Healthcare

What is Diabetes Mellitus?

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) can be said as a disease of poor insulin, although this disease more commonly known as blood sugar disease.

The function of insulin in the body is very important due to its responsible for controlling blood sugar levels in the body and processing carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into energy needed by the body.

The insufficient amount of insulin caused by the pancreas unable to function properly.

What is the signs and symptoms of diabetes?

An initial signs of person suspected with diabetes can be looked at their increased blood sugar levels between 160-180 mg/dL and their urine that containing sugar (glucose), making the urine often surrounded by ants.

Several signs and symptoms but not absolute for every diabetes patients including:

1. Greater amounts of urination (polyuria).

2. Often or quickly feel hungry/thirsty (polydipsia).

3. Excessive hunger or eating a
lot (polyphagia).

4. Frequent urination (glycosuria)

5. Unclear reason of lossing weight.

6. Tingling or numbness on the ending nerves of hand palm and feet.

7. Easy tired and weak all the time.

8. Experience of sudden myopic vision.

9. If there is any wound or scratch, the healing is slow.

10. Easy to infection, especially in the skin.

Lowering blood sugar levels for diabetics is important, but decreased sugar levels dramatically can also cause a person to unconsciousness and even entered the stage of coma.

Types of Diabetes Mellitus

1. Type 1 diabetes mellitus

Type 1 diabetes is insulin-dependent diabetes in which the body lacks of insulin.
The disease also known as Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM). This is because the loss of insulin-producing beta cells in islet of Langerhans in the pancreas.
Type 1 diabetes is usually found in infants, children and adolescents.

Among this patients, especially in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus, the symptoms can be develop quickly from time to time, in a matter of weeks or months

2. Type 2 diabetes mellitus

In type 2 diabetes, the hormone insluin the body can’t function properly or known as Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM). This is because of various possibilities such as defects in insulin production, resistant to insulin, or reduced sensitivity (response) cell and body tissues to insulin, which is marked by rising levels of insulin in the blood.

There are several theories that express causes of insulin resistance, including obesity factors.
In patients with type 2 diabetes, controlling blood sugar levels can be done with some measures such as diet, weight loss, and medications.

Unlike to type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, they generally do not experience with above symptoms. In many cases, they may not know has suffered from diabetes.

Sugar levels in the blood

Normal blood sugar levels ranged between 70-150 mg/dL or 4-8 mmol/L (1 mmol/L = 18 mg/dL).

Nevertheless, of course sugar levels increase after eating and decreased at a time when early morning waking.

Someone categorized as hyperglycemia when the blood sugar levels higher than normal values, whereas hypoglycemia as the opposites.

Diagnosed with diabetes can be true if the result of fasting blood glucose levels reach 126 mg/dL or greater, and checking of blood sugar levels two hours after fasting (min. 8 hours) reach 180 mg/dL.

In addition, randomized check of blood sugar levels can help diagnose diabetes if blood sugar levels are between 140 mg/dL and 200 mg/dL, moreover when above 200 mg/dL.

Diabetes treatments

Continuous insulin therapy usually performed in people with type 1 diabetes, other than an adequate exercise and diet control.

Treatment that focus on diet, exercise, and lifestyle is more addressed to people with type 2 diabetes.
If this doesn’t give maximum results in controlling blood sugar levels, then the use of diabetic medications and insulin therapy be a last alternative.