Diabetes – Overview

Diabetes is becoming a leading health concern across the globe. It will not be an overstatement if we say that we all know at least one person who has succumbed to diabetes. A further cause for concern is the dramatic rise of diabetes among children and adolescents.

There are more than 194 million people (adult population) living with diabetes, worldwide.

The prevalence of diabetes in India, now dubbed as the ‘diabetes capital of the world’, is around 61 million — this number is expected to reach 100 million by the year 2030.

There are 3.9 million people living with diabetes in the UK. That’s more than one in 16 people in the UK with diabetes (diagnosed or undiagnosed). This figure has more than doubled since 1996, when there were 1.4 million. By 2025, it is estimated that five million people will have diabetes in the UK alone.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) or diabetes, as all of us know, is a disorder in which the body (particularly the islet cells in the pancreas) fails to secrete adequate insulin. It can also be attributed to the body’s decreased ability to utilise insulin.

In a healthy individual, food is digested to release glucose into the blood. This causes the pancreas to release insulin (a hormone) into the bloodstream. Insulin helps in the transportation of glucose from the blood into the cells so that it may be converted into energy. When the pancreas fails to produce adequate amounts of insulin, or if there is insulin resistance, glucose remains within the blood and the body cannot convert it into energy. This is what leads to the condition of diabetes.

Diabetes – Symptoms

The symptoms are quickly relieved once diabetes is treated, which also reduce the chances of developing serious health problems. However, there are certain symptoms that can be commonly seen, such as: