It is World Diabetes Day on November 14th. Since the entire month is about diabetes awareness, there is not a better time than now, to undergo a diabetes test or update oneself with the latest in prevention and remedies.
Is diabetes such a dangerous condition? Statistics say it is more than dangerous.
Within a short span of one generation, diabetes has been found to affect more than 230 million people, almost six percent of the world's adult population. According to the website, worlddiabetesfederation.org, the incidence of diabetes has reached such epidemic proportions that every 10 seconds, a person dies from diabetes-related causes.
As per statistics in the website, “diabetes is increasing faster in the world's developing economies than in developed countries. Seven out of ten countries with the highest number of people living with diabetes are in the developing world. With an estimated 35 million people with diabetes, India has the world's largest diabetes population.”
To explain diabetes in simple terms, it is a chronic condition where in your body does not produce sufficient amounts of insulin, the hormone that converts the sugar found in the food into energy. In the absence of enough insulin, the sugar stays in the blood itself thereby increasing the blood sugar level.
There are mainly two types of diabetes. The less predominant 'Type 1 diabetes' occurs when the body produces too little or no insulin. It is more commonly known as juvenile diabetes because most people develop it in childhood or adolescence, although it can occur at any age. About 5% to 10% of diabetics are Type 1. Albeit the fact that there is no prevention to this type, it is managed by various means.
Interestingly, scientists at Cambridge University, led by Roman Hovorka have developed a new device that functions as an artificial pancreas. A pager-sized insulin pump fitted on the patient's belt is attached to a computer that will monitor the patient's blood sugar level and administers insulin in appropriate doses whenever required.
The device, to undergo clinical trial on children with Type 1 diabetes from January will also offer hope to adults who have relied on insulin injections since childhood.
'Type 2 diabetes' is the most commonly found condition commonly called adult onset diabetes since it is found to develop in adults at later years, say 45 years and hence. Medically, it is a condition where although the body produces insulin, it is not able to utilize the hormone.
It is the Type 2 diabetes that is increasing at an alarming rate all over the world, which the doctors say, is mainly due to increasing sedentary lifestyles, obesity, and aging population. A healthy lifestyle can be adopted to keep diabetes at bay.
