Diabetes mellitus meaning.

Generally, the diabetes mellitus treatment entails the promotion of a healthy diet and exercise routines to control the blood sugar level. Other medications needed to support the treatment will depend whether the diabetic is a type 1 or a type 2 sufferer.

Since the disease is mainly concerned with insulin production, the reader is likewise informed that insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. Its role is to move the glucose (sugar) from the blood to the liver cells, fat and muscles so that the body can use it as energy. If there is an imbalance in the production of insulin versus the amount of glucose in the body, the result is high blood sugar level or diabetes.

There are three types of diabetes namely; Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational diabetes that require treatments in order to control the blood glucose level. Otherwise, the progression of a type 2 diabetes into becoming a type 1 is liable to take place. In addition, lack of care or treatment for all types of diabetes mellitus can lead to complications like heart disease and stroke.

In type 1 diabetes, the immune system of the body erroneously attacks the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas resulting to little or no production of insulin at all. This is common among children and young adults, hence, the moniker "juvenile diabetes".

This accounts for 5 to 10 percent of people with diabetes. Treatment includes a daily injection of insulin and oral medication. However, the latter is discouraged for this type of diabetes as this will only be digested by the stomach.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the produced insulin is insufficient to control the sugar or wherein the cells failed to react to the insulin known as insulin resistance. This used to be common among obese persons and now includes younger children due to the effects of high technology in their environment.

Children nowadays are often seen in front of computers and television sets instead of burning their calories by indulging in physical sports like basketball, tennis, badminton etc. They now comprise 90 to 95 percent of diabetics.

Gestational diabetes arises in the later months of pregnancy and is expected to vanish after birth but it can recur as type 2 . Patient with gestational diabetes should seek proper treatment from their physicians to avoid its progression into type 2 diabetes.