diabetes is “A state in which the amount of glucose in the blood (blood sugar) exceeds a certain percentage”, but there are many causes that lead to this condition.
Depending on the cause, diabetes can be divided into the following 3 types.
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is diabetes caused by the β cells of the pancreas that secrete insulin being destroyed. It is a disease with a high onset rate in children and adolescents, characterized by often suddenly developing and progressing rapidly. In addition, the initial symptoms of the disease are very similar to those of a cold, but then additional symptoms such as thirst, polyuria and sudden weight loss appear.
Regarding treatments, when the β cells of the pancreas are destroyed, insulin cannot be secreted, so if the patient does not regularly supply insulin from the outside into the body, then the disease can be life-threatening. Therefore, insulin injections are essential.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a type of diabetes-onset in people who have a genetic predisposition to diabetes and have “lifestyle problems” such as obesity, voracity, lack of exercise, stress. Type 2 diabetes is considered one of the “2 major lifestyle diseases”.
Type 2 diabetes onset mainly in people after middle age. This type of diabetes is characterized by almost no symptoms, often with an onset without the patient’s knowledge. There are many cases of patients who are surprised when they first discover the disease during a health examination at work and where they live despite thinking they are healthy.
However, it is impossible not to be concerned about diabetes because it is assumed that the disease does not cause pain to the body. Because if the disease progresses, it can cause complications such as blindness, necrosis of the feet.
Of course, it is impossible to say with certainty about complications because the disease will progress differently depending on the condition and process, but in the early stages, patients can regulate blood sugar levels by improving lifestyle such as diet and exercise. Over time, however, it becomes more difficult to control blood sugar levels simply by improving lifestyle, and in some cases, patients may turn to drug therapy such as oral medications or insulin injections.
In addition, it can be said that diabetes is a difficult disease to cure. Even if the glycemic index has stabilized, if the patient stops treatment, it will again increase very quickly. Therefore, in case a patient is found to have type 2 diabetes, please consult a specialized medical facility for maintenance of treatment and appropriate testing.
– Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes is an abnormal condition in sugar metabolism caused by the effects of pregnancy and is detected or first initiated during pregnancy. It is a typical disease in pregnant women, when women are pregnant, hormones produced by the placenta inhibit insulin function, thereby causing an increase in blood sugar levels.
Of course, not all pregnant women have diabetes, but in the case of obese pregnant women, pregnancy in older age, family history of pregnant women with diabetes will often tend to be more prone to gestational diabetes.
To understand the types of diabetes, read more in the article Types of diabetes
2. What are the complications of diabetes?
The worrying thing in diabetes is that different complications appear due to increased blood sugar levels that put great pressure on blood vessels. Probably people often hear stories that say, “If you have diabetes, your eyes become invisible, your kidneys get worse, or your limbs become necrotic.” In fact, these are considered typical symptoms caused by 3 main complications of diabetes.
This section will give an overview of the 3 main diabetes complications:
Diabetic retinopathy
The mechanism by which man sees things with his eyes can be simulated as the structure of a movie. “Seeing everything” can say that it is the process by which light entering from the irises is refracted by the cornea or lens (the lens of the projector), linking the images projected onto the retina (screen) and the brain registering that image. The fact that the reader notes the inscription written here right now is also from sensing light on the retina through the cornea and lens.
The retina is a thin membrane with numerous nerves at the base of the eye and capillaries stretched around. “Diabetic retinopathy” is a complication that leads to vision loss and blindness due to pressure on blood vessels caused by diabetes, blood and oxygen are not enough to reach the capillaries of the retina.
> Risk warning: Vision loss, diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic nephropathy
The important role of the kidneys in the body is to filter waste and unnecessary substances in the blood and then excrete them from the body in the form of urine. It can be said that our body’s blood is maintained in a stable state thanks to the filtering function of the kidneys.
However, when blood sugar levels rise due to diabetes, the kidney filter becomes blocked, unable to process waste and unnecessary substances, making it difficult to keep the condition of the blood stable. “Diabetic nephropathy” is kidney dysfunction caused by diabetes.
In the worst case, it can lead to severe life-threatening symptoms such as uremia, kidney failure, and may require hemodialysis with medical equipment.
