What causes diabetes? This question is quite relevant, since statistical information provides data that there are more than 300 million people in the world suffering from a “sweet” disease.
As you know, diabetes is a chronic disease that is observed due to impaired glucose uptake against the background of relative or absolute insulin deficiency in the body.
All this leads to the fact that over time, with a violation of the functionality of the pancreas, sugar begins to accumulate in the blood of a person, leading to numerous complications.
Let’s look at what type II diabetes can lead to, and is it possible to prevent the likely negative consequences of the disease?
general information
Before considering the consequences of a sugar disease, it is necessary to consider the pathology in more detail. Glucose (in everyday life it is called sugar) is the main source of nutrition for the human body.
This substance can only be obtained by eating food. During food processing, glucose is released, binds to insulin at the cellular level, and then is transformed into energy, which allows the body to work normally and fully.
When the functionality of the pancreas is impaired, this leads to a decrease in the production of insulin in the human body. Since glucose cannot be absorbed independently, that is, without a hormone, an accumulation of sugar in the blood is observed.
Most often in medical practice there is 1 type and 2 type of sugar disease. The second type of ailment develops after 40 years, progresses relatively slowly. Moreover, complications are already observed in the patient’s diagnosis.
Type 1 diabetes occurs in young people, adolescents, and young children. Despite the fact that medical practice has not established the exact causes of the development of pathology, it is often associated with a genetic predisposition.
The disease itself does not threaten the life of the patient. However, a chronic hyperglycemic state (persistent increase in blood sugar) disrupts the functionality of internal organs and systems, leading to numerous malfunctions in the body.
There are acute complications that are the result of an excessive increase in blood sugar, as well as chronic consequences arising from constantly high glucose.
Acute form of complications
So, what can be the complications due to the disease? Variability from 3.3 to 5.5 units is considered to be the norm of sugar. If the patient has sugar from 5.5 to 6.9 units, in this case we are talking about a prediabetic state. Over 7.0 units, you can safely talk about diabetes.
The treatment of the second type of sugar disease involves a low-carb diet, optimal physical activity. These measures prevent the increase in sugar, while increasing the sensitivity of cells to the hormone insulin.
However, non-compliance with the recommendations leads to a hyperglycemic state, when sugar rises to 20, 30 or more units. This condition is characterized by a high risk of acute complications:
- Ketoacidotic coma. In the vast majority of clinical pictures, it develops with type 1 diabetes. Lack of energy leads to the fact that the body receives it from adipose tissue, due to the breakdown of which ketone bodies are released.
- Hyperosmolar coma can develop within a couple of days or a couple of weeks. Against the background of high blood sugar, sodium accumulates in the body. Symptoms: a strong desire to drink, an increase in the specific gravity of urine per day.
- Lactacidic coma is characterized by the accumulation of lactic acid in the body, which leads to the development of negative symptoms. More often observed in patients with impaired liver and kidney function.
Hypoglycemic condition is an acute complication of diabetes mellitus, which is the result of a hunger strike, an overdose of a hormone or pills to lower sugar, excessive physical activity, severe stress or nervous tension.
Hypoglycemia progresses rapidly, signaling its development with the following symptoms: a strong feeling of hunger, dizziness, weakness, lethargy, and general malaise.
Diabetes cannot be cured, so the only way to live a normal and fulfilling life is to constantly control sugar.
Late complications
Chronic negative consequences of a sweet disease develop as a result of a violation of the structure of blood vessels and peripheral nerves. First, the capillaries in the kidneys, feet, and the retina suffer.
If the patient does not adhere to the doctor’s recommendations ( low-carb diet , sports loads), or there is no adequate therapy for the disease, then constantly high blood sugar leads to chronic complications.
Type 2 diabetes can lead to diabetic angiopathy, due to which blood vessels are damaged, they become brittle, lose their firmness and elasticity, and atherosclerotic plaques develop.
Retinopathy is characterized by a violation of visual perception, can lead to complete loss of vision. As a rule, it is observed with a large “experience” of a sugar disease against the background of non-compliance with the recommended treatment.
Chronic complications of diabetes:
- Renal failure.
- Polyneuropathy is a disease due to which the lower extremities suffer.
- Arthropathy is characterized by joint pain, a violation of the musculoskeletal system.
- Cataract (clouding of the lens in the eye).
- Encephalopathy is a violation of the blood circulation in the brain.
- Erectile dysfunction (impotence) in men.
- Diabetic foot.
As all of the above shows, there are many complications of diabetes, and many of them are characterized by severe consequences.
Lack of adequate treatment and monitoring of blood glucose can lead to irreversible disorders, disability, and even death.
Prevention of Complications
As already noted, the first and second type of illness are most often diagnosed. There are also specific varieties of the disease like Modi and Lada diabetes. They are difficult to diagnose and are often confused with the first two types.
Regardless of the type of illness, the patient should take all necessary preventive measures to help prevent the development of acute and chronic complications.
First of all, you need to constantly monitor blood sugar. This should be done not once a week or a day, but much more often, and several times every day. For example, immediately after waking up, before and after breakfast, during lunch, after physical activity, etc.
Only the timely detection of a jump in sugar will allow it to immediately be reduced, respectively, to reduce to zero the likelihood of complications.
Basic rules for diabetics:
- Strict adherence to diet (calorie calculation, dividing carbohydrates into several doses, the choice of foods with a low glycemic index).
- A regular visit to the doctor, a preventive examination for possible complications.
- Constant physical activity (slow running, walking at a fast pace, swimming, cycling, visiting the gym).
- Complete refusal to drink alcohol.
- Timely treatment of existing concomitant diseases.
To live a full and normal life, a diabetic should always keep a “finger on the pulse” – this is the only way to minimize possible complications in the present and in the future.