Health: Type –1 Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder causing much morbidity and mortality. Rising prevalence of diabetes in developing countries is a cause for concern. These countries are already burdened by problems of tropical infectious diseases and malnutrition. Diabetes being a chronic incurable disease adds on the burden of the health system. Among the 2 types of diabetes commonly prevalent, type 1 diabetes is of greater concern in poor resource poor countries. Type 1 diabetes is the kind of diabetes in which there is absolutely no production of insulin in the body to neutralize the glucose present in the body. Therefore it has to be managed by insulin injections only. This is in contrast to type ii diabetes which can be managed by dietary restrictions and physical exercise alone in some cases. Type 1 diabetes mostly occurs in young adults, even as young as small children and teenagers. Thus they have to start taking insulin from a young age. This means an extra expenditure on the individual or family and one or 2 pricks daily for the person affected. Apart from this getting tested for glucose control once or more every month also becomes cumbersome as it is an exercise to be done for life in majority of cases. If they neglect their treatment, type1 diabetic patients are more prone to develop fatal metabolic complications like diabetic ketoacidosis. These individuals who develop diabetes from a young age are more susceptible to chronic metabolic complications of diabetes as they grow older. This includes damage to the kidneys, eyes, peripheral nerves and blood vessels and also sexual impotence. The individuals with type 1 diabetes are also more prone to develop heart problems and strokes, because of the diabetes occurring from a young age. There are multiple reasons for an individual to develop type 1diabetes mellitus. It is said to be an auto immune disorder in majority of cases, where antibodies within the body are directed towards and destroy the beta cells of islets of langerhans of pancreas (insulin producing cells). Viruses particularly those affecting the intestines can also damage insulin producing cells of pancreas, leading to type 1 diabetes. Organic environmental pollutants and industrial toxins are also said to be responsible for increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus. Apart from these causes, genetic susceptibility also plays a key role in occurrence of diabetes. One generation may acquire the disease due to damage to insulin producing cells of pancreas. This may cause mutation in the genes and then diabetes can pass on to his next generation. Once an individual has developed type 1 diabetes, he should be very careful to see that it remains under good control. For this it is vital that he takes correct dose of insulin at a correct fixed time every day. This becomes possible only when the individual learns to inject insulin by himself. Thus he does not have to depend on another person for taking the very important insulin injections. He should also learn to measure and take correct dose of insulin, to prevent any problem due to under or over dosage. He also has to learn to take small frequent meals to help in proper stable glucosemetabolism in the body. Insulin should always be taken with food. If food is missing till 30 minutes after injecting insulin, he is at high risk of developing hypoglycemia(blood glucose levels lower than normal). It is imperative that the individual learns to recognize features of hypoglycemia. As soon as he develops hypoglycemia, he should immediately take a banana and some biscuits so as to prevent hypoglycemia. A person with type 1 diabetes mellitus needs to be away from alcohol because alcohol raises levels of blood glucose as well as fats in the blood. It also increases ones susceptibility to heart attacks and other cardiac problems. A person with type 1 diabetes can lead a life as normal as his counterparts. Only thing needed is timely injections of insulin and closely monitoring the blood glucose levels. Email: Rachna2122002@yahoo.co.uk