Battling Diabetes

Causes and Symptoms

If you are diabetic and have neuropathy, then you are familiar with the painful, burning, and sometimes tingling sensation of neuropathy. Neuropathy is thought to be caused by a loss of blood supply to nerves in the body. This is a dangerous condition and can caused fatalities. Nerves affected can be any of those in the human body, including the nervous system that is associated with internal organs, such as the heart, lungs, and liver.

In some cases, the neuropathy can give a diabetic the appearance of someone who has had a stroke. Drooping in the face, mainly around the eyes and mouth can occur. Difficulty swallowing, speech impairment, vision problems, and erectile dysfunction are only a few of the problems caused by neuropathy. More →

What Is Type I Diabetes?

Type I Diabetes is a disease that affects people at any age, any time. It is also known as Juvenile Diabetes because it is most often seen in children and young adults (teens). The pancreas halts production of insulin, the hormone that aids glucose to enter cells. When glucose (sugar) enters cells, it use then used to create energy. Insulin also allows other internal organs such as the liver, to store glucose to be used for energy at a later time. Without insulin, the body is unable to use glucose properly, resulting in many health problems.

One very serious problem that can occur is a condition known as Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). When the body does not manufacture insulin and glucose(sugar) levels g climb too high, a chemical imbalance develops in the blood. Cells are not receiving the glucose they need to produce energy and the body begins to break fat down to try and compensate. This action allows the release of ketones into the bloodstream. With the release of ketones, the body is at risk for serious damage, even death if not treated immediately.
Source: Web MD.

More →

One of the possible tragic consequences of diabetes is the effects the disease has on various organs and body functions. They cover a wide range of systems and conditions. Fortunately, most are treatable and/or manageable.

Hypoglycemia

More →

The symptoms of diabetes can be puzzling. Even the common ones may not be present in all cases. They may come and go. And the same symptoms can be produced by other conditions. Nevertheless, there are a cluster of common circumstances that tend to mark out the disease.

Unusually frequent urination is one of the classic symptoms that suggests the possibility of diabetes. One defining attribute of the disease is excessive glucose levels in the blood. Either the body produces too little insulin to deal with it (Type 1 diabetes), or the insulin isn’t used correctly (Type 2).

More →

By Flor Serquina

What is Diabetes?

There are two kinds of diabetes and they’re simply called Type 1 and Type 2. With Type 1 diabetes, your main problem is your body’s inability to produce insulin - the all-important hormone that converts blood sugar into energy. Without insulin, glucose will only continuously build up in your system. Type 1 is also called insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes. There is no known cure for this type.

With Type 2 diabetes, your body is able to produce insulin but only in inadequate amounts. And if it is inadequate, your body is unable to make use of it completely and effectively.

More →