DIABETES: WHAT IS IT?
Diabetes is a condition in which the pancreas gland fails to produce sufficient insulin and in which the insulin that is produced does not have its normal effects. Because of the poor insulin supply, too much sugar remains in the bloodstream and spills over into the urine.
There are about 3.5 million diabetics in the US alone, and it is estimated that there are half as many again undiagnosed. Diabetes is a family of conditions but there are two main types. Type 1 (formerly called juvenile diabetes) can occur at any age but is more frequently seen first in children and young people. Such diabetics need insulin for the rest of their lives. Type 2 diabetes is a disease of obese middle-aged people (usually women)-it only rarely occurs in children. In this latter condition there is probably a normal amount of insulin being produced but there is not enough to go round such a large, overweight body and an apparent shortage occurs and produces symptoms.
Both types of the disease are seen mainly in westernized countries and are rare among peasant agriculturists and other traditional-living people. Recent theories suggest that this difference is all to do with the food the different cultures eat. By and large it appears that a diet low in fat, low in sucrose, high in unrefined starches and high in fibre protects against the disease.
Diabetes is worth preventing because it produces a considerable number of illnesses and if untreated can be fatal. Before the discovery of insulin, all sufferers who would now be called insulin-dependent diabetics died. Now such early deaths are rare, though many diabetics die younger than they should because of their complications.
The earliest symptoms of diabetes are considerable thirst, excessive urination, feeling hungry, and-in spite of the latter-weight loss. There is a generalized weakness, a tendency to get infections (especially vaginal thrush in women), boils, blurred vision, numbness, dry mouth, tingling and cramp in the legs and, later on, impotence.
The diagnosis is easily made today and treatment means that most diabetics live nearly as long as anyone else.
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