Diabetes, this well-known condition that is constantly mentioned in our daily lives, is a disease associated with metabolic disorders. As is well known, metabolism is the mechanism by which our body uses food to give energy to the body. Most foods break down glucose which is a form of sugar in the blood and is the main source of energy for our body.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition characterized by a disturbance in the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The most common disorder in all forms of diabetes is hyperglycemia, elevated blood sugar levels.
People with diabetes have fairly high levels of glucose in their blood. This is either because the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or because the cells do not respond adequately to the insulin produced by the pancreas. The result of this process is increased blood glucose circulation.
Symptoms of the disease
Diabetes often has no symptoms. However, if there are symptoms then they can manifest as intense thirst, frequent urination, overeating or feeling of hunger, fatigue, blurred vision, nausea or vomiting.
Diagnosis of diabetes
Diabetes is diagnosed with a simple urine test that can detect the amount of glucose. It is usually accompanied by blood tests to check blood glucose levels.
Causes of diabetes
The main cause of diabetes is obesity. There are of course other reasons such as heredity, gender, etc. However, we must understand that obesity is the main cause for the very large increase in the disease in recent years.
At the same time, strong risk factors for the development of diabetes are the lack of exercise in daily life, hypertension, the history of cardiovascular diseases and more.
What complications can occur due to diabetes
People with type I diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease, stroke, blindness or kidney failure as someone who does not have diabetes. A person with type I diabetes is likely to have a specific problem with the circulatory system as well as its extremities.
Type II diabetes occurs as already mentioned in people whose body does not produce insulin or is resistant to the insulin it produces. It usually occurs much later in age compared to type I diabetes and is the most common type of diabetes. As already mentioned, obesity and overweight are key factors in the development of this type of diabetes as the presence of fat in the abdomen makes these people more vulnerable to the development of this type of diabetes.
In both types of diabetes, the organs affected are the eyes, the kidneys, the blood vessels of the heart and brain, and the peripheral arteries.
It should be noted that kidney disease due to diabetes, ie diabetic kidney disease is one of the most important causes of dialysis worldwide.
Large vessel involvement also affects the vessels in the heart, carotid arteries and lower extremities and can even manifest as an acute myocardial infarction, stroke or severe lower extremity pain when walking.
Prevention and treatment of diabetes
The most important step in preventing diabetes is to adopt a healthy lifestyle and incorporate exercise. Even when proper prevention is not done and the person suffers from diabetes, it is especially crucial for the person to adopt a different and completely healthy lifestyle.
The optimistic message is that even a small amount of weight loss combined with exercise is sometimes enough to regulate blood sugar in people with type II diabetes.
Insulin should be given to people with type II diabetes when their blood sugar levels are still high despite a change in eating habits and taking antidiabetic tablets.