• What is diabetes?
• Types
• Symptoms
• Risk factors

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a condition of the body unable to process food into energy. Most of the eaten food broken into glucose, insulin is the hormone produced in the pancreas gland which helps to add glucose into cells to energize. If It does not happen glucose or sugar levels will be increased in the blood. 

It is mainly due to lack of insulin or ineffective use of insulin. This is the much-complicated situation of the body, insulin treated as glucose regulated hormone.  Diabetes is a chronic, metabolic disease characterized by high levels of blood glucose or sugar, which leads over time to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves.

• 463 million people worldwide have diabetes in the age group of 20-79 years, particularly in low and middle-income countries.
• India has 77 million, while China has 116 million and the USA has about 38 million diabetes patients.
• 1 in every 11 adults has diabetes in the world. This is one of the leading cause of death in the world.

Diabetes essentially categorized as Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational.

Type 1 Diabetes :

This is due to lack of insulin in the body, pancreas not producing insulin as required. this can be developed at any age, but occurs generally in children and adolescent.

This type of diabetes previously called as ‘juvenile diabetes’. To date the cause for this form of diabetes is unknown. In the world, around 10% of diabetic patients fall under type 1.

Symptoms

• Unusual thirst and dry mouth
• Abrupt weight loss
• Consistent hunger
• Frequent urination
• Frequent urination
• Lack of energy, tiredness
• Bedwetting
• Blurred vision

Type 2 Diabetes :

Around 90% of the diabetes patients fall under this class. Body cells do not make good use of produced insulin, this results in tyep2 diabetes. This form of diabetes was previously known as ‘adult-onset diabetes’.

Symptoms

• Extreme thirst and dry mouth
• Frequent urination
• Lack of energy, tiredness
• Slow-healing wounds
• Recurrent infections in the skin
• Blurred vision
• Tingling or numbness in hands and feet.

Gestational Diabetes :

This diabetes is due to excessive weight and high levels of blood sugar during pregnancy. If it is a severe threat to maternal and childbirth. Many women Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) experience more complications like high blood pressure, large birth weight babies and obstructed labour

There are other forms of diabetes in 1% to 5% of people. Diseases of the pancreas, certain surgeries, medications and infections are the causes.

Risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes.

• Family History of diabetes
• Overweight or Obesity
• High Blood pressure
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Aging
• Junk food or Unhealthy diet
• Ethnicity – group of people in particular geography
• History of gestational diabetes
• Poor nutrition during pregnancy
• Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)

Change in diet, no physical activity, work culture and no mental relief or stress and urbanization led to a steep increase in type 2 diabetes people.