Types of Diabetes – What it is, Causes and How to Treat it

Types of Diabetes- What it is, Causes and How to Treat it,  in addition, adults and children can suffer from diabetes which, if left untreated, can lead to serious consequences and even death. To protect yourself, know the types and how to treat them. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are about 422 million diabetics in the world. In Brazil, 16 million suffer from the disease, which is silent. The first step to winning this battle is knowing the types of diabetes and how to treat them. Thus, your health is protected.

Type 1 Diabetes:  This type of diabetes is characterized by the pancreas not producing insulin – the hormone responsible for converting sugar into energy for the body. It is considered an autoimmune disease, that is, the body itself destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. It is usually detected in children and adolescents, requiring daily doses of insulin. Patients need to take several doses of the hormone a day to maintain their blood glucose levels. Type 1 diabetes can be related to heredity and also to the individual’s own body, as some people develop the disease and others do not.

Type 2 diabetes:  According to the National Assistance Association, it is eight to 10 times more common than type 1, affecting 10% more common than type 1, affecting 10% of the population between 30 and 69 years old. About 46% of people with this type of diabetes are unaware that they have the disease. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas produces insulin, but it cannot metabolize the glucose present in the bloodstream. This anomaly is called insulin resistance. Type 2 consists of a reduction in the effect of insulin, mainly caused by obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.

Gestational Diabetes:  As the name implies, this type of diabetes occurs during pregnancy, in women who were not considered diabetic. This happens because the woman produces an insufficient amount of insulin for her and her baby. This situation should end with the pregnancy, however, during the nine months, I need to be careful, because pregnancy is considered risky. The pregnant woman, when she has diabetes , will have her prenatal care considered at risk.

And gestational diabetes can lead from premature birth to malformation of the fetus. It is also common for the baby to be born overweight. Future mothers should also pay attention to blood glucose after pregnancy, as gestational diabetes increases a woman’s risk of developing the disease within 10 years after delivery.

LADA:  The acronym stands for Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of the Adult. LADA is also an autoimmune disorder, similar to type 1 diabetes , but it usually affects adults over 35 years of age. Their discovery came from the researchers’ observation that some adults developed diabetes in a different form than type 2. They were generally thin, did not have the components of metabolic syndrome and did not have diabetes in the family.

In this type of diabetes , the process of destruction of insulin-producing cells happens more slowly than in type 1 diabetes . At the time of diagnosis, patients with LADA are still able to produce insulin, and treatment with oral hypoglycemic agents – drugs that stimulate insulin-producing cells – is often possible for six months or even several years.

MODY:  The acronym stands for Maurity-Onset Diabetes of the Young. In MODY, genetic defects in the function of insulin-producing beta cells occur. The most common initial clinical presentation is mild, symptomless, insulin-free hyperglycemia in non-obese children, adolescents, and young adults with a prominent history of familial diabetes (three or more successive generations affected).” There are six types of MODY. MODY 2 usually has no complications and does not require the use of insulin for treatment, but the other types will likely use hormone replacement.

Optimal Glucose Levels:  In the fasting blood glucose test, the result is given in milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood. According to the National Association for Diabetic Assistance (ANAD) the values ​​below indicate the presence of the disease or not.

Up to 99mg/dl:  Normal

From 100 to 126mg/dl: altered fasting glucose

Above 126 mg/dl: diabetes, requiring further tests to confirm the suspicion.

Diagnosis:  For diabetes to be detected, some tests must be done:

Fasting blood glucose:  It is the first test performed to check if a person has diabetes. Through the blood test, with at least eight hours of fasting, the values ​​should be between 70 and 99mg/dl of blood.

Postprandial Glycemia: Blood glucose is measured up to two hours after the main meals (breakfast, lunch or dinner). Values ​​considered normal should not exceed 126mg/dl.

Glycemic Curve : According to the ANAD, the oral glucose tolerance test is excellent for diagnosing diabetes. For this purpose, 75g of glucose is given orally (or 1.75g/kg of body weight in children) when the person is fasting. Blood glucose is measured two hours after this process. Both a blood glucose value between 100 and 125mg/dl, found in fasting condition, and levels between 140 and 200mg/dl evidence glucose intolerance (pre-diabetes). A blood glucose greater than or equal to 200mg/dl confirms the diagnosis of diabetes.

Treatment:  A cure for diabetes has not yet been found, but there are treatments for diabetics to have an excellent quality of life. Treatment will depend on the type of diabetes diagnosed, and may be based only on food control, the use of oral hypoglycemic agents (drugs that lower blood glucose) or even insulin. The important thing for any treatment to control blood glucose is to eat a balanced diet, include physical exercise in the routine and follow the recommendations of the endocrinologist and other specialists, when necessary.

Main Suspects of Diabetes:  The disease is manifested by the appearance of several isolated symptoms or at the same time:

• intense thirst
• tiredness, discouragement
• Obesity
• Urine often and in large amounts
• Obesity
• high blood pressure
• intense hunger
• family members with diabetes
• worst of vision
• sexual impotence
• Difficult healing and skin infections.