Emmanuel Kwesi Coomson
2 December 2005
guest column
Diabetes is a disease that affects millions of people worldwide yearly. It is one of the disease that have been termed 'silent killers' because it might not really make you 'sick' for a long time until complications set in. Many Ghanaians are developing the disease as they tend to put on weight and exercise less and the disease cut across all classes in the society.
There is no known cure for diabetes but several known treatments can control this disease. The success of any diabetes treatment depends largely on the patient.
The body is made of millions of cells that need energy to function. The food we eat is turned into a type of sugar, called glucose. This sugar is carried to the cells through the blood stream. It is one of many substances needed by cells to make energy to run the body. For glucose to enter the cells, two conditions must be present. First, the cells must have enough "doors," called receptors. Second, a substance called insulin is needed to "unlock" the receptors." Once these two conditions are met, glucose enters the cell and is used by the cell to make energy. Without energy, all cells die.
Insulin is a hormone, which is manufactured in the pancreas. Insulin levels in the blood vary with the amount of glucose present in the blood. Diabetes is a disease that makes it difficult for the cells of the body to get the glucose they need to make energy. Diabetes can make it difficult for the cells of the body to receive adequate amounts of glucose in two ways. First, the pancreas may not make enough insulin and since insulin is needed to "unlock the receptors," glucose cannot enter the cells. Therefore, glucose levels increase in the blood. This is known as Type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when insulin is present in enough quantities, but there is a decrease in the number of receptors on the cells to allow glucose to enter. Even though insulin is present, it cannot be used effectively, a situation called "Insulin Resistance" which results in high levels of glucose in the blood.
Type 2 diabetes is more common than Type 1. The exact causes of diabetes are unknown. However, it tends to run in families. Diabetes is not a contagious disease. Diabetes is detected when the level of sugar in blood higher than normal. The most reliable test results are obtained when the sugar level in the blood is checked before any food or liquid is ingested. This is known as a fasting blood sugar.
Common signs and symptoms of diabetes include: excessive thirst, frequent urination, excessive Hunger, weight loss, Fatigue, changes in vision, slow-healing cuts or infections and persistent itching of the skin.
If left untreated, the level of glucose in the blood can become very high, inducing coma and possibly death. The signs and symptoms you have depend on when your diabetes is discovered and what type of diabetes you have.
Complications of Diabetes
When you control the level of sugar in your blood, the signs of diabetes become less frequent. You will feel better and have more energy.
If you do not follow your diet, exercise, and perform sugar level tests, serious complications can arise. Complications of diabetes include damage to the nerves and blood vessels of the body.
It is not known why diabetes causes nerves to become damaged. The nerve damage is known as diabetic neuropathy. It usually involves the nerves going to the lower legs and feet. The feet or legs could feel numb or unusually cold.
People with diabetes who have poor sensation in their feet must be very careful to avoid damaging their feet with ill-fitting shoes, hot water, or other forms of injury. Check your feet every day for cuts, sores, redness, or swelling. Use a mirror if needed. When visiting a medical clinic ask your doctor to check your feet. Sores on the feet easily get infected and can cause one's toes to fall off. Some times the sore is so bad that the whole limb has to be amputated.
Sexual dysfunction can occur. In men with diabetes, the most common problem is impotence due to damaged nerves going to the sexual organs. Urologists can help treat impotence with surgical and non-surgical treatments. In women with diabetes, damage to nerves in the pelvic organs and genitals can lead to impaired sexual arousal and painful intercourse. If this occurs, your doctor can recommend a treatment.
Because the nerves that go to the heart may be affected, diabetics who have a heart attack may not experience the typically described chest pain. Diabetics should therefore be very suspicious when they feel chest heaviness, arm numbness, or indigestion. These could be symptoms of a heart attack.
High blood sugar can cause damage to large and small blood vessels. Fat in the blood is deposited on the walls of blood vessels. This causes hardening of the arteries or arteriosclerosis. Hardening of the arteries can occur in important arteries leaving or entering the heart. It can also occur in the legs.
Your diet plan is designed to lower the level of fat and cholesterol in the blood. When plaque and fat narrow small blood vessels, the blood flow to the organs becomes insufficient, causing the death of cells that are dependent on receiving the blood. It can also cause bleeding from narrowed blood vessels.
The thickening of small blood vessels is most noticeable in the kidney and in the back of the eye. When the small vessels in the back of the eye thicken, blood may leak into the inside of the eye or vitreous fluid. This causes the vitreous fluid to become cloudy. If not treated, this condition called diabetic retinopathy, can lead to blindness. An ophthalmologist (eye doctor) can help recommend treatment for this condition.
Diabetes may stop the kidney form cleaning wastes out of the blood. In addition, proteins that should stay in the body may leak into the urine. Your doctor can test for small proteins in your urine to determine if there are early signs of kidney diseases. People with diabetic kidney disease often develop high blood pressure, another silent killer.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2005 Ghanaian Chronicle. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
