LONGTERM DIABETES EFFECTS

Longterm Diabetes Effects

Longterm Diabetes Effects

Slide 1

Diabetes mellitus (just called diabetes from now on) occurs when the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood becomes higher than normal. There are two main types of diabetes. These are called type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. The illness and symptoms tend to develop gradually (over weeks or months). This is because in type 2 diabetes you still make insulin (unlike type 1 diabetes). Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in people over 40. The blood glucose level may be controlled with diet alone, but commonly needs diet plus medication. Insulin injections are needed in some cases. Regular exercise also helps to control the blood glucose level. Other treatments include reducing blood pressure if it is high, and other measures to reduce the risk of complications..

Slide 2

Diabetes Mellitus is a complex subject, but one factor is key to the whole issue - insulin. Insulin is a hormone - a substance produced within one part of the body that has its effects in other parts of the body, which it reaches through the bloodstream. It's produced solely by specialized (beta) cells within the pancreas gland. The stimulus to the pancreas that causes it to release insulin is the circulating level of glucose in the blood. After a meal, for example, glucose will rise both because it may be present in food and as a result of being produced by conversion from other foodstuffs by other chemical reactions within the body. This rise in glucose will stimulate the release of insulin, which then has several immediate effects. First, insulin stimulates the liver and muscle cells to take up glucose and become more active in making glycogen. Second, insulin reduces the liver's output of glucose. These actions reduce the level of blood glucose. Third, insulin activates muscle cells to manufacture protein and fourth, insulin stimulates fatty tissue to take up circulating fat molecules (fatty acids) from the blood. These actions build up more energy reserves in the body. Absence of insulin effectively causes the reverse to happen. Blood glucose continues to rise after a meal as there are no correcting influences and the storage of glucose within cells is impaired. Liver output of glucose (from glycogen) carries on at the same rate and circulating fatty acids are not shifted into fat tissues.

Slide 3

Several of the symptoms result directly from the physical effects of raised blood glucose levels and are due to "osmosis". Osmosis is the tendency for water to equalize its concentration when two solutions of different strength are separated by a "semi-permeable membrane". A semi-permeable membrane is a barrier whose microscopic structure contains holes large enough to allow through molecules of water, but little or none of the material that's dissolved in water. That's why a diabetic person can become thirsty and pass lots of urine. If the blood sugar is high enough to exceed the kidney threshold for glucose then this causes glucose to appear in the ...