Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disease that has the characteristics of high glucose (blood sugar) levels which is the result from defective insulin action or secretion or both.  In the ancient world, it was first associated with “sweet urine” and excessive loss of muscle mass.  Increased blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) leads to glucose spillage into the urine, thus the term “sweet urine”.

Blood glucose levels are controlled tightly by insulin in the pancreas.  This hormone is the one that controls the levels of glucose in the blood.  When the glucose levels increase, such as right after eating a meal, the pancreas releases insulin to bring the glucose to normal levels.  Diabetic patients will have insufficient or no insulin production that could lead to hyperglycemia.  Diabetes is considered as a chronic medical condition which can no longer be cured but should be managed for a lifetime.

This disease can have chronic health impacts over time.  Some of these chronic conditions can lead to kidney failure, blindness and nerve damage.  These kinds of damages result to some harm in the small vessels also called microvascular disease.  Diabetics are known to have accelerated narrowing and hardening of the arteries, also called atherosclerosis, which can lead to coronary heart disease, strokes and other diseases of the large blood vessels called macrovascular disease.

In the United States alone, there are approximately 17 million people who are affected by diabetes, which consists 8% of the total population in America.  Moreover, there are those who have the disease who do not even know that they have it, which accounts to about 12 million individuals in the United States.