Treatments of Diabetes

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus is a disease that is prevalent among all castes, races and genders and affects people of all age groups. Growing evidence strongly suggests that the prevalence of the disease is on the rise in the United States. This sharp rise in the incidence of diabetes is attributed to a range of factors, such as unhealthy eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle. Diabetes is a chronic illness that not only reduces the lifespan of its victims but also has a detrimental effect on the standard of living. It does this by significantly reducing the productivity and, to a certain extent, mobility of the affected person. To effectively manage the curse of diabetes requires close cooperation among professionals involved in providing healthcare services. Equally importantly, effective treatment requires full-hearted cooperation and participation by the patients who are affected by the ailment. This paper discusses some of the most effective treatment methods that have been devised to cure patients of diabetes.

Treatments of Diabetes

Introduction

The term “diabetes” refers to either one of a group of metabolic diseases that are the result of changes in the use and availability of a pancreatic hormone called insulin. The disease is also caused when there are irregularities in the endocrine system which has a significant effect on the capacity of the human body to utilize insulin. In order to determine how seriously the disease affects the Americans, let us have a look at some statistical data. According to data provided published by the Center for disease Control in the United States, an alarming 15.7 million Americans from a total population of 280 million are the victims of diabetes (Chu et al., 2012). This means that nearly 6% (5.9% to be precise) of all Americans are suffering from Diabetes. From these patients of diabetes, 10.3 million people have actually been diagnosed with Diabetes.

This clearly indicates that another 5.4 million Americans are suffering from either glucose intolerance or insulin resistance but are largely unaware of their critical condition and the lethal effects that it could have on their lives. And as if this was not enough cause for concern, a staggering 798,000 cases of diabetes are diagnosed in the United States every year and the disease is diagnosed in people belonging to all age groups, race, ethnicity and gender. Nearly 90% of those diagnosed every year have Type-2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes whereas 10% are diagnosed with Type-1 (insulin dependent) diabetes. For a total of 15.7 million suffering from diabetes, 6.3 million are 65 years of age or older (Chu et al., 2012).

Moreover, 18.4% of all the people belonging to this particular age group have been diagnosed with the disease. When it comes to young Americans, available data suggest that 123,000, or 0.16%, of the total number of Americans under the age of 20 years are affected by the disease. Taking in terms of gender, 7.5 million of the total number of people who have been diagnosed with the disease are males whereas 8.1 million are ...