Type 2 Diabetes

Type II Diabetes Mellitus: An Emerging Epidemic

Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by inadequate insulin secretion by the pancreas or cellular destruction leading to an insulin deficiency. Depending on the cause of the insulin shortage, diabetes can be subcategorized into type I and type II. Type I diabetes (T1DM) is usually mediated by the destruction of b-cells in the pancreas resulting in decreased insulin production and secretion. Type II diabetes (T2DM) is the failure of these b-cells to secrete adequate amounts of insulin to compensate for insulin resistance and increased gluconeogenesis combined with an overall resistance to the insulin action (8., 1997). T2DM accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all diabetes cases.

While T2DM is traditionally viewed as an adult disease, its prevalence among children and adolescents is becoming a major medical crisis, particularly targeting minorities and those genetically prone, and resulting from the rising obesity rates, sedentary lifestyles, and dietary indiscretions. The disease is more commonly found in minorities, predominantly African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans. Studies of African American children have shown that compared to Caucasian children they have higher rates of insulinemia, increased b-cell activity, reduced insulin clearance, lower insulin sensitivity, and higher obesity risks (Arslanian, 2002). Although it is unclear if these factors are due to racial intrinsic differences, lifestyle, genetics, or other biological factors, these issues could easily explain the higher prevalence of T2DM among minorities. It is most accepted that a combination of these factors is the primary cause for the relationship between race and diabetes.

Some of the symptoms associated with type II diabetes include polyuria, polyphagia, and polydipsia. At diagnosis, 33 percent of patients have ketonuria, and 5 to 25 percent have ketoacidosis, both of which can be tested for by simple urinalysis (American Diabetes Assoc. 2000). Most patients of T2DM are obese with little to no weight loss, which allows doctors to distinguish them from type I diabetics. The total lack of insulin among type I diabetics, or insulin dependent diabetics, will result in problems in the storage of fat and mu...

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