Diabetes

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Diabetes

Are you living a life of stress ?
Are you on the other side of forty ?
Are you over weight ?
Well, it is time to think, and think seriously....

Did you know for instance, that 25% of India's population is at a risk of developing diabetes in the next decade ?

Special Highlights

Are you Diabetes aware - The Humane Angle

First Person Accounts

Did you know that in the past two decades more people from the economic middle class have been diagnosed as sufferers than ever before ? Diabetes has ceased to be a disease of rich alone, it is now a lifestyle disease and how you lead your life hereafter may determine your odds against this disease.....

It can be really scary finding out that you have diabetes. But don’t hit the panic button just yet! Of course, diabetes is a disease that's not to be taken lightly. But people with diabetes can live long, healthy, happy lives. You can too, by taking good care of yourself.

Diabetes means too much glucose in the blood. Glucose is the sugar that your body’s cells use as fuel. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can cause two problems: one, your cells may be starved for energy & two, high glucose levels may harm your eyes, kidneys, nerves, or heart in the long run.

Types of Diabetes

The first step is identifying which of the two types of diabetes do you have:

Type 1 : also called as Juvenile Diabetes
Type 2 : also called as Maturity Onset Diabetes

Type I (Juvenile Diabetes):

Juvenile diabetes (adults get it too!) or insulin-dependent diabetes is caused by damage to the pancreas. The pancreas is an organ near your stomach and contains cells called beta cells. Beta cells have a vital job: they make insulin, a hormone that helps cells take in the glucose they need. Sometimes, the beta cells get destroyed and cannot produce insulin anymore. Without insulin, glucose stays in the blood instead of going into cells. Destruction of beta cells could be due to many reasons, but in this type, its the immune system that's made a mistake:

	Cells that should protect you from germs instead of attacking your beta cells.
	The beta cells die.
	Without beta cells, you make no insulin.
	Glucose builds up in your blood, and leads to diabetes.

Type II (Maturity-Onset Diabetes):

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. When you eat, your body turns your food into glucose (sugar) to use as fuel. In healthy people, a hormone called insulin helps the glucose get into the cells. But in people with type 2 diabetes, something goes wrong. Here, a person just does not make enough insulin. Sometimes, cells ignore the insulin, and no insulin moves into the cells.

Diagnosis:

Diabetic patients usually have an inkling that something is wrong with them.
The usual tell-tale signs are:

	Losing weight
	Having to use the bathroom a lot,
	Feeling very hungry,
	Feeling very thirsty,
	Having trouble seeing,
	Feeling tired,
	Lapsing into coma.

Levels of glucose that are too-high cause these symptoms. They "tell" your doctor you might have diabetes. To make sure, your doctor may recommend a blood test to measure how much glucose it has.

Is It Curable?

In people with type 2 diabetes, glucose (sugar) builds up in the blood. But with good treatment, your blood sugar levels may go down to normal again.

A Normal sugar level does not mean you are cured. Instead, a normal blood sugar levels shows that your treatment plan is working and that you are doing a good job of taking care of yourself.

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