What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is nothing but high level of glucose in blood. To understand in simple way how the blood glucose goes high in Diabetes explained here your digestive system changes the food you eat into a fuel called glucose, a form of sugar- Glucose goes into the blood stream and is carried to the millions of cells in your body.
An organ called the pancreas makes a chemical called Insulin , Insulin also goes into the blood stream and travels to the cells. Here it meets glucose at the cell receptors or doorsteps Insulin then acts like a key, unlocking the receptors so that glucose can enter the cells. The cells metabolize (burn) the glucose to give the body energy.
What Happens in Diabetes?
Food is changed into glucose. Your digestive system still changes the food you eat into glucose. Glucose goes into your blood stream but Glucose can’t get into the cells. Glucose and Insulin meet at the cells, but most of the glucose may not be able to enter the cells because
- There may not be enough insulin
- There may be plenty of insulin, but can’t unlock the receptor
- There may be too few receptors for all the glucose to get through cells can’t make energy
Most of the glucose stays in your blood stream. This is called Hyperglycemia (also know as high blood sugar or high blood glucose)
Without enough glucose in your cells, your cells can’t make energy needed to keep your body running smoothly.
Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes
People with diabetes experience different symptoms. You may experience all, some or none of the following
- Frequent urination – Polyuria (Even at night)
- Excess thirst – Polydipsia
- Always being very hungry – Polyphagia
- Slow healing of wounds and cuts
- Itchy skin
- Blurred vision
- Feeling tired and weak
- Numbness or tingling feet
- Weight loss – (Checkout: Sapna Vyas Patel Weight Loss Exercise and Workout Video Collection)
- Skin infections
- Vaginal Infection (Read: Why Women should sleep without Underwear or Panties?)
Why Control of Sugar (Diabetes) is very important?
Over time high blood glucose damages your blood vessels. Kidneys, Eyes and Nerves leading to complications and permanent damage to vital organs of your body.
- Eye problem include damage to blood vessels in the eyes( retinopathy), Pressure in the eye( glaucoma) and clouding of the eyes lens ( cataract).
- Nerve problems ( Neuropathy) can cause you to lose feeling in your feet or other parts of your body
- Disease of blood vessels (atherosclerosis) can lead to heart It attack, stroke and circulation problems like peripheral vascular diseases.
- Kidney disease (nephropathy) stops the kidneys from cleaning waste out of your blood.
- High blood pressure (Hypertension) Makes your heart work better to pump your blood 1 ‘ If you have to avoid such complications It is essential to keep the sugar under control.
Targets in diabetic control: ABCDEF
A.A1C
There is a better indicator of Diabetic control called HBA I C ( the glycosylated hemoglobin) test measures the sugar level over a period of around 2-3 months.
Diabetes is under control if HbA I c value is less than 7.
Even I %drop in the A I C level can reduce the risk of diabetes complications by nearly 20%. You should have an HbA 1 c test done every 3 months once.
B. Blood Pressure
Your Blood Pressure can change from minute to minute with changes in posture, exercise and sleeping but it should be less than 130/80 mmHg for an adults. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke attack, Heart attack, Heart failure all of which are fatal.
C. Cholesterol
If you also have high blood cholesterol, you increase the chance of a heart attack. Excess cholesterol in the blood stream form a plaque (a thin hard deposits on blood vessels.)
The targets of cholesterol levels are given below.
- Total cholesterol < 180 mg/di
- HDL Male >45, Female >50
- LDL <100 mg/di
- Triglycerides < 150 mg/dl
D. Diet
Awareness about our eating pattern is important, Avoid High glycemic index food which directly increases the blood sugars. Balanced diet is essential to maintain the blood sugar and BP MyPlate levels.
Check: [Video]GM Diet Plan – Reduce 4 Kgs in a Week
Bottomline:
Diabetes is common now a days. Make sure that you keep the Diabetes under control to avoid any health complications. Stay healthy.
