According to the CDC, diabetes is a long-term health condition that impacts the way your body transforms food into energy. It’s often associated with the malfunctioning of the pancreas that affects insulin production and blood sugar management. Many people with diabetes have to deal with the condition for their entire lives after it develops. It is a very serious condition that, if left untreated, can be fatal.
Diabetes affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Understand the condition, ways to treat and prevent it, and how to support people in your life with diabetes will go a long way to health improvements and a higher quality of life.
Here are some things you need to know about diabetes that will help you understand what people with the condition go through and what can be done to effectively treat it.
The Difference Between Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes can strike in multiple ways. The condition develops into what is called either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes –
This type of diabetes has been called juvenile diabetes in the past. Only a small percentage, around 5%, of people with diabetes have Type 1 diabetes. It’s called juvenile diabetes because it often develops in children. It happens as a result of the body’s immune system attacking insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. When that happens, the pancreas loses the ability to know just how much insulin to make to balance and process glucose.
Typically, people with Type 1 diabetes look otherwise healthy. They don’t have to be obese or have some other medical condition that is often associated with diabetes. Instead, they complain of always being thirsty, urinate more frequently than normal, significant fluctuations in weight (usually weight loss), hunger, nausea, and bad breath.
Type 2 Diabetes –
This is by far the most common form of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is also referred to as adult-onset diabetes. Typically, people develop Type 2 diabetes after the age of 35. With today’s diet and the increase in obesity levels among the world’s youth, Type 2 diabetes is happening to younger people at a more rapid pace.
Most of the symptoms of Type 2 mirror those of Type 1. However, much of the time, people mistake the symptoms of diabetes because they are often happening when there are other adverse health conditions like obesity present. They also get mistaken for conditions associated with aging.
One important thing to note is that, with Type 2 diabetes, the patient’s body can still produce some of its own insulin. However, the amount is insufficient to manage the level of sugars present in the blood. There is something called insulin resistance, a situation in which insulin-producing cells don’t release the required amount of insulin to process sugars.
Treatment of Diabetes
People with diabetes often have to enter a life-long treatment regimen. Thankfully the medical industry has been innovating rapidly in recent years to make treatment options simpler and more viable for more people.
However, diabetes treatment often involves taking insulin injections with a syringe or some type of insulin pump. However the body gets insulin, it’s coming from outside of the body rather than being produced in the pancreas. Monitoring blood levels constantly is key to dosing insulin appropriately. Giving too much insulin or too little can cause blood sugar levels to dive or spike.
It’s not as simple as knowing how much sugar you’ve eaten as well. Stress from work, the amount of energy and sugar you burn from exercising, and your emotional state all affect how much insulin your body needs. It’s a delicate balance that must be watched constantly.
People with diabetes can take advantage of blood sugar monitors to know when they need insulin or have too much insulin and need to take action to bring their sugar levels up. Modern pumps can connect to your cellphones and provide a live feed of how your body is doing with regard to blood sugar levels. This development is fantastic news for parents with children who have diabetes because they can see how they are doing at any time no matter where they are.
For people with Type 2 diabetes, meaningful progress happens with increased attention to diet and exercise. For people who are overweight or obese, weight loss often marks a drastic improvement in symptoms.
Peptides and Diabetes
Ipamorelin is a pentapeptide that is a compound made of five amino acids. Research in diabetic rats has shown that administration of Ipamorelin can potentiate insulin release. Researchers have found that this happens because peptidesciences.com/ipamorelin-5mg Ipamorelin stimulates the calcium channel found on pancreatic islet cells to reduce insulin resistance.
Diabetes Medication
Some people need more help even after attempting to alleviate symptoms with diet, exercise, and insulin injections. They can potentially find better results by taking diabetes medications. These do work necessary to lower insulin levels. Common diabetes medications include Metformin, which reduces glucose production in the liver and helps the body use insulin better. Glinides like Repaglinide and nateglinide are diabetes medications that stimulate the pancreas and push it to make and release more insulin.
There are a host of other prescription drugs for diabetes that doctors can discuss with patients. The key to diabetes treatment is finding a treatment regimen that works and brings sugar levels back into normal ranges.
If you or someone you love is experiencing symptoms like fatigue, headaches, thirst, frequent urination, and vision issues, you should take action and talk to a doctor as soon as possible. Untreated, diabetes can be an extremely dangerous condition. With the proper treatment, it’s easier than ever to manage life with diabetes.
Life with diabetes is a constant dance between managing glucose levels and eating something when blood sugars dip too low. With time, diabetes patients learn how to listen to their bodies and inject the right amount of insulin to keep them in balance. There are still up days and down days, but treatment plans make life with diabetes much better.
