What is Diabetes - Diagnosis, and Treatment

Diabetes is a serious condition that occurs when your body cannot produce enough of the hormone insulin.

The main symptom of diabetes is feeling very thirsty, urinating more often than normal, and becoming lost in thought. Your skin may become drier, you may feel very tired, and you may lose weight.

People with diabetes usually need to test their blood sugar level at least four times a day. They usually check their blood sugar level at least two times a day during the day and once at night.

In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin, a hormone that helps the body regulate blood sugar levels.

The pancreas usually stops producing insulin between the ages of 30 and 50. Insulin helps sugar move through the body and into the cells.

People with type 2 diabetes can often help themselves to Control Blood Sugar levels by adopting some healthy habits. These include:

diet - this should consist of 70% of calories from carbohydrates, 15% from protein, and 15% from fat

exercise - 20-30 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise three times a week is recommended

medication - a health professional can prescribe medication to help lower blood sugar levels

Type 1 diabetes - diagnosis and treatment

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition. It means the body's immune system attacks and destroys cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.

Symptoms

Type 1 diabetes can cause low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, if blood sugar levels are too low

Hypoglycemia occurs in diabetes type 1 because blood sugar can get too low and cause the body to become weak and confuse things

To manage their blood sugar levels, people with type 1 diabetes use insulin and eat a diet with low carbohydrates. People with type 1 diabetes should still eat a balanced diet, but their diet should contain low amounts of carbohydrates.

Signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia include:

• feeling very confused or dizzy
• drowsiness or tiredness
• nausea
• fever
• being sick, feeling or looking under the weather
• loss of energy
• low blood pressure
• swelling of the extremities
• Blurred vision

Severe hypoglycemia can cause sudden loss of consciousness, seizures, or even death.

If a person with diabetes experiences symptoms of severe hypoglycemia, they should tell a doctor. They may need to be treated with an injection of glucose or an injection of insulin to restore blood sugar levels to normal.

It is not yet known what causes type 1 diabetes, but studies have shown that a combination of genes and environmental factors may play a role.

How is type 1 diabetes diagnosed?

Diagnosing type 1 diabetes is not straightforward, as symptoms can be difficult to spot, or easily confused with other medical conditions.

An accurate diagnosis will depend on two key factors: a person's medical history and their symptoms.

For example, if a person feels nauseous and their breath smells bad, this may be a sign of severe hypoglycemia. People with diabetes will usually respond to this sign by giving them glucose.

However, if this sign occurs with no other warning signs and the person feels generally well, it could be a sign of other, less serious, conditions.

A doctor may initially diagnose type 1 diabetes based on a blood test and blood glucose levels. If a person's blood sugar levels are consistently low and their blood sugar levels are higher than normal, they may need to take insulin.

The blood test for type 1 diabetes tests for the immune system's immune cells, which are a key feature of the condition.

Diagnosing type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is caused by a person's body not producing enough insulin or the body's cells not reacting to insulin properly.

The main way to diagnose Type 2 Diabetes is by checking blood sugar levels. A blood sample is taken by a doctor to measure sugar levels in the blood.

The levels must be at least 130 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or higher to diagnose diabetes. This is a measure of the sugar in the blood.

To check for type 2 diabetes, doctors will usually also order other blood tests, including cholesterol and cholesterol levels, as well as a urine test. The doctor will check for high or low levels of the following substances:

• glucose
• albumin
• creatinine

The lab tests may give a doctor an idea of what the current glucose levels are.

A doctor may order additional tests in a person with diabetes, such as measurements of the blood sugar levels over a longer period.