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Diabetes Mellitus refers to a health condition that results from deficiency in secretion of pancreatic hormone called insulin. Failure or inadequate secretion of insulin affects the metabolic disintegration of sugars and starch, which then accumulate in the blood and urine (Chandalia & Das, 2012). Diabetes Mellitus often occurs in two conditions, diabetes type I and diabetes type II. Most people are usually affected by type II. Feinglos and Bethel (2008) postulate that 27 million people in the US have been diagnosed with this condition and another 86 million have pre-diabetes; a condition which refers to having abnormal blood glucose levels but not high enough to be diabetes yet.
Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes Mellitus Type II
The major symptom of diabetes mellitus type II is hyperglycemia. Other early signs of the disease include fatigue, weight loss, urine glucose, polyuria and polydipsia. During this stage, the patient develops excessive thirst which is contributed by extreme sugar build up in the bloodstream, subsequently making fluids to be absorbed up from the tissues. The patient also faces an increase in the rate of urination. Nonetheless, people with diabetes II exhibit excessive hunger. This condition means that there is no enough insulin to move sugar into the cells, therefore, muscles and organs become depleted of energy leading to intense hunger. Intrinsically, the deprived sugar in the cells leads to a sign of fatigue (Feinglos & Bethel, 2008). Furthermore, diabetes type II is characterized by blurred vision which is caused by the high blood sugar levels that causes fluids to be pulled from the lenses of the eyes and eventually affecting the ability to focus. People with diabetes II also have sores or cuts that heals slowly, thus, affecting the ability to heal and resist infections.
Causes of Diabetes Mellitus Type II
According to Levene and Donnelly (2008), too much weight has contributed to people developing diabetes mellitus type II condition in the United States. The condition is also known as obesity and it usually causes insulin resistance. Diabetes type II is usually more pronounced in children and teenagers as well as adults mainly because of childhood obesity. Gene inheritance also contribute to diabetes type II. Moreover, studies by scientists reveal that the different DNA make up within people’s body affect how the body produces insulin, which is a big factor in the development of this disease (Levene & Donnelly, 2008). The amount of glucose from people’s liver also contributes to this disease. It follows that too much glucose from the liver contributes greatly to diabetes type II. Also, low blood sugar level makes the liver to release more glucose, thus leading to diabetes mellitus type II.
Consequences of Diabetes Mellitus Type II
Diabetic retinopathy is a health risk associated with Diabetes Mellitus type II, affecting visual ability. It causes blindness resulting from the ability of the diseases to damage the smaller blood vessels of the retina. As such, it results into loss of vision. According to Chandalia and Das (2012), approximately 2 to 10 percent of patients who have suffered from the disease for a period of more than fifteen years become blind and develop severe visual handicap.
Kidney failure is another common health condition that is associated with Diabetes Mellitus. However, its prevalence varies among various populations owing to the differences in severity and time of exposure. Because diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease, kidney failure too is a chronic health condition, thus, the necessity of recommended diabetes management interventions such as protein restriction in early chronic kidney disease.
Diabetes Neuropathy is among the common complication of the disease. According to Chandalia and Das (2012), about fifty percent of the people infected with the disease experience sensory loss and damage of the limbs owing to the degree of elevation of glucose. Moreover, the disease is responsible for causing impotent among diabetic men as well as diabetic foot diseases originating from changes that occur in blood vessels and nerves, leading to ulceration and proceeding amputations.
Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus Type II
All the above complications can be managed mainly through non pharmacological interventions that include diet restriction and physical therapy activities. Nonetheless, patients are subjected to oral agents that control blood sugar level. Additionally, there is the administration of hormonal insulin to type 2 patients with the aim of reducing blood sugar levels (Chandalia & Das, 2012). As such, some of the practices that can be adopted in the treatment of diabetes type II include healthy eating, regular exercise, diabetes medication and insulin therapy.
- Chandalia, H. B., & Das, A. K. (2012). RSSDI textbook of diabetes mellitus. New Delhi, Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers.
- Feinglos, M. N., & Bethel, M. A. (2008). Type 2 diabetes mellitus: An evidence-based approach to practical management. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.
- Levene, L. S., & Donnelly, R. (2008). Managing type 2 diabetes mellitus: A practical guide. Edinburgh: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann.