Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a metabolic disease that causes high blood sugar. The hormone insulin moves sugar from the blood into your cells to be stored or used for energy. With diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t effectively use the insulin it does make.
Diabetes mellitus
There are a few different types of diabetes:
- Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The immune system attacks and destroys cells in the pancreas, where insulin is made. It’s unclear what causes this attack. About 10 percent of people with diabetes have this type.
- Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body becomes resistant to insulin, and sugar builds up in your blood.
- Prediabetes occurs when your blood sugar is higher than normal, but it’s not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
- Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar during pregnancy. Insulin-blocking hormones produced by the placenta cause this type of diabetes.
Symptoms
The general symptoms of diabetes include:
- Increased hunger
- Increased thirst
- Weight loss
- Frequent urination
- Blurry vision
- Extreme fatigue
- Sores that don’t heal
Addition to the general symptoms of diabetes, men with diabetes may have a decreased sex drive, erectile dysfunction (ED), and poor muscle strength. Women with diabetes can also have symptoms such as urinary tract infections, yeast infections, and dry, itchy skin.
Risk factors for type 1 diabetes
Although the exact cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown, factors that may signal an increased risk include:
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- Family history: Your risk increases if a parent or sibling has type 1 diabetes.
- Environmental factors: Circumstances such as exposure to a viral illness likely play some role in type 1 diabetes.
- The presence of damaging immune system cells (autoantibodies): Sometimes family members of people with type 1 diabetes are tested for the presence of diabetes autoantibodies. If you have these autoantibodies, you have an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes. But not everyone who has these autoantibodies develops diabetes.
Risk factors for type 2 diabetes
Researchers don’t fully understand why some people develop prediabetes and type 2 diabetes and others don’t. It’s clear that certain factors increase the risk, however, including:
- The more fatty tissue you have, the more resistant your cells become to insulin.
- The less active you are, the greater your risk. Physical activity helps you control your weight, uses up glucose as energy and makes your cells more sensitive to insulin.
- Family history: Your risk increases if a parent or sibling has type 2 diabetes.
- Polycystic ovary syndrome: For women, having polycystic ovary syndrome — a common condition characterized by irregular menstrual periods, excess hair growth and obesity — increases the risk of diabetes.
- Abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels: People with high levels of triglycerides have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Complications
- Cardiovascular disease.
- Nerve damage (neuropathy).
- Kidney damage (nephropathy)
- Eye damage (retinopathy)
- Foot damage.- Tingling or numbness of the extremities
- Alzheimer’s disease.
Homeopathic Approach
Homoeopathic medicine help in effectively managing the sugar levels in body . It helps in improving the efficiency of the pancreas .It also helps in improving the general health . Medicines are safe and can be administered for long duration with no side effects . Most of the complications can be avoided if sugar levels are managed effectively with proper medicines and healthy diet & life style .