Diabetes A Lifelong Disorder - 2683 Words

Griselda Flores MED 2056 PTY Diabetes Mellitus Instructor Mandy Salzedo 09/07/2014 Diabetes is a lifelong disorder in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar by converting sugar, starches, and other foods into engery necessary for daily life. The problem may be caused by too little insulin or the body s resisitance to using the insulin that is secreted by the pancreas, a small organ that lies behind the lower part of the stomach (Laberge, 2011). As a result, glucose in the blood cannot be absorbed or used by the cells of the body. There are two major types of diabetes mellitus, type 1 and type 2. In order to diagnos diabetes laboratory tests such as Urine tests†¦show more content†¦A fasting blood glucose test is done by having blood drawn from the patient first thing in the morning after eating nothing since midnight the previous night, a score over 126 mg/dl indicates diabetes. Lastly, the glucose tolerance test involves the patients blood being drawn twice, the first time after fasting for 8 hrs and the second time two hours later, after drinking a very sweet drink, a score over 200 mg/dl indicated diabetes (Laberge, 2011). Type 1 diabetes formerly known as insulin dependent or juvenile diabetes is a sudden onset in which the body produces little or no insulin and commonly begins in childhood or adolescence, although anyone can develop type 1 diabetes at any time (Gale, 2013). Without insulin, sugar stays in the bloodstream and cannot be used to fuel the body cells. In this disease the body s immune system attacks and destroys beta cells in the pancreas by producing autoantibodies that cannot distinguish between an intruder and the bodys own beta cells that produce insulin (Brill, 2008). Thus, people with type 1 diabetes must take insulin injections to stay alive as the disease can be rapidly fatal without daily administration of unsulin (WHO, 2008). Type 2 diabetes