Diabetics experience a wide range of symptoms, including chronic thirst and hunger, passing increased volumes of urine, weight loss, general fatigue and blurred vision.
Although doctors can use a wide range of drugs to treat this condition, type 2 diabetes can also be effectively managed by changes in lifestyle, including dietary modifications and increasing daily exercise.
In a healthy person, the pancreas produces a hormone called insulin that removes excess sugar from the blood and stores it in cells to be used later as a source of energy. However, in diabetics, the body is either unable to produce enough insulin or cannot put the insulin it does make to effective use.
The result is excess blood sugar that can do tremendous damage to bodily tissues, including the eyes, kidneys and other organs. Diabetics can even suffer from ulcers of the feet or lose legs, arms, fingers or toes as a result of amputation. Nerve damage, such as the type that can cause sciatica, is another possible result of excess blood sugar.
High blood sugar levels can also increase the risk of other types of metabolic illness such as heart disease. By causing hardening of the arteries, diabetes can lead indirectly to high blood pressure. Together with high blood pressure and obesity, diabetes can produce a life threatening health condition known as metabolic syndrome. This, in turn, increases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.
Other possible complications of persistently high blood sugar are neuropathy, retinopathy, blindness, kidney disease, deafness, dermatological problems like skin infections, depression and even dementia.
There are 2 primary forms of diabetes – type 1 and type 2.
This is an auto immune form of the disease. It causes the immune system to attack and destroy the cells of the pancreas, the organ responsible for producing insulin. This impairs the function of the pancreas and causes it to produce insufficient insulin, which then results in excess blood sugar.
Approximately 8 – 10% of patients with diabetes have this form of the disease.
In people with type 2 diabetes, the pancreas produces sufficient amounts of insulin, but the body becomes resistant to the hormone and cannot use it to break down blood sugar as it needs to. This then causes sugar to build up in the blood, with the adverse consequences noted above.
Other, less commonly encountered forms of the disease are prediabetes and gestational diabetes.
Prediabetes is a condition characterized by unusually high blood glucose levels but not levels high enough to produce the type 1 or 2 forms of the disease.
Gestational diabetes is a temporary form of the disease that appears in some women during pregnancy. It is caused by the presence of insulin blocking hormones produced by the placenta (an organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy). The condition usually resolves after the pregnancy. However, women who have had gestational diabetes have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future.
The risk factors that can increase the chances of developing the condition are as follows:
For the type 1 form of the disease, the main risk factors are:
Risk factors for type 1 diabetes are not as clear as for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
An individual is more likely to develop the type 2 form of the condition if:
Gestational diabetes has its own set of risk factors as well. These include:
Symptoms
Although some of the symptoms experienced by diabetics are common to all forms of the disease, there are others that are specific to the type 1 or 2 forms of the condition.
The symptoms that are common to all forms of diabetes include:
There are also symptoms specific to both men and women:
Finally, there are some symptoms that are specific to the type 1 and 2 variations of diabetes:
Gestational diabetics tend not to show any overt symptoms. Instead, this condition is usually detected by blood sugar or glucose tolerance tests carried out during pregnancy.
Diabetes is generally diagnosed by directly measuring blood sugar levels:
A1C levels have not been shown to be reliable for diagnosing diabetes in children.
Diabetes can generally be treated by either medication or lifestyle changes (as well as both)
For this version of the condition, insulin is the main treatment (since these patients are not able to produce enough insulin in the first place).
The insulin can be any of four types:
Type 2 diabetes is felt by many doctors to be better treated by lifestyle changes, and so this is the option that will be tried first.
However, if lifestyle changes do not produce sufficiently rapid improvements, doctors can prescribe a variety of drugs to directly lower blood sugar. A couple of examples of these are Biguanides (which reduce the amount of glucose manufactured by the liver) and SGLT2 inhibitors (which cause the body to excrete more glucose in the urine). Other anti-diabetic drugs
However, there are many more drugs besides these two examples. These include sulfonylureas, pioglitazones and DPP-4 inhibitors (gliptins). The medicines have different mechanisms of action. A doctor can take the patient through the entire range of options and then make a recommendation.
In many countries, a biguanide like metformin is the first line drug and patients are usually started on this first if adequate control of the diabetes is not achieved through lifestyle changes alone.
Dietary changes to control type 1 diabetes generally focus on restricting the amount of carbohydrates consumed, as these are turned into sugar as part of the body’s metabolic process. If less carbohydrate is consumed and turned into sugar, there will be less need for insulin to remove the excess glucose from the blood.
Type 2 diabetics can also gain better control over blood sugar levels by eating less carbohydrates. In general, a healthy and more balanced diet that includes fresh fruit and vegetables and whole grains can help.
Most importantly, those with type 2 diabetes can try to increase their intake of lean protein and healthy fats as an alternative to carbohydrate consumption.
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The Darco All Purpose Boot embodies nearly perfect four season postoperative protection with a closed-toe design that keeps dressings and toes warm and dry. This boot is designed to provide unparalleled versatility by accommodating both bulky dressings and most fiberglass casts.
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The Darco Body Armor® Cast Shoe is a study in form and function. It is specifically engineered to shield the cast from moisture, shock and everyday wear. The shoe can be used with all casting materials and bulky bandages while sporting a fresh, modern design.
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InfraCare’s Cold feet Socks warm the feet while keeping perspiration away. Useful for treatment of conditions like Raynauds and Chilblains. Patients with diabetic neuropathy will not have to worry about harm to their feet from extreme cold. Also useful as a form of winter wear for healthy individuals.
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InfraCare Cold Hands Gloves warm up the hands without causing sweat build up.
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Synergy diabetic shoes will help to improve blood circulation through the feet and thus help patients manage diabetes symptoms.
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Synergy Diabetic Socks are non elasticized to avoid excessive lower leg compression. They will minimize interference with blood circulation to reduce the risk of diabetic ulcers and related problems. Available in both ankle and crew styles and in black and white colours.
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The Darco HeelWedge™ is proven to off-load pressure from the heel by shifting weight to the mid and forefoot to speed the healing process after surgery or trauma or if you have heel wounds or ulcerations.
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The Darco MedSurg™ shoe is the most versatile postoperative shoe on the market today. EVA insole features twice the padding of standard insoles and can be modified as needed.
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The Darco MedSurg DUO™ features dual EVA densities that provide up to 40% more plantar pressure reduction than the average post operative footwear for greater patient comfort and faster healing.
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The Darco OrthoWedge™ is clinically proven to reduce weight bearing pressure on the forefoot which promotes faster healing from forefoot wounds or diabetic ulcerations. The removable EVA insole features twice the padding of standard insoles and can be modified as needed. For customizable off-loading, insole can be totally removed to accommodate DARCO’s innovative PQ PegAssist™ in-sole.
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The PQ Series Darco PegAssist™ insole is built around a multi-purpose removable peg insole designed to fit the HeelWedge™, OrthoWedge® and APB™. Removable pegs allow for localized pressure relief and the stabilizer board prevents the pegs from collapsing.
The PTQ Series Darco PegAssistinsole is designed to fit the Square-Toe MedSurg™ Shoe. It creates a cost-effective option for wound care that significantly reduces pressure postoperatively.
The PW version of the Darco PegAssist is intended for use with most walking boots on the market to allow the boot to become an offloading walker.
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The Darco WCS™ Wound Care Shoe System features four multi density insoles that are modified to remove pressure from the plantar region of the foot. Sold in pairs.
