Information about Diabetes Treatment

10 Jun

Diabetes is a very common disorder that affects the manner in which the body handles carbohydrates, fats and proteins. If neglected, diabetes can have serious complications. Fortunately, with a healthy lifestyle and with diet management you can lead a healthy life. The diabetic people have a high level of blood sugar. The blood sugar level is regulated by insulin (a hormone produced by the pancreas). The blood sugar level is regulated by your eating habits.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a set of related diseases in which the body cannot regulate the amount of sugar (specifically, glucose) in the blood. Glucose in the blood gives you energy to perform daily activities, walk briskly, run for a bus, ride your bike, take an aerobic exercise class, and perform your day-to-day chores.

In Type 1 diabetes the cells in the pancreas that make insulin are destroyed, causing a severe lack of insulin. This is thought to be the result of the body attacking and destroying its own cells in the pancreas - known as an autoimmune reaction.

Type II diabetes is sometimes called adult-onset diabetes. The name “adult-onset” comes from the fact that Type II diabetes usually does not appear until a person grows older. More than 90 percent of the diabetics in the United States are Type II diabetics. This form of the disorder is not caused by low levels of insulin. Instead, the body’s cells do not recognize insulin in the bloodstream. They are not able to get the glucose they need to make energy.

Type 1 diabetes is treated with intensive insulin therapy. This type of treatment is designed to achieve near-normal blood sugars safely - while keeping the episodes of low blood sugars (”insulin reactions”) to a minimum. Insulin therapy includes:
Multiple Daily Injections of Insulin (Flexibility is important!).

Use of Insulin Pens or Pumps.

An important diabetes management goal is to keep blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible. In order to achieve this goal, treatment for Type 2 diabetes centers around three essential components: balanced daily nutrition, a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise, and proper medication if doctor prescribed. These lifestyle factors can help decrease insulin resistance,balance insulin/glucose metabolism and reduce the health risks associated with diabetes.

Insulin preparations differ in how quickly they start to work and how long they remain active. Sometimes different types of insulin are mixed together in a single injection. The types of insulin to use, the doses needed, and the number of daily injections are chosen by a health care professional trained to provide diabetes care.

Intensive management is a treatment regimen that aims to keep blood glucose levels close to normal. The regimen includes frequently testing blood glucose, administering insulin frequently throughout the day on the basis of food intake and exercise, following a diet and exercise plan, and frequently consulting a health care team. Some people use an insulin pump to supply insulin throughout the day.

In extreme cases, a surgery has to be performed in which the patients pancreas is removed and substituted with a healthy pancreas. If the surgery is successful, then the pancreas start producing insulin. Surgery is often a treatment of last resort. Any surgical procedure has many risks involved. A doctor wants to be certain that those risks are worth the benefit the patient will gain by having a new pancreas.