Abstract
Diabetes can be referred to as a complex condition that can affect the entire body of a person and it causes high levels of glucose in the body. There are three types of diabetes that can affect a people such as diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus and gestational diabetes (American Diabetes Association 35). Just like any other disease, diabetes also has symptoms associated with people living with it. Some of the notable symptoms include; severe thirst due to losing of fluids from excessive urination, weight loss, fatigue as well as blurred vision. Diabetes has numerous risk factors associated with it namely; family history of diabetes, overweight, lack of physical exercise and increasing in age. However, there are some lifestyle and home remedies that individuals ought to adopt so as to help in eradicating diabetes. It is recommended that people should check on their diet and ensure that they undertake regular physical exercises to keep their body fit.
Diabetes is a complex condition that can have effects on the entire body of an individual as a result of amounts of glucose in the blood becoming too high due to the failure of the body to use them as required (American Diabetes Association 35). This happens because the pancreas is not in a position to produce insulin that is useful in helping glucose to enter body’s cells.
There are notably three types of diabetes. For instance, diabetes mellitus which is a type of disease resulting from high blood sugars usually for a long period. This condition develops since there is the inadequate production of insulin as well as the failure of the cells to be sensitive to the actions of insulin (American Diabetes Association 35). Persons who have this type of disease usually experience frequent urination, increased hunger and thirst. To prevent and treat this type of diabetes, it is recommended that a person should ensure that they take healthy diet, maintain a normal weight, and avoid usage of tobacco and regular physical exercise.
This type of diabetes can be diagnosed by performing testing on the blood glucose, glucose tolerance test as well as testing glycosylated hemoglobin levels. There are also complications associated with this disease such as the increased blood sugar levels, low blood sugar levels will also be experienced as a result of medications (International diabetes federation). Diseases in the blood vessels can as well be experienced that can end up damaging the kidneys, nerves, eyes and the heart.
Diabetes insipidus is another type of diabetes that is associated with excessive thirst and the affected individuals also pass a lot of dilute urine. Reduction in the intake of fluids has no effects on the concentration of the urine. This, therefore, implies that, when the body loses a lot of water, patients experience unexplained weakness in the body, pain in the muscles, irritability and lethargy. There are three types of diabetes insipidus namely: nephrogenic diabetes, neurological form and vasopressin (International diabetes federation). The disease can be diagnosed through a 24 hours collection of the urine to determine the urine volumes, simultaneous urinary and plasma osmolality, determination of the ADH levels in the plasma and urinary specific gravity. To manage this disease, patients with this condition are advised to drink enough fluid so as to replace the loss urine.
Consequently, gestational diabetes is also another type of diabetes that is experienced by pregnant women who have been previously diagnosed with diabetes. These women experience high blood sugars during their pregnancies. This happens due to failure by the insulin receptors to function properly. Factors related to pregnancy such as the human placental lactogen presence in the blood interferes with the insulin receptors (Sobiya). Women with gestational diabetes can be diagnosed by screening them during pregnancy. This test will aim at detecting inappropriate levels of glucose present in the blood. The most interesting thing about gestational diabetes is that it disappears once the baby is born.
Generally, diabetes just like any other disease has several symptoms. Patient with diabetes experience excessive thirst and at the same time, they have increased urination. High glucose levels will force the kidneys to work extra hard so as to filter and to also absorb the excess sugar (Sobiya). The excess sugar and other fluids from the tissues will be excreted through the urine hence triggering frequent urination. Additionally, persons with diabetes also experience fatigue. This is due to excessive dehydration as a result of urination as well as the inability of the body to function well.
Consequently, it is normal for people living with diabetes to experience severe weight loss. This is due to the fact that when an individual loses a lot of sugars, they also lose calories (Sobiya). Besides losing of sugars through urination, diabetes has a tendency of preventing sugar from reaching the cells. Furthermore, it is associated with blurred vision. High levels of blood sugar affect the tissues in the eyes and, therefore, affection vision. If left untreated, it may cause the formation of new blood levels in the retina. Last but not the least, people with diabetes feels hungry even when they keep on eating.
Diabetes is associated a lot of risk factors such as that of family history. It is very unfortunate that if you have relatives who have been diagnosed of diabetes, chances of getting the disease becomes high. Obesity or overweight is another risk factor to getting diabetes (International diabetes federation). Consequently, lack of physical exercise and unhealthy eating habits can also increase your chances of getting the disease and, therefore, it is necessary that people undertake regular exercises. It is also vital for people to start looking at their diet and consult their health care providers on the best diets to take. Moreover, age is a risk factor to diabetes. Elderly people have high chances of getting the disease.
However, there are some lifestyle and home remedies for the disease such as ensuring regular physical exercise. Exercise is a non-medical way in which diabetes can be controlled (Barbara). It helps by reducing the severity of the disease as well as long-term complications associated with the disease. People should also look at their eating habits by eating real food such as fruits, fish, meat, vegetables and avoid processed foods. By doing so, people will avoid added sugars and Trans fats.
Conclusively, diabetes is one of the diseases that have become a problem to many people due to the kind of lifestyle they live. This is, therefore, critical for people to monitor their eating habits as well as practice regular physical exercises in a bid to fight the disease.
Works Cited
American Diabetes Association. "Standards of medical care in diabetes--2012." Diabetes care 35 (2012): S11.
Barbara. H. Seeber. "5 Natural Ways to Prevent Diabetes." Health Information, Resources, Tools & News Online | Everyday Health. N.p., 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. <http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/white-seeber-grogan-the-remedy-chicks/natural-ways-prevent-diabetes/>.
International diabetes federation. "Risk Factors." International Diabetes Federation. N.p., 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. <https://www.idf.org/about-diabetes/risk-factors>.
Sobiya.N. Moghul. "Diabetes Treatment: 15 Home Remedies To Treat Diabetes At Home | Slide 12 | Page 12." Indiatimes.com. N.p., 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. <http://www.indiatimes.com/health/healthyliving/diabetes-treatment-15-home-remedies-to-treat-diabetes-at-home-236443-12.html>.
