One of the most common health problems among Filipinos is what we called Diabetes Mellitus. It is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has elevated blood sugar. This elevation of blood sugar happens because the cells don’t respond to the insulin that is being produced, or the body doesn’t produce enough insulin. Having elevated blood sugar produces three common symptoms and that is the 3P’s: polydipsia (increased thirst),polyphagia (increased hunger) and polyuria (frequent urination).
Here are the three main types of diabetes.
- Type 1 Diabetes: is also called as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, IDDM for short, or juvenile diabetes. It is results from the body’s failure to produce insulin, and presently requires the person to have insulin.
- Type 2 Diabetes: is also referred to as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, NIDDM for short, and adult-onset diabetes. It is results from an insulin resistant or a condition in which cells fail to use properly the insulin, and sometimes it is combined with an absolute insulin deficiency.
- Gestational Diabetes: is common to pregnant women. They never had diabetes before, but during pregnancy they have a high blood glucose level and it may leads to the development of type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
The causes of diabetes are not completely understood but there seem to be both genetic and environmental factors involved in the development of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. So, it means that a person may have a genetic predisposition to developing diabetes, but it takes an environmental factor such as a viral infection or excessive weight gain to actually make the disease surface. Those who are overweight or obese, have family history of Diabetes, lived in a sedentary lifestyle, and have blood pressure of 140/90mmHg or above are high risk for having Type 2 Diabetes.
Type II Diabetes is a sugar disease and this can be controlled or even we can prevent from having it. Managing your insulin (controlling sugar sources), eating small portions instead of “filling up” at meals and keeping your body fat percentage down (obesity is a high risk factor) by having regular exercise and balanced diet.
Let us always remember that “ Health is Wealth”.
