Insulin hormone deficiency is a disease known to mankind since ancient times, but despite this and the speed of development of medical technologies, it is extremely difficult to obtain new knowledge about the disease to identify it in the firststadiums. Many patients are not even aware of the presence of diabetes mellitus, attributing the symptoms to hormonal changes in the body and other diseases. Diabetes mellitus negatively affects health and metabolic processes, so it is extremely important to identify it as early as possible and start timely treatment.
What is Diabetes Mellitus?
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic endocrine disease that develops as a result of a lack of insulin. A hormone synthesized by the pancreas is involved in breaking down sugar and transporting glucose from the blood to body tissues to provide the body with additional energy. With a lack of insulin, the sugar level rises dramatically, which negatively affects the whole body.
Reasons for the development of the disease
The disease most often occurs in the presence of the following causes or preconditions:
- Hereditary predisposition, in particular, if the father has diabetes, the probability of developing the disease in children is much higher than if the disease is observed in the mother.
- Poor nutrition - the abuse of foods high in calories, glucose and carbohydrates.
- The presence of excess weight and with the second and subsequent degrees of obesity, the probability of developing diabetes mellitus increases by 80%.
- Lack of physical activity, low human activity.
- Frequent experiences of stressful situations or prolonged depression. Severe shock or nervous breakdown can also cause illness.
- Long-term use of drugs of a certain group, for example, hormonal, diuretics or choleretics.
- The presence of a viral infection in the body (chickenpox, flu, rubella).
Disease symptoms
Warning signs that are evidence of the presence of disease include:
- Constant feeling of thirst, which does not disappear even after heavy drinking.
- Frequent urination, especially at night. It causes some discomfort and inconvenience, violates the established way of life.
- Drops of urine remain on the laundry, which when dried look like traces of dried starch (dense white spots).
- The person complains of fatigue and drowsiness.
- Vision is greatly reduced, all objects are seen blurred.
- Often accompanied by a tingling sensation and numbness, especially in the palms and soles of the feet.
- Slow and very poor healing of even the smallest and most insignificant wounds.
- The patient is concerned about itching, which is especially intense in the groin area.
- Sudden weight loss for no other apparent reason.
- Strong hunger difficult to satisfy.
It is important to remember that many symptoms appear already when there is a deficiency of insulin in the body and irreversible processes of disruption of the production of the hormone by the pancreas have begun. It is extremely difficult to determine the disease at the initial stage, so 80% of patients are unaware of the presence of the disease.
Types of diabetes
There are 2 types of diabetes mellitus, which have characteristic differences despite some similarities.
- Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent) is a disease characterized by the death of pancreatic beta cells whose main role is the production of insulin. As a result of this process, a hormone deficiency occurs, which causes diabetes. The causes of the development of the disease include a violation of the immune system, the presence of a viral infection in the human body. As a rule, this type of disease affects children and adolescents. The only treatment option for the disease is regular insulin injections for the rest of your life.
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a disease that affects people over the age of thirty and develops as a result of a lack of perception by the body, tissue cells and organs of the insulin produced by the pancreas. Due to the body's poor response to the hormone, glucose accumulates in the blood and causes negative processes to take place in the body. In case of untimely treatment, the production of insulin completely stops, since an increase in the level of glucose in the blood negatively affects beta cells and contributes to their destruction.
Diagnosis of diabetes
To diagnose the disease, you need to contact the clinic to see an endocrinologist who specializes in this disease. For examination, the following procedures and examinations are carried out:
- Fasting blood test for blood sugar. In some cases, when the patient is at risk of contracting the disease, a stress test is performed to determine glucose tolerance.
- Conduct a urine test for sugar content and determine its level. A urine test for the presence of acetone may also be performed.
- It is also important to conduct an analysis for the installation of glycated hemoglobin, which will help determine the average blood sugar level over the past three months.
- It is important to remember that diabetes is a chronic disease that cannot be cured. Therefore, regular maintenance treatment is necessary to maintain a normal condition.
Disease treatment
The main treatment for type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes is regular insulin injections. Thanks to modern medical instruments, injections have become much easier, insulin pumps and pens are used for this purpose. The insulin dose is set individually for each patient and it is not recommended to change it yourself. The amount of insulin depends on the blood sugar level, the presence of other concomitant diseases (for example, obesity), the patient's lifestyle.
In case of incomplete pancreatic insufficiency, the doctor can prescribe drugs that can stimulate the production of the hormone in the human body. To eliminate insulin resistance in the body, other groups of drugs can be used to eliminate insulin resistance and help maintain human health. An important factor is compliance with a special diet, in which foods are selected with a minimum content of sugar, carbohydrates, and also stimulating the pancreas.
Disease prevention
In order to avoid the development of the disease, it is important to follow the recommendations of the endocrinologist, which will help maintain health and not fall into the risk group. Preventative methods include:
- Regular blood sugar monitoring is particularly recommended for people at risk. People over the age of forty should conduct this study regularly, at least twice a year.
- Change eating habits, switch to a balanced diet with a predominance of healthy foods - fruits, vegetables, fish, lean meats with low glucose content. In addition, it is recommended to follow a diet and distribute food intake into three equal meals and several snacks.
- Perform simple physical exercises daily, which will help normalize weight and reduce the risk of developing diabetes.
- Normalization of weight, which will help reduce the risk of developing the disease.