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Dealing with Diabetes

© Robert M. Oliva

Diabetes is a number of diseases that are identified by high levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood that has resulted from faulty production and/or activity of insulin in the body. Millions of Americans are suffering from diabetes today. As we get older, the chances of developing this disease continue to increase. If not treated properly, diabetes can lead to many medical complications and be fatal. More so than most other diseases, diabetes is a result of faulty diet and lifestyle. It is imperative that this condition be monitored regularly and that a natural, healthy lifestyle adopted.

Let’s take a brief look at some important facts about diabetes before discussing how to cope with this dangerous disease.

The Facts:

The National Diabetes Fact Sheet estimates that:

· 15.7 million people suffer with diabetes nationwide (5.9% of the population). It is estimated that 5.4 million of these people remain undiagnosed.
· 18.4% of those over 65 have diabetes.
· Based on death-certificate data, diabetes contributed to 193,140 deaths in 1996. This is the seventh leading cause of death in the country.
· Diabetes results in numerous complications: heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, nervous system disease, amputations, dental disease, complications of pregnancy, and coma.
· The total cost of this disease is approximated at $98 billion/year.

The Disease:

There are two types of diabetes mellitus. Adult-onset type II diabetes, also called non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM) is defined by the body being unable to use the insulin produced by the pancreas and for this reason being unable to process glucose (sugar) in the blood. In childhood onset type I diabetes (IDDM), the pancreas does not make enough insulin and so glucose cannot be processed. This article will deal with type II diabetes and how to manage it.

In type II diabetes (NIDDM), sugar cannot enter the cells. This condition is called insulin resistance. For most with NIDDM, there is plenty of insulin (at least at the beginning of the disease) but the receptor sites on the cells are not working properly and refuse to accept glucose into the cells. It is not known conclusively why this happens but some research indicates that the receptor sites are damaged by long-term exposure to high levels of insulin. The result is that excess sugar begins to reside in the blood. When this happens, the sugar reacts with oxygen to form free radicals. These unstable molecules damage the entire body system and set the stage for all of the known complications associated with diabetes.

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