|
DIABETES MELLITUS
Diabetes Mellitus, commonly known, as Diabetes is a chronic disease
that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or
alternatively, when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it
produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar.
Hyperglycemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of
uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of
the body's systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
Below 3 common types of Diabetes among
the general population:
Type 1 diabetes (previously known as
insulin-dependent or childhood-onset) is characterized by a lack of
insulin production. Without daily administration of insulin, Type 1
diabetes is rapidly fatal.
Symptoms include excessive excretion of
urine (polyuria), thirst (polydipsia), constant hunger, weight loss,
vision changes and fatigue. These symptoms may occur suddenly.
Type 2 diabetes (formerly called
non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset) results from the body’s
ineffective use of insulin. Type 2 diabetes comprises 90% of people
with diabetes around the world, and is largely the result of excess
body weight and physical inactivity.
Symptoms may be similar to those of Type
1 diabetes, but are often less marked. As a result, the disease may be
diagnosed several years after onset, once complications have already
arisen.
Gestational diabetes is hyperglycemia,
which is first recognized during pregnancy.
Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) and
Impaired Fasting Glycaemia or Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG) are
intermediate conditions in the transition between normality and
diabetes. People with IGT or IFG are at high risk of progressing to
type 2 diabetes, although this is not inevitable.
DIABETES FACTS
The World Health Organization (WHO)
estimates that more than 180 million people worldwide have diabetes.
This number is likely to more than double by 2030.
In 2005, an estimated 1.1 million people
died from diabetes. #
Almost 80% of diabetes deaths occur in
low and middle-income countries.
Almost half of diabetes deaths occur in
people under the age of 70 years; 55% of diabetes deaths are in women.
WHO projects that diabetes deaths will
increase by more than 50% in the next 10 years without urgent action.
Most notably, diabetes deaths are projected to increase by over 80% in
upper-middle income countries between 2006 and 2015.
# This would underestimate the true
burden from diabetes. Although people may live for years with diabetes,
their underlying cause of death is usually recorded as heart disease or
kidney failure. An alternative estimate, taking into account deaths in
which diabetes was a contributory condition, suggests that
approximately 2.9 million deaths per year are attributable to diabetes.
ADAPTED FROM THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
(WHO)
RELATED LINKS
|