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Introduction
It was a regular day. My dad and I were at Superdawg. We were eating our food then all of a sudden my dad started to hold his head in acute pain. It looked like he had a brain freeze, but he wasn’t drinking or eating anything cold. I knew what was wrong, he needed sugar. I gave him some of my lemonade, but it did not help. My dad’s whole body was completely tense. It looked like he was cramping up and it would not go away. I now went to the register and asked the worker at the counter for some sugar. When I got it, I had to hand feed it to my dad because he could not move. Eventually, he finally was able to move and comprehend what was going on. My dad has diabetes Type 1. He has had it since he was 31 years old and will have it for the rest of his life unless a cure is found.
Diabetes: Investigating a Disease
Diabetes is a serious metabolic disease that leads to the hindrance to the production of insulin in the body. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas and is responsible for controlling blood sugar. Insulin accomplishes this task by breaking down glucose in the body. Therefore, the absence of insulin in the body allows a dangerous build-up of sugar in the body which, if unchecked, is fatal (“Diabetes”, par. 1). Generally, diabetes is often manifested through frequent urination, unusual hunger, strange weight loss, and extreme fatigue, and irritability (“Diabetes”, par. 4). Type 1 diabetes is characterized by frequent infections, blurred vision, slow-healing cuts and bruises, and frequent numbness in hands and feet (“Diabetes”, par. 4).
There are three types of diabetes; type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is caused by insulin deficiency in the body. The insulin deficiency is brought about by the loss of the insulin-producing beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Type 1 diabetes is further dichotomized as immune-mediated or idiopathic. Most cases of type 1 diabetes are of the former category, in which the beta cell loss is T cell-mediated autoimmune attack (Rother, p. 1500).
Doctors are yet to determine preventive measures against Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes was traditionally associated with children but is now common among adult populations as well. Most victims lead healthy and normal lives as their response to insulin injections are usually normal, particularly in the early stages.
The second type of diabetes is Type 2 diabetes. In this case, the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells in the body fail to recognize the produced insulin. If the diabetic patient only produces a little insulin, then that patient can sometimes control the disease with proper exercise and healthy eating habits. Some Type 2 diabetics do not need to inject insulin into their bodies. Whereas type 1diabetes is common among Americans and Europeans, type 2 diabetes is prevalent in African-Americans, Native Americans, and Asians (“Type 2”, par. 1).
The third type of diabetes is gestational diabetes. It is characterized by high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. This type goes away after pregnancy but requires proper medical attention during this period (Lawrence et al., p. 900). It has been noted that about 20% to 50% of women affected by Gestational diabetes develop Type 2 diabetes later in life (Lawrence et al., p. 902).
Gestational diabetes is temporary, but if untreated may harm the fetus or the mother. It interferes with the normal development of the fetus may hamper normal delivery of the affected baby; hence the need for cesarean section (Lawrence et al., p. 904).
It is worth noting that some minor categories of diabetes have been identified as well. One such type is pre-diabetes characterized by slightly high blood sugar that cannot be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. It is, therefore, considered a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
There is also the latent autoimmune diabetes that afflicts the adult population. This is a condition that leads to the development of type 1 diabetes. Latent autoimmune diabetes is usually confused, in its initial stages, with type 2 diabetes. There are various causes of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is partly inherited although the Coxsackie B4 virus has been identified as a possible contributor. Type 2 diabetes is attributed to lifestyle and genetic factors. Genetic defects are manifested in beta cell functions, mitochondrial DNA mutations, and insulin processing (Rother, p.1500). Insulin action may experience defects in pro-insulin conversion, insulin gene mutations, and insulin receptor mutations (Rother, p.1500).
Another causal agent of diabetes is exocrine pancreatic defects such as chronic pancreatitis, pancreatectomy, pancreatic neoplasia, cystic fibrosis, hemochromatosis, and fibrocalculous pancreatopathy (Rother, p.1500). Other causes include endocrinopathy, infections, and the use of some prescription drugs.
Several diagnostic procedures are available for the diagnosis of diabetes. First, urine tests can be conducted to check the blood sugar level in the body. If it is higher than 200 mg/dl then there is a good chance of diabetes. The second approach is to take a blood test. The three blood tests that are done are; fasting blood glucose level, Hemoglobin A1c test, and the oral glucose tolerance test (“Diabetes”, par. 5).
Once a person is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, they have to cope with it for the rest of their life because there is no cure. Diabetes can be managed through regular insulin injections. However, it may be hard to know how much insulin is required by the body. Diabetics will usually need to check their blood pressure and put in a certain amount of insulin to have normal blood sugar levels. If a person puts in too much insulin, then the person can suffer a diabetic shock.
