By: John Reggie Jueco, Alvin Banaag

Diabetes

Diabetes is a chronic condition that stems from the body's inability to sufficiently produce and/or properly use insulin which the body needs to use sugar as an energy source. Diabetes can lead to serious complications and premature death but those who have diabetes can take steps to control the disease and lower the risk of complications.

How does this happen? Glucose enters the bloodstream, from food we consume. This is later

on used for fuel in the body. Our pancreas located near the stomach makes insulin, which plays a role in transporting glucose to muscles, liver cells, and lipids.

The pancreas then fails to make enough insulin or the muscle, fat, liver cells fail to respond to the given insulin properly.

As a result, our body’s cells are starving for energy and over time, high blood glucose levels greatly affect our overall health, damaging the kidney, heart, eyes, and nerves.

What is Diabetes?

Did you know?More than 9 million Canadians are living with diabetes or prediabetes.

There are four major types of Diabetes: Type 1 Diabetes- Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which the pancreas does

not produce any insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps your body to control the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood. Without insulin, glucose builds up in your blood instead of being used for energy. Your body produces glucose and also gets glucose from foods like bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, milk and fruit.

The cause of type 1 diabetes remains unknown. It is not caused by eating too much sugar, and is not preventable. The current thought is that type 1 diabetes occurs when the body’s immune system destroys the cells that make insulin.

Insulin therapy is required for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. There are a variety of insulins available to help manage diabetes. Insulin is injected by pen, syringe or pump. Your doctor will work with you to determine:

The number of insulin injections you need per day

The timing of your insulin injections

The dose of insulin you need with each injection

Type 2 Diabeteso Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which your pancreas does not produce enough insulin,

or your body does not properly use the insulin it makes. As a result, glucose (sugar) builds up in your blood instead of being used for energy.

o Your body gets glucose from foods like bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, milk and fruit. To use this glucose, your body needs insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps your body to control the level of glucose in your blood.

Complications of DiabetesType 2 diabetes is a progressive, life-long disease. High blood glucose levels can cause complications such as blindness, heart disease, kidney problems, nerve damage and erectile dysfunction.

You can reduce your chances of developing these complications if you:

Keep your blood glucose within your target range*

Avoid smoking

Keep your cholesterol and other blood fats within your target range*

Keep your blood pressure within your target range*

Take care of your feet

Have regular visits with your doctor, diabetes team, dentist and eye-care

Gestational Diabetes

Blood sugar levels are high during pregnancy in women

Women who give birth to children over 9 lbs.

High risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

PREDIABETES• Prediabetes is a condition where a person’s blood

levels are higher than usual. However, it is not considered as a type 2 diabetes.

Risk Factors

Like type 2 diabetes, prediabetes can happen without you even knowing it, so being

aware of the condition and being tested are essential. This is significantly true if you have prediabetes as part of the “metabolic syndrome,” meaning you also have high blood pressure, high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol) and triglycerides, low concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, the “good” cholesterol), and a tendency of getting abdominal obesity.

SYMPTOMS OF DIABETES• HIGH BLOOD LEVELS OF GLUCOSE

• BLURRY VISION

• FATIGUE

• THIRST

• PAINFUL URINATION/ FREQUENT URINATION

• SORES DO NOT HEAL

• NAUSEA

• VOMITING

• WEIGHT LOSS

• HUNGER

• **PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MAY DISPLAY NO SYMPTOMS AT ALL

• ** DIABETES TYPE 1 AND TYPE 2 SYMPTOMS ARE CLOSELY SIMILAR, ALTHOUGH, TYPE 1 IS OFTEN WORSE IN SEVERITY.

• PAINFUL ERECTION

HOW TO PREVENT DIABETES• PREVENTION ALL STARTS WITH A BETTER LIFESTYLE

• EATING HEALTHIER

• BEING ACTIVE

• TAKING MEDICINE AS DIRECTED

• TAKING CARE OF YOUR BODY

• CHECK FEET TO MAKE SURE THERE IS NO NERVE DAMAGE OR INTERRUPTION OF BLOOD LOW

• CONTROL BLOOD PRESSURE AND HIGH

• CHECK IN WITH YOUR DOCTOR AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH

• CHECK BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS DAILY BY USING HOME MONITORING DEVICE

How/what organs are affected by diabetes?• Heart

• Kidneys(direct result from large amounts of protein deposited into the urine)

• Eyes

• Nervous system

• Skin

• Long term complications include stroke, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, urinary infections, and coronary artery disease.

• The most frequent health risk from diabetes is known as cardiovascular disease(diabetes can cause high blood pressure that then causes an even stronger resistance to insulin)

• Diabetes lowers our good cholesterol and raises our bad cholesterol leading to an increase of heart disease and stroke. This can cause the arteries to become clogged with fat.

Works CitedDiabetes Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from

Canadian Diabetes Association website: http://www.diabetes.ca/diabetes-and-you/what/facts/

Diabetes. (n.d.). Retrieved from Health Canada website: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ hc-ps/dc-ma/diabete-eng.php