The Hardships of Diabetes

The Hardships of Diabetes

Diabetes is a very grave and serious disease involving many hardships, but a good diet, exercise, and overall healthy habits can keep your diabetes under control which in-turn makes you feel better and avoid later complications.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce enough insulin, a hormone needed to convert the sugars and starches that we eat into energy needed for daily life. The cause of the disease is a mystery, but genetics and environment seem to play major roles. There are two kinds of Diabetes, Diabetes Insipidus and the more common Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Insipidus is a rare disease caused by a deficiency of vasopressin, a hormone of the posterior pituitary gland that controls the amount of urine secreted by the kidneys. It's symptoms of extreme thirst and frequent urination can usually be stopped by injection or nasal inhalation of vasopressin. Diabetes Mellitus is a more severe and common disease affecting over five percent of the population of the United States, approximately 14 million people. Mellitus is caused by a defective carbohydrate metabolism. The islets of Lange Hans, granular cells in the human pancreas, secrete a hormone called insulin that facilitates the blood's sugar glucose into all the tissues of the body. In diabetics the entry of glucose is impaired due to a deficiency in insulin or a blocking of its actions caused by altered receptor cells, the cells that carry the sugar from the blood into the tissue. So sugar builds up in the blood and is excreted in urine.

There are also two types of Diabetes Mellitus. They are Type I and Type II. Type I Diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body has a severe or total reduction in i...

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...derstated the sense of energy, control, and accomplishment that exercise provides can really make a difference in a persons quality of life."

Researchers are learning more and more every day about the causes of diabetes and looking for ways to prevent the disease or its complications. While still other research is aimed at perfecting methods of administering insulin and monitoring blood sugar levels. Immune suppressing drugs are being studied as one way to stop the immune system from attacking beta cells, which would prevent diabetes. Also the transplantation of a whole pancreas or just beta cells to make insulin has a promising future. But until they find a miracle cure or perfect the transplants, millions of people can still control their diabetes, hassle and pain free, by just exercising, eating a healthy diet, and keeping up with their medication therapy.