Final Project

Diabetes

Introduction:

No one argues about the effect of the huge industrial leap on man’s life.  As it has its good and positive effects on man, it also has its inconsistent side on people’s lives.  If we compare previous years with the current period we will find most of the diseases have become more common than before. This makes all the specialist and doctors worried for patients. One of these illnesses which I am going to discuss here is diabetes.(Medicalnewstoday.com/info/diabetes/)

            Before we start our study about diabetes, let us first define the disease. It is described by doctors as a group of metabolic diseases in which the person has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is not enough, or because the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both. Patients with high blood sugar will normally have polyuria (frequent urination); they will become all the time thirsty (polydipsia) and hungry (polyphagia). Also diabetes could happen because of excessive obesity. Scientists divide diabetes into three types.

Type one:

It happens when the human body fails to produce the insulin and it is usually referred to as insulin dependent diabetes. People usually get this type during the early years of their lives and before the age of forty. But fortunately enough this type is not as common as type two. Only 10% of diabetes have this type.

Type Two:

Here in type two the body produces insulin for the body, but the amount is not enough for the jobs of the body. Or sometimes the cells in the body do not react to the insulin. The vast majority of world diabetes patients are of this type, almost 90% of them.
Some people manage to control their type 2 diabetes symptoms by losing weight, following a healthy diet, or doing a lot of exercises. However, type 2 diabetes is typically a progressive disease and it could worsen if not being taken care of. The patient would end up having insulin.
Overweight and obese people have a much higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes
Being overweight, physically inactive and eating the wrong foods all contribute to our risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Drinking just one can of (non-diet) soda a day can raise our risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 22%, researchers from Imperial College London reported in the journal Diabetologia. The scientists believe that the result of sugary soft drinks on diabetes risk may be a direct one, rather than simply an influence on body weight.(Medicalnewstoday.com/info/diabetes/)

Ageing also contributes to the factors that help developing type two. It is not clear for scientists how ageing does that, but definitely it does. Also people with close relatives who had type two diabetes, have a higher risk of developing the disease.
Old men with low testosterone levels were also found to have a higher risk of developing type two diabetes. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, say that low testosterone levels are linked to insulin resistance.

Type Three (Gestational Diabetes)

This type affects only women during pregnancy. Some women have very high levels of glucose in their blood, and their bodies are unable to produce enough insulin to take all of the glucose into their cells, and this leads to the rise of the glucose.
Patients of this type can control it by diet and exercise although some need to take medication.  It might affect the baby if it is not controlled. The baby may be bigger than he/she should be.

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University found that women whose diets before becoming pregnant were high in animal fat and cholesterol had a higher risk for gestational diabetes, compared to others whose diets were low in cholesterol and animal fats.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus)

However, one wonders if diabetes is curable and if one could get rid of the disease finally. This is proved not possible although controlling one’s diet besides doing lots of sports help much, but the disease is a lifetime one. It could lead to dangerous diseases and be life threatening if not controlled.

Now the UAE and as a result of the huge step it has taken into the modern ways of life, with all its complexity of positive and negative aspects, has to suffer from this. The UAE is now in the second position of the world countries suffering from diabetes with the percentage of 18.7%. It is a very high percentage and something should be done to stop it. This disease is sweeping smoothly without being noticed by its victims. People do not notice their bodies getting bigger and bigger every day. Calories and fats accumulate on bodies and make them heavier and liable to all kinds of diseases without being noticed by people. This makes people fall as victims to obesity and diabetes subsequently.

Solutions: I would like to conclude by saying that, despite the gloomy image which we have about the disease at the present time, there is always a way out. People should take good care of their health by following a healthy diet and doing sports. That is not hard to do and no matter how it may appear unconvincing in fighting diseases time proved its validity. I strongly recommend this prescription to all. And to make this work, one has to support it by routine check of his general health with emphasis on diabetes screening.

References:

·        Diabetes mellitus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus

·        Diabetes Health - Investigate, Inform, Inspire. (n.d.). Diabetes Health - Investigate, Inform, Inspire. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://diabeteshealth.com/

·        What is Diabetes? What Causes Diabetes?. (n.d.). Medical News Today: Health News. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/diabetes/

·        Diabetes news, articles and information:. (n.d.). Natural health news. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://www.naturalnews.com/diabetes.html

·        Diabetes Mellitus. (n.d.). medicinenet. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from www.medicinenet.com/diabetes_mellitus/article.htm

·        American Diabetes Association Home Page - American Diabetes Association. (n.d.). American Diabetes Association Home Page - American Diabetes Association. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://www.diabetes.org/