DIABETES

Diabetes is a condition in which the body cannot break down glucose to produce energy, leading to insulin insufficiency and dangerous fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Maintaining a delicate balance of various substances is necessary to ensure the body’s optimal functioning. When the levels of these substances go above or below the normal range, it can be dangerous for the body and life.

One such substance is glucose, which is the final breakdown of carbohydrate digestion. The liver stores some of it as glycogen for future use, while the rest enters the bloodstream. The pancreas produces insulin to ensure any excess glucose passes from the blood into the body cells, where it is stored as glycogen and fat or broken down to produce energy for the body.

A normal range of pre-breakfast blood sugar levels is between 70 to 110 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood. When the test result is far above this range, it is diagnosed as diabetes mellitus. Obesity and lack of exercise can contribute to the disease because the body cannot utilize most of the incoming glucose as energy.

Diabetes is more commonly found in the elderly and obese, but young people can also suffer from it. The disease may be diagnosed by chance among the elderly while being treated for complications such as blurring of vision, cataracts, tingling sensation in the limbs, or recurrent boils. Young sufferers may experience severe and unquenchable thirst, very frequent urination, and rapid weight loss.

The treatment for each type of diabetes is different. The elderly type usually responds well to a low carbohydrate diet, weight-trimming program, and some tablets that stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin. The younger type of patient rarely responds to these tablets and usually needs regular insulin injections along with a low-carbohydrate diet.

The patient needs to monitor their urine regularly to know how well they are responding to treatment and how much medicine they need subsequently. Whenever somebody’s blood glucose goes above the diabetes line, the sugar level is reflected in the urine, whereas non-diabetics urine is usually sugar-free.