Name: M. Tahir Arshad Roll no: 221-435165 Section: A
DIABETES
Introduction
The scientific name or complete name of diabetes is Diabetes Mellitus. Which is a very serious disorder, it
usually occurs when our body cannot regulate the sugar (amount of glucose) present in our blood in a normal
or proper manner. To understand this disease we must first understand the role of glucose in our body, and
what happens when regulation of glucose fails to occur normally in our body and how high or low blood
sugar level can be dangerous.
Human body needs food in the form of glucose to survive (as the food we take converts into glucose inside
our body). Sometimes the glucose is available in our blood but the cells are not able to access that glucose
without the help of a hormone named as insulin. It helps to regulate the available glucose, by providing a
pathway to glucose to enter cells from blood stream. Thus, when we have high amount of glucose in our
blood, insulin helps to utilize it. If its regulation fails then the bodies balanced glucose metabolic system gets
out of control and cause many problems, because cells will not have glucose (which is a needed for energy)
and slowly fails to work properly (Introduction to Diabetes, Mental help, An American addiction center
resource). High blood sugar can cause problems like coma, death, kidney failure, eye disorders and various
disorders of blood vessels, because there is no way to utilize the glucose if insulin is not working correctly,
Thus, it accumulates. Low blood sugar can cause weakness, tiredness, anxiety etc.
History
First time the symptoms of diabetes were mentioned in 1552 B.C., by an Egyptian physician through the
symptom of frequent urination. He also observed that ants are attracted towards the urine of the affected
patient. Because of this feature this word “Mellitus” meaning honey, was added to the word diabetes. The
early treatments of this disease involved exercise and horse riding. Then after sometime scientist came to
know about the insulin which was then used as a treatment for the disorder (Krisha Mccay, (2009), the
history of Diabetes,)
Prevalence
The total number of people suffering from Diabetes has increased from 108 million people in 1980 to 422
million people in 2014. The worldwide prevalence of this disorder in adults has increased from 4.7% in 1980
to 8.5% in 2014. It is the major cause of blindness, heart attack, and kidney failure etc. in 2016, nearly 1.6
million people died because of diabetes. Almost half of the deaths occurred before the age of seventy
[(2018), Diabetes, World Health Organization].
The total number of deaths caused by Diabetes in Pakistan from age 30-69 is 16,390. While the number of
deaths after 70 are 22,360. On the other hand deaths caused by high blood sugar level is 92,500 overall. The
risk of diabetes in males is 10% while in women is 9.7%.
Definition
Diabetes Mellitus is a set or a group of metabolic disorders which is collectively characterized by high level
of sugar present in blood stream of an individual. It is a chronic disease which occurs when body no longer
produce enough insulin or is not able to make good use of the available insulin in body (Definition of
Diabetes, Nature research journal).
Causes
The most commonly known cause of diabetes is when our body do not utilize insulin hormone in a normal
way. There are three main types of Diabetes having different causes, but mainly linked with abnormal
utilization of insulin.
Type 1:- It is a type which can occur at any age, but mostly occurs in children and adults. When you have
this type of diabetes, your body do not produce insulin or if it produces then it will produce in a low amount.
