Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes Mellitus

Tiaira Butler

Health, Period 4

Mr. Abraham

May 6, 2012

Diabetes Mellitus or Diabetes for short is a series of metabolic diseases characterized by the high blood glucose levels which result from defects in the body’s ability to produce enough insulin or the cells fail to respond to the insulin that is produced (American Diabetes Association). The high blood glucose levels produce classic symptoms of polyuria, frequent urination, polydipsia, increased thirst and polyphagia, increased hunger all of which are symptoms of diabetes.

There are three main types of diabetes mellitus (DM); Type 1 DM which is the result of the body’s inability to produce insulin and requires the person to inject insulin, this type of diabetes is also referred to as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or juvenile diabetes. The failure of the body to produce insulin is due to an autoimmune destruction of the beta cells of the pancreas. The lack of insulin leads to the increase of glucose in the blood and urine. Type 2 DM is the result of insulin resistance, a condition in which the cells of the body fail to use the insulin properly which can be sometimes combined with absolute insulin-deficiency diabetes mellitus which has also been referred to as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus(NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes. Finally, the third main type of diabetes mellitus is gestational diabetes mellitus which occurs when pregnant woman who have not previously had diabetes before have a high blood glucose level during pregnancy, it may proceed the development of Type 2 DM.

The most common type of diabetes is Type 2 diabetes, it is estimated that 25.8 million people suffer with diabetes and 3.7 million African American have diabetes, it is further estimated that African Americans are 1.8 million more likely to have diabetes as non- Hispanic white. Diabetes is associated with an increased risk for a number of serious and sometime fatal diseases such as blindness, kidney...