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Do you find yourself urinating a lot lately? Waking up several times a night to use the washroom.
Do you experience hunger more frequently? Even after just having a meal, or craving food?
Have you been feeling excessively thirsty a lot lately? You drink water but still long for more?
If you are experiencing the above, it is high time to visit your doctor. The three are the classical signs of diabetes mellitus, otherwise also referred to as the 3 Ps of diabetes, i.e. polyuria, polyphagia and polydipsia.
What then is diabetes? This is a chronic metabolic condition where the body cannot effectively process and store glucose for energy. The human body, as we know it, has three sources of energy: glucose (sugar), fats, and proteins, with glucose being the preferred source.
To metabolize the sugar for energy, facilitate its uptake by tissues, and its storage, we need a hormone known as insulin, which is produced by the pancreas.
So, what exactly happens in patients with diabetes mellitus? To understand this, we first need to know that there are two primary types of diabetes mellitus: type 1 DM and type 2 DM.
Type 1 DM is an autoimmune condition in which a person's immune cells mark the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas as ‘foreign.’ Since the primary role of immune cells is to protect the body from foreign cells, they will attack these “foreign pancreatic cells”, therefore destroying them. Consequently, this person loses the ability to produce insulin and will need lifelong insulin therapy.
Type 2 DM, on the other hand, is characterized by insulin resistance whereby the target cells fail to respond effectively to insulin. For patients with this type, they produce insulin; as such, they may not need lifelong insulin therapy but may benefit from other medications and lifestyle changes.
The problem with type 2 diabetes is that the body tries to fix the issue by making more insulin when cells stop responding to it. But having too much insulin actually makes the cells even less responsive. This creates a vicious cycle: resistance leads to more insulin, which causes more resistance. Over time, this wears out the cells that make insulin, and they produce less.
The key takeaways for today;
Ø If experiencing the symptoms above, visit your doctor ASAP.
Ø There are different types of DM; do not share diabetic medication; each person has their own treatment and dosage.
Ø Diabetes can be well managed; do not be misled otherwise. Lifestyle changes and treatment yield results.
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