What All You Should Know About - Diabetes

Diabetes is considered to be a lifelong condition that causes the level of blood glucose (sugar) to become too high.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is considered to be a lifelong condition that causes the level of blood glucose (sugar) to become too high.

There are majorly two types of diabetes:

Type 1 (10%) - DM1 –

In the case - when the pancreas are unable to produce any insulin. This type gets diagnosed when the individual is young, during childhood itself.

Type 2 (90%) – DM2 –

This is when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the body’s cells don’t respond to insulin the insulin production. This usually affects older people.

Also, it has been see that for type 2 diabetes – The inheritance pattern is strong. –More so has been seen in the Asian Population:

In case, one parent has DM2, you would have a 50% probability of getting it while- (90% with both the parents).

Diabetes is also defined as a major cause of the following:

Blindness
Kidney failure
Heart attacks
Stroke
Lower limb amputation.

How common is diabetes?

In India, according to statistics, it is estimated that there are 77 million people that are above the age of 18 years and suffer from diabetes (type 2)

There are nearly 25 million individuals that are prediabetes (i.e. already at a higher risk of developing the diabetes in the near future).

There are also more than a 50% of people that are unaware of their own diabetic status which would ultimately lead to some sort of health complications if it is not timely detected and also treated early.

-Moreover, India is known to be the ‘Diabetes Capital of the World’.

Adults with diabetes are said to have either a two- to three-fold increased risk of a heart attacks and even strokes.

This when combined with even reduced blood flow, would cause neuropathy (nerve damage) While, in the feet- it increases the chance of foot ulcers, an infection, and the eventually many-a-times even the need for the limb amputation.

Complications

Diabetic retinopathy is known to be an important reason of blindness and it occurs as a result of the long-term accumulated damage to small blood vessels in the retina of the patient.
Diabetes is also considered to be among the leading cause of an individual’s kidney failure.and related problems (Nephropathy)
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA): When the body begins to break down the fat at a very fast rate
- The liver processes fat into a fuel that called ketones; this causes the blood to turn acidic in nature.
- It is a life-threatening complication of Diabetes.

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes is the hyperglycemia caused with blood glucose values that above normal but the value that is below the diagnostic of diabetes disease per se.

Gestational diabetes usually occurs during the pregnancy stage.

The Women that have gestational diabetes are known to be at an increased risk of complications during the pregnancy stage and even at delivery.

These women and also their children would be at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in the future.

The Gestational diabetes is also diagnosed through a prenatal screening, rather through any reported symptoms.

What is the definition of diabetes?

The normal blood glucose (sugar) is known to 4-6 mmol/L.

The Diabetes is also diagnosed if the values of the fasting blood glucose of 7 mmol/l and even above, or even the random blood glucose of 11 mmol/L or above.

HbA1c Test

It is also important to check the HbA1c level, it determines if you are at a risk f developing complications. The HbA1c is called: glycated haemoglobin.

This is formed when the glucose, which we commonly call the sugar, sticks to the blood cells and then it ends up building up in the blood.

It's measured by the blood test that would shows display your average blood sugar levels over past three months. This test, can be done by the patient itself at home.

A high HbA1c indicates high sugar level in the blood

How can I prevent or reverse DM2?

It can be prevented, however it is not reversible.

Here are some steps that you can follow to avoid developing diabetes:

Weight loss.
Detect DM early
Family tendency to diabetes
Check your blood pressure

Diagnosis and treatment

An early diagnosis would be only accomplished through a relatively inexpensive testing of the blood glucose level.

The patients who are with the type 1 diabetes would also need the insulin injections for their survival.

One of the most important ways to treat diabetes is to keep a healthy lifestyle.

Insulin injections or medicines that are required to be taken by patients are as follows:

Metformin
Sulfonylurea
Sodium-glucose co-transporters type 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors

Along with these medicines to lower the blood sugar, there are people with diabetes that often need different medications, so that their blood pressure is lowered and the presence of statins, which would reduce the risk of any complications.

Also, any additional medical care might also be needed to treat any effects of diabetes. Some of the examples include:

Foot care to treat ulcers
Screening and also treatment for kidney disease
The eye exams used to screen for retinopathy (which ultimately causes blindness)

To seek Free Consultation from the Doctor:

Contact- Dr. Ravin Sharma, (MBBS, MD Radiology)

Available: 24*7*365

Phone Number: +919212125996

Check your Diabetes Level at Ganesh Diagnostic and Imaging Center

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Note from Ganesh Diagnostic and Imaging Center

Early checkups are always better than delayed ones. Safety, precaution & care are depicted in the several health checkups at our center.
Here, at Ganesh Diagnostic and Imagining Center, we present simple & comprehensive health packages for any kind of testing to ensure the early prescribed treatment to safeguard your health.
So, visit us at the earliest to ensure good health and to maintain an active immune system.

References:

Jenna M. Lizzoet.et al (May 2023): Adult Diabetic Ketoacidosis https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560723/

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes

https://www.paho.org/en