Diabetes And Its Complications

28 Jun

Posted by admin as diabetes

A diabetic patient’s misery doesn’t end with regulation of blood sugar level or diet control, in most of the cases it gives way to a number of post disease complications. These complications may be of different levels of severity depending upon patient’s sincerity towards precautionary measures.

The primary purpose of Journal of Diabetes and its Complications is to act as a source of information, usable by those caring for patients with diabetes mellitus who are thereby at risk for development of those complications which all too often appear with time. While our primary aim is to assist the practitioner in his/her care of such patients, and to afford access to information that may allow the prevention of such complications, it is the Editors’ wish to function as a forum for that information which, while still experimental, may shed light upon current thinking of those active in the fields appropriate to the aims of Journal of Diabetes and its Complications.

Damage to the retina, the innermost layer of the eye caused by prolonged and inadequate blood glucose control is called diabetic retinopathy. In this condition the small blood vessels in the eye are affected - the arteries supplying blood to the retina become narrow and leaky and the veins become enlarged and twisted causing fluid to leak into the retina causing swelling of the retina. Reduced oxygen supply to the retina stimulates formation of more new blood vessels, which are not stable, and bleed.

High Blood Pressure

Eat a low-fat and high-fibre diet

Exercise regularly to strengthen the heart muscles and improve blood circulation

Quit smoking because narrows and hardens the arteries

Major long-term complications

These include blindness, diabetes being the single leading cause of blindness in adults between the ages of 20 and 74 years of age. Good blood sugar control can delay the onset and reduce the severity of the blindness but in many cases, eye disease is not totally preventable. It is important that all diabetics have their eyes tested regularly.

Diabetes is a leading cause of kidney failure, new blindness in adults, and leg and foot amputations unrelated to injury.

Diabetes is a major cause of heart disease and stroke, which are responsible for about 65% of deaths among people with diabetes.

Journal of Diabetes and its Complications

Type II diabetes and its complications

The prevalence and incidence of type II diabetes are substantially higher in Mexican Americans than in non-Hispanic whites. This, combined with its earlier age of onset and the younger age structure of the Mexican American population, makes diabetes a major public health problem in this ethnic group and one which to a greater extent than in non-Hispanics strikes people in the prime of life. Both genetic and environmental factors undoubtedly contribute to this epidemic.