Diabetes mellitus 

When learning biology and human biology “homeostasis” is a topic one comes across very often. Your tutors in Sydney would tell you that homeostasis is the maintenance of a nearly constant internal environment so that the cells can function at their optimum level and our bodies can function normally. But some times due to various reasons like too little or too much hormone secretion, diseases and behavioural causes, homeostasis is disrupted.  Diabetes is one example.

Diabetes or diabetes mellitus is a good example of serious disruption to homeostasis due to a hormonal imbalance. A person with diabetes has an abnormally high blood glucose level. This condition is called hyperglycaemia . Usually a balance between the hormones insulin and glucagon keep the blood glucose at the correct level for normal body functioning. A diabetic either does not produce enough insulin or his or her cells have an abnormal resistance to the effects of insulin.

The hormone insulin stimulates cells to take blood glucose and it stimulates the conversion of glucose into glycogen by liver and muscle cells. If our bodies produce insufficient insulin, or if the cells are resistant to the effects of insulin, the amount of glucose in the blood remains high and large quantities of glucose is excreted in the urine. I’m sure your tutors in Sydney have taught you that there are two forms of diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is sometimes called the insulin dependent diabetes. This type usually begins in childhood. In Australia 10 to 15% of diabetes patients suffer from type 1. It occurs because of a fault in the patient’s immune system causes the destruction of beta cells in the islets of Langerhans of the pancreas which produce insulin. Although the patient doesn’t produce insulin, body cells respond to insulin in the normal way, so the disease can be managed by giving the patient insulin. Since insulin is digested in the alimentary canal regular injections of insulin or use of a programmable pump that provides a continuous supply of insulin under the skin is used as a treatment method.

Type 2 diabetes also known as non-insulin dependent or adult onset diabetes, usually develops in people over the age of about 45 years, although increasing numbers of younger people are now being diagnosed. People with type 2 diabetes are able to produce insulin but their cells do not respond to it. This is a lifestyle disease. People who are not physically active and are overweight or obese are more at risk of developing it. And the number of people having type 2 is rapidly increasing in Australia, and other affluent countries due to the reason of not adopting a healthy lifestyle. Some factors that increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes are, lack of physical activity or being overweight, regularly having a diet that is high in fat, sugar and salt and low in fibre, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels and smoking.

There are so many Australians developing Type 2 diabetes that it has become a health crisis. There is no cure for type 2 diabetes. So diagnosing it as early as possible gives a better chance to successfully manage the condition. If it remains undiagnosed or untreated, a diabetic could develop heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, eye problems, and nerve damage and skin and foot problems. Management of the disease includes a careful diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, monitoring blood glucose and sometimes medication if blood glucose cannot be controlled by other measures. But the most important thing as your tutors in Sydney must have informed you is that type 2 diabetes is preventable if we adopt a healthy lifestyle.