DIABETES

Diabetes is a chronic illness but it is not fatal. A chronic illness is classified as an illness with no cure and has symptoms that persist over a long period of time. Diabetes is not a fatal illness, except in a few rare and severe cases. It is one of the most common chronic illnesses that a person can get. About 16 million Americans have diabetes and diabetes is most common in Hispanics and native Americans. About 5% (800,000) have type I which only occurs in young people.

People with type I diabetes develop it between the ages of nine and thirty. Diabetes is a condition in which the body is unable to process sugars and starches (carbo's) into glucose, the bodies main source of energy. The disease develops when specific cells in the pancreas are unable to produce a hormone called insulin or when the body uses insulin in the wrong way. The beta cells in the pancreas produce insulin. Type I diabetes is insulin dependent. 10% of people who have diabetes has type I. This type is often called juvenile diabetes because it develops during childhood or adolescence. People with type I have to take insulin on a daily basis. The insulin is injected beneath the skin into the tissue. Without the insulin, the body will not be able to function correctly.

Type II, also called adult onset diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes. About 80%-90% of Americans that have this chronic illness develops this type, and the majority of them develop this disease after the age of forty. In type II, the pancreas still develops insulin, but either the pancreas just doesn't produce enough of that specific hormone, or the body does not use it in an effective and efficient way.

The doctors believe there are some things that might cause diabetes but no one actually knows what causes diabetes but these of course are educated guesses. They are viruses, autoimmune disorder, genetics, and stress. Some of the most common symptoms of stress are excessive thirst and hunger, excessive urination, exhaustion, and also flu and cold like symptoms. Diabetes can even cause other diseases because of the fluctuation of the glucose and some of those are neuropathy, cardiovascular disease, retinopathy, and nephropathy. The best treatments for diabetes are insulin injections, dieting, and exercise. Some of the confusing parts of diabetes are that there are three types of insulin and those are rapid or regular acting insulin, intermediate acting insulin, and long acting insulin. The insulin is measured in cubic centimeters and have three different strengths which are 40 cc, 80cc, and 100 cc. The way that you get insulin in your body is by injecting it. There are three different ways to inject which are jet injectors, insulin pens, and insulin pumps.

So as you can see, diabetes is not a fatal disease but can be life threatening if not taken care of. Remember that if might not have diabetes now but you never know what the future holds.