Diabetes Description

DIABETES MELLITUS
Description

Symptom Checker

Symptoms

Abdominal pain	Appetite - increase	Behaviour - irritability
Breathing - disorder	Breathing - smells	Dehydration
Drowsiness	Fatigue / exhaustion	Foot - swollen
Hand - swollen	Heart - beat increase	Impotence
Limb - numbness	Nausea	Skin - dry scaly
Skin - itching	Skin - infections	Skin - poor healing
Thirst	Toes - numbness	Urination - frequent
Urination - excessive	Vision - blurred	Vomiting
Weight - gain	Weight - loss

Description

Diabetes mellitus, commonly referred as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by high blood sugar (glucose) levels that result from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. Elevated levels of blood glucose (hyperglycemia) lead to spillage of glucose into the urine.

The female hormone estrogen typically makes cells more responsive to insulin.

In a healthy person, the blood glucose level is regulated by several hormones, including insulin, which is produced by the pancreas. People with diabetes either do not produce enough insulin (type 1 diabetes) or cannot use insulin properly (type 2 diabetes). There are other types of diabetes as Gestational (during pregnancy), Ketoacidosis (when the body can not use the glucose as fuel), Hyperosmolar Coma, which is a complication syndrome related to the type 2, Congenital (due to genetic defects of insulin secretion), Cystic Fibrosis, Steroid (induced by high doses of glucocorticoids), and several forms of monogenic diabetes.

Diagnosis

The following tests can help to diagnose the disease and its type:

- Urine test.

- Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test, which is a primary test for prediabetes.

- Fasting plasma glucose test, in which the blood sample is taken after an overnight food abstention.

- Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT or GTT), which requires 8 hours of food abstention before the test.

More information:

Diabetes Mellitus Treatment
Diabetes Mellitus Healthcare Centers