The Danger of Diabetes in Our Daily Lives

Diabetes recently has become very common problem for human; not only older people but children and teenagers also can suffer this disease.

The data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey say that teenage obesity and overweight rates had increased in recent years. It found that the percentage of teenagers testing positive for diabetes and prediabetes had nearly tripled to 23 percent in 2007-8 from 9 percent in 1999-2000.


Right now, nearly 26 million children and adults in the United States suffer diabetes. Another 79 million Americans have prediabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The American Diabetes Association estimates that the total national cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States is $174 billion.

Diabetes, or often said as diabetes mellitus, is a kind of metabolic diseases in which the person has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is not enough, or because the body's cells do not react properly to insulin, or both.

Diabetes is classified as a metabolism disorder. After the food is digested, the glucose try to find a way into our bloodstream. Our cells need the glucose for energy and growth. However, glucose cannot enter our cells without help from insulin. The present of insulin makes it possible for our cells to take in the glucose.

Actually there are three types of diabetes: 1) type 1 diabetes, 2) type 2 diabetes, and 3) gestational diabetes.

The first one is called type 1 diabetes, that is when the body does not produce insulin. This type is also called as as insulin-dependent diabetes, juvenile diabetes, or early-onset diabetes.

People usually suffer from type 1 diabetes before their 40th year, often in early adulthood or teenage. The type 1 diabetes patient is in need to take insulin injections for the rest of their life.

The second variant is called type 2 diabetes. This is when the body does not produce enough insulin for proper function, or the cells in the body do not react to insulin (insulin resistance).

This variant is the most popular diabetes. Around 90% of diabetes’ cases in al over the world are of this type. Type 2 diabetes is typically a progressive disease, which is often gradually gets worse and the patient will probably end up have to take insulin. But some people can control this diabetes by losing weight, following a healthy diet, doing plenty of exercise, and monitoring their blood glucose levels

People with extra weight will have bigger risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Being obese cause the body to release chemicals that can destabilize the body's cardiovascular and metabolic systems.

As people get older, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is also increased. Because as the age developing we tend to more weight up and became less active.

The majority of type 2 diabetes patients usually had prediabetes, which is the condition when the blood glucose levels where higher than normal, but not high enough to diagnosed as diabetes diagnosis. The cells in the body are becoming resistant to insulin. Studies have indicated that even at the prediabetes stage, some injure to the circulatory system and the heart may already have happened.

The third variant of diabetes is called gestational diabetes. This kind of disease often affect on females during her pregnancy. Some woman have high amount of glucose in their blood, and the bodies are failed to produce adequate insulin to bring all of the glucose into their cells, resulting in progressively rising levels of glucose.

The gestational diabetes can be controlled by exercise and diet. Undiagnosed or uncontrolled gestational diabetes can elevate the risk of complications during childbirth. The baby may be bigger than he/she should be.

Diabetes can cause various of damage to the body. Below this some complications occurred because of it:

• Eye complications - glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and some others.
• Foot complications - neuropathy, ulcers, and sometimes gangrene which may require that the foot be amputated
• Skin complications - people with diabetes are more susceptible to skin infections and skin disorders
• Heart problems - such as ischemic heart disease, when the blood supply to the heart muscle is diminished
• Hypertension - common in people with diabetes, which can raise the risk of kidney disease, eye problems, heart attack and stroke
• Mental health - uncontrolled diabetes raises the risk of suffering from depression, anxiety and some other mental disorders
• Hearing loss - diabetes patients have a higher risk of developing hearing problems
• Gum disease - there is a much higher prevalence of gum disease among diabetes patients
• Gastroparesis - the muscles of the stomach stop working properly
• Ketoacidosis - a combination of ketosis and acidosis; accumulation of ketone bodies and acidity in the blood.
• Neuropathy - diabetic neuropathy is a type of nerve damage which can lead to several different problems.
• HHNS (Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic Nonketotic Syndrome) - blood glucose levels shoot up too high, and there are no ketones present in the blood or urine. It is an emergency condition.
• Nephropathy - uncontrolled blood pressure can lead to kidney disease
• PAD (peripheral arterial disease) - symptoms may include pain in the leg, tingling and sometimes problems walking properly
• Stroke - if blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood glucose levels are not controlled, the risk of stroke increases significantly
• Erectile dysfunction - male impotence.
• Infections - people with badly controlled diabetes are much more susceptible to infections Healing of wounds - cuts and lesions take much longer to heal