Type 1 diabetes (Insulin Dependent Diabetes)

Member Name: TOMY3192

Product:	Insulin Dependent Diabetes
Date:	27/08/08 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: i suppose it is better to have this disease now than 50 years ago

Disadvantages: massive change to lifestyle, injections everday

In This article I am going to write mainly about type 1 diabetes, as this is the condition I am most familiar with. When ever is say 'Diabetes' in this informative article I am talking about type 1, unless stated otherwise.

Diabetes is an auto-immune disease that results in the insulin producing cells in your pancreas being permanently destroyed. Type 1 diabetes is also known as 'Insulin dependant Diabetes' Type 1 normally occurs in healthy, normal weight individuals, that lose weight quickly and uncontrollably unless the condition is diagnosed quickly. Some other symptoms are:

increased production of urine
excessive thirst
tiredness
loss of weight
blurred vision

If untreated, the body starts to make things called ketones now you may be thinking, what are 'Ketones'.

Ketones.

Ketones are remaining acids when our body has burnt away it's own fat. When the body can not receive enough glucose (in Type1 no glucose is received at all) it starts to burn fat, increasing the ketone level in the blood. When ketone levels reach a certain level, diabetic patients can go into a diabetic coma, or ketoacidosis, which can lead to death. There is a level of measuring ketones.

Readings below 0.6mmol/L are in the normal range (mmol/L = Millimoles per litre)

Readings in between 0.6 and 1.5 with a blood glucose level higher than 16.7mmol/L, may indicate the development of a problem

Readings above 1.5mmol/L, with a blood glucose level higher than 16.7mmol/L, suggest you may be at risk of developing diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).

There are currently no ways to cure, or even prevent type 1 diabetes, but the ways of coping with it have got better over the years.

There are now devices where you can inhale the insulin needed, or you can attach waist bags that are programmed to release insulin at a certain time automatically. There are also three main regimes of taking insulin by injection. These are :

Twice a day dosing- These are given before breakfast and before the evening meal.

Three times a day dosing- Short-acting and intermediate-acting insulin before breakfast. Short-acting insulin before the evening meal. Intermediate-acting insulin before bed.

Multiple dosing per day- Short-acting insulin is used before each main meal. An intermediate or long-acting insulin is used before bedtime to give coverage overnight.

I am not writing this article to simply earn some 'miles' on this website. I think that there are a lot of misconceptions about diabetes, and recently my 11 year old sister was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. One of the largest misconceptions is the diet.
Of course, diabetic patients can't eat as much chocolate, cake and other sugary goods as a non-diabetic, but in the modern age we live in now, you can buy 'diabetic' chocolate from main high-street shops, Thornton's for example. Main meals do not change that much at all. Except for the obvious change of injections before meals, a normal meal can be eaten. As long as there are not too many fast acting carbohydrates in the meal. Diabetics can still eat pasta, potatoes and a range of other 'normal' foods. Chocolate can also be eaten, as long as exercise is undertaken afterwards.
Nearly 2 months ago, my sister began to feel unwell but, we thought, it was nothing serious, just a normal cold/flu as she had a headache and her appetite had gone. It gradually got worse, until one night my sister began to slip in and out of a coma, which happened to be ketoacidosis. After being rushed into hospital they found out it was diabetes. Her blood sugar level was 28, and it can't get much higher, but her ketone levels were the subject of concern. Looking back to the levels above, my sister's ketone levels were up to 4, once again not being able to get much higher. She was placed on a steady drip of insulin throughout the night. After, my parents decided to choose the multiple doses per day routine, as it was the most flexible regime, allowing you to change meal times to suit yourself. I suppose, in a way, that she was lucky to develop diabetes at this time, as it was the final day in her primary school, allowing her the six weeks holidays to adjust to her new lifestyle, she now goes to comprehensive school in a weeks time. Despite it's many flaws, and deserved critics, the NHS diabetic nurse was absolutely superb. Coming to see my sister sometimes up to three times a week, checking how she was, sorting out prescriptions, showing her how to use her blood glucose monitors etc.

Diabetes is a disease that doesn't have a cure, and doctors/specialists can not work out why people get the disease. Some promising work has undergone, such as the growing of healthy pancreases from stem cells, then transplanting them in the body of diabetics, but they are still a far while off.

If you would like to find out more on anything to do with diabetes here are some sites.

www.diabetes.co.uk
http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/diabetes1 .html
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/diabete sinsulindependent.htm

There are also many others, thank you for reading.

Summary: A disease that affects the pancreas' insulin making cells.