A diabetic shock occurs when the person’s blood sugar levels are really low. If the person is not given some sugar immediately, they will go into a coma or die. The rapid change of high and low blood sugar can cause a lot of damage to the body. Insulin is supposed to be absorbed by the body slowly throughout the day. Diabetics have to inject themselves three times a day, but this is still putting too much insulin at one time.
There are several dangers associated with diabetes. First, diabetes may lead to heart diseases. Diabetic adults are two to four times more likely to die of heart disease than regular adults (Jost, p. 188). The risk of stroke is two to four times as likely. Sixty to sixty-five percent of diabetics have high blood pressure. Secondly, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness between 20 and 74-year-olds. Thirdly, two-thirds of diabetics have nervous system problems. Diabetes is also the leading cause of lower amputations (Jost, 194).
Diabetes Type 1 is hereditary and cannot be prevented. Type 2 is, however, prevented by healthy eating and exercising normally. For a diabetic, it is also important to have a good diet and a healthy lifestyle because that will reduce the risk of amputations and blindness. The more a diabetic can control their blood sugar levels, the less at risk they are for all the damaging factors that come along with diabetes.
However, the control of diabetics is hampered by some challenges. For instance, Gregg Gierke, a diabetic for 21 years, explains how difficult it is to control and manage diabetes: “I have low blood sugar two to three times every day. The brain isn’t able to function with low sugar. Then, I eat sweets with lots of sugar so I can function. This makes my blood sugar high, which causes me to become tired. It is very difficult to keep blood sugar in a safe range.”
Over time, there have been new ways to control diabetes. Before 1921, there was no way of controlling diabetes. This made the disease fatal. In 1921, Banting and Best came up with a substance that regulated blood sugar levels, which was called insulin. Consequently, they were honored for their discovery with the Nobel Prize. At first, when people tried to use the insulin it was not effective. This was because they were using insulin from pigs and cows, which created immune problems for humans. So, the gene for human insulin was cloned and this was achieved in 1971.
Diabetes in the past has usually been controlled by taking a shot of insulin using a needle and a syringe. This is a mediocre way of controlling diabetes. The newest way of controlling diabetes is the insulin pump. The pump is made up of a pump reservoir, a battery-operated pump, and a computer chip that allows the user to control the exact amount of insulin being pumped into the body. This pump gives the diabetic continuous amounts of insulin instead of a lot of insulin at one time. Over 50,000 diabetics worldwide now use the pump (Mathur, par. 9). The next step for the pump is to get a reading of the person’s blood sugar level instead of having the patient prick their fingers. Tests are being done to see if insulin can eventually be inhaled (Mathur, par. 11). But for now, patients have to do with the pump.
Conclusion
Currently, many foundations are trying to help and find a cure for diabetes. One of them is the JDRF foundation. JDRF was found in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes. JDRF has funded more than 1.5 billion dollars in research. In 2010, they donated $107 million for Type 1 diabetes research (JDRF, section 1). The goal of JDRF is to stop type 1 diabetes, reverse diabetes, prevent diabetes, and improves the treatment of type 1 diabetes, and to have tighter glucose control (JDRF, section 1). JDRF is one of the leading foundations today to help stop and prevent diabetes. In early October, they had a “walk to cure diabetes,” which was very successful.
With this comprehensive information, I conclude by stating that diabetes is a deadly disease. If not controlled properly it can lead to serious side-effects. It is important to eat healthily and exercise to prevent diabetes. Foundations are leading the way to try to come up with a cure. If a cure is eventually found, it will change the lives of millions of diabetics across the world. This vastly improves the quality of healthcare.
Works Cited
“Diabetes.” PubMed Health. PubMed Health, n.d. Web.
Gierke, Gregg. Personal Interview. 2011.
Jost, Kenneth. “Diabetes Epidemic”. CQ Researcher, 11 (2001): 185-200. Web.
JDRF. Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International. n.p., 2011.
Lawrence Jean M. et al. “Trends in the Prevalence of Preexisting Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Among a Racially/ethnically Diverse Population of Pregnant women, 1999–2005”. Diabetes Care 31.5 (2008): 899–904.
Mathur, Ruchi. “Insulin Therapy for Diabetes Past, Present, and Future.” MedicineNet. n.p., n.d. Web.
Rother, Kristina I. Diabetes Treatment—Bridging the Divide”. The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 356.15 (2007): 1499–501. Print.
“Type 2.” American Diabetics Association. American Diabetes Association, n.d. Web.
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