How is Diabetes Treated?

How is Diabetes Treated

When you ask the question: How is Diabetes Treated, it is helpful to discover how long the condition has been known to man. It has been an illness for a very long time; it was first thought to be mentioned (not by the name diabetes) around 1,500 BC in early Egyptian times. Despite this man has not discovered a cure for diabetes and can only treat the condition.

So if diabetes can’t be cured what is done to treat the condition to prevent the many serious complications which arise from the condition which range from cardiovascular disease to serious eye problems such as diabetic retinopathy.

How is Diabetes Treated – Close Monitoring and Management Essential

First of all it is absolutely necessary for a diabetic to be closely monitored at regular intervals by a medical team who specialise in the treatment of diabetes. This makes the management of diabetes so much easier. Next in importance is the regular monitoring of blood sugar levels at intervals determined by the medical team. Eating a regular health diet with frequent physical exercise is also very important.

Two things which must be stopped immediately are smoking and eating high fat foods. If these are given up and blood sugar is closely monitored a normal life span should be enjoyed.

Type 2 diabetes sufferers are usually given medications such as glipizide. Glipizide is taken orally and is a second generation anti-diabetic drug from the sulfonylurea class. The drug blocks the potassium channels in the islets of Langerhans. This leads to an increase in calcium and this initiates more insulin to be released from the beta cells. There are other similar acting drugs such glyburide and metformin.

How is Diabetes Treated – Type 1 Diabetes

When answering the question of how is diabetes treated it must be remembered that treating type 1 diabetes is totally different. This condition is always treated by insulin injection. Diabetes mellitus type 1  is a form of diabetes mellitus which causes the destruction of the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas by an autoimmune response of the body. The lack of  insulin  results in an increase of blood and urine glucose. If insulin injection is not administered at the correct intervals, fatality can occur.

There has been a new development for type one diabetes sufferers, this is in experimental stage and involves the transplant of the insulin cells of a healthy person to the sufferer. There is a long wait for this type of organ transplant and it is thought that the transplantation works best if a kidney transplant is undertaken at the same time.

When anyone asks the question: how is diabetes treated apart from using medication and transplantation the following treatments are a good answer:

• Losing weight
• Stopping smoking
• Regular checking of cholesterol levels and blood pressure
• Counting the carbohydrates ingested
• Changing to a healthy low fat diet
• Taking in plenty of water
• Very careful monitoring of blood glucose levels
• Using an insulin pump to provide continuous insulin
• Taking regular sustained exercise

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