Diabetes mellitus, means "siphoning (diabetes) of the honey-urine (mellitus)". Diabetes is a killer epidemic. Two percent of India's population suffers from diabetes. Diabetes complications are the seventh leading cause of death in India (the other six being acute malaria, diarrhea, tuberculosis, cancer, leprosy and AIDS).
In India, percentage of male suffering from Diabetes is more than female. Vegetarians are suffering from diabetes more than Non-Vegetarians. People from urban area suffered more in diabetes because of sedentary life style.
Diabetes is a disease related to metabolism disorder. Metabolic disorder happen when pancreas gland produces insufficient or more insulin. Insulin helps the glucose to enter the cells of the body providing them with energy; it helps to store up reserve supplies of glucose (in the form of glycogen) in the muscles and the liver; and it regulates the amount of glucose circulating in the bloodstream.
Islets of Langerhans cells in pancreas produces Insulin hormone. Carbohydrate is key elements for Diabetes. Assimilation of Carbohydrates does not take place properly incase there is imbalance in Insulin presence in blood.
A diabetic can take sugar in different forms. In natural digestion cycle, sugar gets flushed out along with urine if there is problem in Insulin. Hence the body of a diabetic patient is sugar starved. Diabetic patient's body tries to take in as much sugar as possible because of this patient always feels hungry and thirsty.
Diabetic patient looks faint and becomes lethargic. Patient loses weight, and urinates frequently. In advanced cases, boils, itching of skin, wounds that heal slowly, blurred vision, gangrene of the limbs can also occur.
Simple checklist to find whether you are diabetes prone
* If yours close relatives suffers from diabetes,
* If you weight is more than recommended weight
* If you do not take regular meal and enough sleep
* If you have recently suffered from a stressful event
A patient will be diagnosed as diabetic, if the glucose value for random blood sample is greater than 200 mg per 100 ml after 10 hour fast. Type 1 or Insulin dependant and Type II insulin independent are two forms of diabetes. Children are normally suffering from Type I Diabetes and adults are suffering from Type II diabetes. In India, over 75% per cent of the diabetics are of the Type II category.