Diabetes, according to the doctor’s dictionary is Diabetes Mellitus. And if we continue speaking in the doctors’ language, it is a condition characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from the body’s inability to use blood glucose for energy. Oooof!!

The post does talk about both the types of diabetes, but leaves room for confusion.To make it clearer:

In type 1 diabetes , the pancreas no longer makes insulin and therefore blood glucose cannot enter the cells to be used for energy.

In type 2 diabetes , either the pancreas does not make enough insulin or the body is unable to use insulin correctly.

Now for people who are not doctors and just prospective patients, here’s a simplified version of the above stated facts.

Most of the food we eat is broken into glucose, the body’s main source of fuel and the form of sugar in the blood. This glucose enters the bloodstream after digestion and it needs to be transported to the cells for generating energy. This transportation happens only in the presence of a hormone called insulin which is produced by the pancreas, a large gland behind the stomach.

For healthy living, the pancreas should make enough insulin to facilitate the movement of glucose from the blood to the cells. When the pancreas doesn’t oblige, it results to diabetes where glucose doesn’t reach where it should ( the cells) and it remains where it shouldn’t (the blood). The extra sugar accumulated in the blood gets attached to the proteins in the blood vessels and tends to change their structure and function. This accumulation lessens the elasticity of the blood vessels and makes them hard, making it difficult for blood to pass through. And as a result the cells are starved of energy (hence the complaint of weakness by diabetics) and there is always an increased risk of insufficient blood supply to the heart and the brain. This in turn leads to heart diseases , strokes , vision loss , kidney failure and amputation.

With diabetes, people suffer from insufficient blood supply and weak cells. If it were only for the inadequate blood supply the symptoms are very pronounced and alarming like nausea, chest pain or pressure, breathlessness, pain in the arms or the jaws, sweating or fatigue. However, the same is not the case with diabetes. Here one can have a “silent” heart attack and not know it.

Prevention

A diabetic should always keep a blood sugar, blood pressure and a blood fat goal, and also abide by it.

Blood Sugar: An A1C level of 7% or less. [A1C test shows the amount of glucose that sticks to the red blood cell which also accounts for the amount of glucose in the blood]

Blood Pressure: Below 130/80 millimeters in the mercury.

Blood Fat: HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) or the good cholesterol preferably upto or higher than 60 mg/dL and less than 150 mg/dL.

LDL ( Low Density Lipoprotein ) or the bad cholesterol preferably as low as 70 mg/dL and strictly below 100 mg/dL.

HDL is called the good cholesterol as it is a fat found in the blood that takes extra cholesterol from the blood to the liver for removal. LDL is called the bad cholesterol as it is a fat found in the blood that takes the cholesterol around the body to wherever it is required for cell-repair , however also behaves naughty and deposits it on the inside of the artery walls.

If we understand the nature and the reason of the disease, it becomes easier for us to find a remedy. A self inspection of one’s life style and eating habits is sufficient to chalk out a damage control plan on one’s own.

Herbal remedy for diabetes : Shilajit, gudmar turmeric, neem, amalaki, guggul, and arjuna.Use of bitter Gourd (karela) in food .It contains gurmarin which is similar to bovine insulin and can regulate sugar level in the blood.

Allopathic remedy : Insulin injections and ELEOTIN and probably many more to come.

These are the easy ways out but for sure not the will-cure-for-sure remedy if not coupled with proper exercise and discipline.