> Research now the article Diabetic kidney disease to prevent this extremely dangerous complication
Diabetic neuropathy
“Diabetic neuropathy” is one of the three major complications of diabetes along with diabetic retinopathy and diabetic kidney disease, but it seems that the majority of people still don’t fully understand why diabetes causes nerve damage. There are many different theories about the cause of diabetic neurological complications such as “Because the more diabetes progresses, the more damaging material the nerve cells accumulate”, “Diabetes causes the blood circulation in the capillaries to deteriorate, leading to a lack of oxygen and nutrients needed by nerve cells”, But it seems to say that of the above hypotheses, which one is correct, there is no final conclusion.
It is said that the initial symptoms of diabetic neuropathy are usually numbness and pain mainly in the toes and feet. In terms of sensation, the symptoms are usually manifested in a state of “stinging”, “burning pain”,…, as the symptoms progress, pain and numbness gradually appear in the fingers. Moreover, as nerves continue to be damaged, the sensation of the extremities becomes slower, and patients often get injuries on the limbs without knowing it.
Special attention must be paid in diabetic neuropathy is that when the patient does not notice a very small scratch caused by wearing tight or cut shoes, the wound can get worse such as a bacterial infection and by the time the patient goes to the hospital, the hands and feet have been badly damaged and can no longer be used, The only cure is amputation of limbs. Diabetics should visually confirm the limbs during bathing.
> See more detailed articles about diabetic neuropathy complications
3. Diabetes treatments
There are three typical treatments for diabetes. Eating therapy, movement therapy, drug therapy. All three are treatments aimed at controlling blood sugar levels and reducing pressure on blood vessels, which can be applied depending on the type and symptoms of diabetes.
Let’s learn specifically about these three treatments.
Eating
Eating therapy is therapy aimed at regulating blood sugar levels with healthy, balanced eating habits. The general points to note are “eat slowly and chew thoroughly”, “eat healthy, in moderation in the morning, noon and evening”, “do not eat late at night or before going to bed”, “do not eat too full, only eat just enough”, “Try to balance nutrition with adequate awareness of minerals and vitamins, especially the three main nutrients carbohydrates, proteins and fats.”
However, since appetite is one of the 3 great human desires, even when aware of it in the head, sometimes patients still suffer from disorders in eating habits such as “want to eat greasy food!”, “want to eat until full stomach”. To solve this problem, sometimes you can try creating a “special day to eat what you like.”
Either way, since this is a dietary “treatment”, it is still necessary to consult the doctor in charge.
Advocacy
Movement therapy is a treatment that promotes blood glucose to be introduced into cells to become energy and lowers blood sugar levels through movement. However, in diabetes treatment, not all types of movement are good, but in general moderate aerobic exercise feels “a bit difficult…” and muscle training seems to be more effective than heavy exercise such as competition of athletes.
In addition, when the patient starts to increase heavy exercise but gives up midway due to feeling difficult or hurting the body, strengthening exercises also do not bring any effect. Consult your doctor first and create a stable, effective, and appropriate exercise program.
Drug treatment
Drug therapy is a treatment that controls blood sugar levels within the normal range with the help of medications. There are two main methods of drug treatment, “insulin injection” and “oral hypoglycemic medication”, each with a different approach.
As mentioned earlier, diabetes is a disease caused by blood sugar levels that rise when the pancreas does not secrete insulin or the amount of insulin secreted is reduced.
Basically, it seems that which drug to treat depends on “the amount of insulin secreted from the pancreas.” Usually, in case the amount of insulin secreted from the pancreas is very low/almost nonexistent, insulin injection is applied, in case the secretion of insulin from the pancreas is maintained to some extent, the measure of “oral hypoglycemic drugs” is applied.
Watch now How to treat diabetes scientifically, in detail, specifically.
4. Cost of diabetes treatment
Diabetes is often referred to as a “rich man’s disease” because of its long treatment time and extremely expensive treatment costs. However, the cost of diabetes treatment varies depending on the progression of the disease and the patient’s condition.
This article has given an overview of symptoms, causes, complications, treatment methods, treatment costs,… of diabetes in general. After reading the article, hopefully people will be able to better visualize diabetes in general.