What is diabetes? What is the ultimate hormonal deficiency in these diseases? How does this affect an individual’s ability to use glucose? What are some possible treatments for adult-onset diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus is a group of disorders that lead to an increase in the level of glucose in the blood. The deficiency of insulin hormone causes diabetes mellitus. In this disease, the patient cannot use or store glucose. Thus, glucose accumulates in the blood from where it is excreted by kidneys in die urine. Glucose increases the osmotic pressure of urine, causing loss of water from the body in urine. This produces excessive thirst. Degradation of fats increases, producing ketone bodies such as acetoacetate and acetone. Blood cholesterol rises, injuries may change into gangrenes. Healing power is ^ impaired leading to the damage of tissues. A diabetic person has blurred vision and is weak, tired, irritable, nauseated, and underweight. In extreme cases, the patient may pass into a coma and die. Treatment: Administration of insulin gives relief by lowering blood glucose levels. Diabetes caused by insufficient insulin production is called Insulin-dependent diabetes. Diabetes due to a person’s ability to use insulin is termed as insulin ) independent diabetes. It is more common than insulin-dependent diabetes. Diabetes mellitus may also be caused by the failure of insulin to move glucose from the blood into the cells for storage or consumption. This is due to the defective insulin receptors or cell surfaces, starving the cells of glucose, or to an abnormality in pancreatic protein amylin, which regulates insulin’s activity.
