Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder that is characterized as a group of metabolic disorders. The prevalence of the disorder is high, and no complete cure is available till now. However, there are many preventive factors that can prevent the occurrence, and further aggravation of the condition. This assignment explains what diabetes mellitus is, how it is caused, the characteristics of the disease and the treatment regimen available. The assignment also explains how the population should be educated regarding the disorder to control the rapidly increasing prevalence.

Introduction

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder that is characterized as a group of metabolic disorders. The prevalence. The basic characteristic that indicates the onset of diabetes mellitus in an individual is uncontrolled hyperglycemia. Diabetes mellitus is divided into two classes: Type 1 diabetes mellitus or insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and Type 2 diabetes mellitus or non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Background of the Study

The knowledge of diabetes has come a long way as an Egyptian doctor tried treating a man for having to go to the bathroom frequently. After this doctors realized that individuals who have diabetes have too much sugar in the urine, so they started tasting the urine to see if it was sweet. By the 1800's doctors were able to use chemicals to test the urine for excess sugar so the tasting method was no longer necessary. Doctors experimented having their patients eat certain types of diets, which did not usually work but it taught the scientists about diabetes. Insulin came about from a Canadian named Fredrick Banting who experimented by taking fluid from a dogs pancreas and giving them through injection to another dog who has its pancreas removed. The dog's, which had no pancreas, blood glucose level was brought under control from this injection of “insulin” as he called it.

These days we are using the combination of insulin, meal planning, and exercise to keep diabetes under control. In the future we may see a cure for diabetes; researchers have been studying and think they might have a solution to diabetes. They have injected mice with tumor necrosis factor-alpha or TNF-alpha cells to stop the bad T cells, which the body mistakes for foreign enemies and attacks causing the body to be unable to produce insulin. Then they injected the diabetic mouse with spleen cells of a non-diabetic mouse and it worked although it did not take care of the damaged pancreas.



Discussion

Characteristics of the disease

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder that is characterized by marked hyperglycemia (American Diabetes Association, 2007). The term hyperglycemia refers to the condition in which the blood glucose level is abnormally high. The basic characteristic that indicates the onset of diabetes mellitus in an individual is uncontrolled hyperglycemia. This glucose level, if not controlled, can cause damage to the blood vessels and different organs of the body.

Classification of Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is divided into two classes. This classification is done on the basis of the factors that cause the occurrence of the ...