Diabetes
It is in the world domain that the human species is faced by many challenges. These challenges can be classified under natural disasters or man induced disasters. If we were to look at epidemics, we can say that the human species dwells in a world where at one time or the other one has to be attacked by an abnormal condition. Abnormal conditions negatively affect some part or the whole body of an organism, preventing it from operating at its maximum potential (Rand, 2013). When an organism experiences abnormal conditions it is said it is sick or has a disease.
There are many diseases in the world. Some are curable while others are not. For example, every since the discovery of HIV/AIDS, no cure has been engineered yet. However, the disease can be contained under medication, although it is not curable once it has attached itself on an organism. This case study seeks to address a disease that has continued to affect many humans ever since its discovery in the ancient times; Diabetes. Diabetes, also referred to as diabetes mellitus, is a diseased associated with many others, which determine how the human body utilizes blood sugar/glucose (Brill, 2012). The blood sugar or glucose is a vital element in the human body as it offers energy to all the cells in the body. This includes all the muscles that mankind needs for heavy manual work such as lifting, and also for task that do not require muscles, such as thinking. Glucose also acts as the human brain’s source of fuel. An individual is said to have diabetes when there is excess blood sugar in one’s body, although sometimes the reasons for the perception tend to differ (Codner, 2013). Excess blood sugar can have devastating effects to one health. An individual can have high blood sugar because of two reasons; one insulin production in the body may be inadequate, or one’s body cells fail to respond properly to the produced insulin (Leslie, 2013). An individual may also be faced with two situations where his/her cells fail to respond well to insulin production, and also the boy fail to produce enough insulin. Individuals with this disease often become increasingly hungry and thirsty. Sometimes they may even face polyuria, which is frequent urination.
There are three types of diabetes. As a result medical practitioners have divided these types in categories of: Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes and Gestation diabetes (Fuhrman, 2013). Type 1 diabetes is when the body fails to produce enough blood sugar. This condition is normally common in young individuals mostly in their teenage years or at early adulthood. This disease mostly affects individuals before they reach 40 years of age, although it is not as common as type 2 diabetes (Leslie, 2013). In fact, research shows that individuals with this type of diabetes only make up approximately 10 percent of the whole diabetic population. However, individuals with type 1 diabetes have to administer insulin injections in their bodies for the rest of their lives.
In type 2 diabetes, an individual’s cells fail to react properly to produce insulin and also his/her body fails to produce enough for the same. This is the most prevalent type of diabetes as makes up almost 90 percent of all individuals with diabetes in the world (Rand, 2013). Gestational Diabetes is the third type of diabetes, and mainly affects women during their pregnancy period. This happens because some women tend to produce high levels of glucose during pregnancy, and as a result their bodies fail to produce enough insulin for it transportation to all the body cells. As a result, this may lead to progressively increasing glucose levels in the body of a pregnant woman. The diagnosis of this type of diabetes is normally carried out during the pregnancy period. The majority of women experiencing this kind of diabetes usually manage to control this condition through exercise as well as adopting healthy diets on a regular basis (Fuhrman, 2013). However, some of them, mostly ranging from 10 to 20 percent, may not achieve the same until they used glucose controlling medications. If gestational diabetes remained undiagnosed, there are chances that the fetus may undergo some complicated developments. For instance, doctors argue that a child may be born bigger or even smaller than the normal size (Rand, 2013).
Type 2 diabetes, which is the most common type of this disease, also showcases the same characteristics. This is because, some individuals suffering from diabetes type 2 can control it through plenty of exercise, adopting a healthy diet, losing weight as well as monitoring the glucose levels in their body (Brill, 2012). However, individuals suffering from this type of the disease must understand that it is progressive. With time it even gets worse to a point where a patient may have to become used to taking insulin on a daily basis. Diabetes type two also makes an individual vulnerable to other diseases that are related to cardio vascular disease (Codner, 2013). A good example is obesity where individuals who are overweight, take unhealthy diets, do not exercise are usually at a higher risk of developing the disease. It is the same with other cardiovascular disease for they all inhibit similar characteristics.
On top of the above, research on diabetes type 2 also show that people with high levels of visceral fat,( which is also referred to as central obesity), abdominal obesity or belly fat are also at a greater risk of contracting the disease than those who take care of their bodies (Brill, 2012). This is because; research shows that when one is obese, or is overweight, the body may release toxins as well as chemicals that may in return destabilize metabolic as well as cardiovascular systems in the human body. On top of that, there are other characteristics that make this disease extremely related to other cardiovascular conditions. For instance, according to Leslie (2013) physical inactivity, being overweight as well as adopting improper diets can also lead to individual developing type 2 Diabetes. In fact, Leslie continues to note that even the sugary foods that we usually consume on a daily basis can lead to the disease by a significantly huge percent.
For instance, she says that even taking one can of a soda on a daily basis increase an individual’s chance of contacting type 2 Diabetes by more than 20 percent. On top of that, these points were echoed in a journal (Diabetologia) written by Imperial College London. The journal argued that every sugary substance that is not included in a healthy diet, consumed in a day may significantly contribute to individuals developing type 2 diabetes. In fact, this journal cited that sugary substances are of direct influence to type 2 Diabetes, other than to one’s body weight.
According to Fuhrman (2013) type 2 disease can develop in an individual at any stage of their lives. However, he argues that the risk intensifies as one grows older. Scientists have indulged themselves in research trying to figure out why this is the case, but they have not been able to come up with an explanation as of yet. However, they argue that usually when people start aging, they abandon most of their physical activities and also tend to add weight. As a result, individuals become more vulnerable to contracting the disease than what is usually the case. They also argue that hereditary genes also sometimes contribute to one developing the disease; more so if there were a close relative in the family who had the condition. For instance, may Asian-Americans and African-Americans tend to be affected by this disease than other races in this country (Fuhrman, 2013). This goes for other cardiovascular disease like Hypertension and obesity among other diseases. On top of that, research also shows that men with low testosterone levels are also significantly vulnerable to developing diabetes than those with normal levels of the same.
References
Brill, M. T. (2012). Diabetes. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books.
Codner, Ethel. (2013). The gonadal effects of diabetes. (BioMed Central Ltd.) BioMed Central Ltd.
Fuhrman, J. (2013). The end of diabetes: The eat to live plan to prevent and reverse diabetes.
Leslie, R. D. G. (2013). Diabetes. London: Manson Pub.
Rand, J. (2013). Feline diabetes.
