Diabetes mellitus is better known as diabetes. In the meantime it has become a widespread disease. Patients must live with some limitations and, first and foremost, regularly check their blood glucose levels and inject themselves with insulin if necessary. Read more in this article!
Diabetes Mellitus: living with diabetes
Regular blood glucose checks and watching what and how much is eaten are the daily challenges faced by diabetes mellitus patients. Especially in the beginning, dealing with the disease often seems exhausting and limiting, but most get used to it after a few years and can live well with it.
What exactly is diabetes mellitus?
People suffering from diabetes mellitus have elevated blood glucose levels, which can sometimes be life-threatening. The disease is not curable, but can be well controlled with proper diet.
Diabetes Mellitus is popularly called "sugar disease" and more and more people are getting it, which is attributed to the modern industrial society. Wrong diet with too much sugar and calories and too little exercise are the main triggers for diabetes, which usually affects the entire metabolism.
Diabetes Mellitus exists as type 1 and 2 and can be differentiated as follows:
Diabetes mellitus type 1: In diabetes type 1, diabetes is due to a malfunction of the pancreas and is therefore congenital. Those who suffer from type 1 diabetes usually have to inject insulin and watch what they eat for the rest of their lives. About 5% of all diabetes patients suffer from this form of the disease.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus: In type 2 diabetes, the trigger is often diet and the fact that not enough sugar gets from the blood into the ties, causing the sugar level in the blood to rise. This is due to insufficient insulin action by the body's cells. The incidence of this disease is increasing and experts predict that by 2030, one in ten people will suffer from type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Special features of diabetes mellitus type 2
Diabetes mellitus type 2 is often accompanied by obesity, which makes these people particularly at risk. Often, only a radical change in diet helps here. Exercise or, in the worst case, even gastric banding.
In type 2, predisposition often plays a role. If the parents already suffer from this form of diabetes, the probability that the children will also develop the disease is 50%. However, it is not diabetes directly that is inherited, but the susceptibility to insulin resistance.
Typical symptoms of diabetes of both forms (but especially type 1) are:
– Frequent urination – Severe thirst – Itching – Cravings
Type 1 diabetes often occurs in childhood, type 2 diabetes tends to affect older people. For all those affected, insulin injections can be used to treat. A special diet to live well with the disease. Type 2 in particular often still has a chance to get the disease under control by regulating the diet and regularly checking blood glucose levels.
If the symptoms are recognized too late, the body may suffer consequential damage. The reason for this is the damage to the blood vessels due to the permanently too high blood sugar level. Consequential damage can be life-threatening and ranges from a heart attack or stroke to kidney dysfunction or circulatory problems in the lower limbs.