Do you know how to recognize the symptoms of diabetes? Diabetes mellitus is a serious disease thought to be caused by auto-immune damage to the pancreas. The symptoms of diabetes occur when the body does not produce enough insulin or has a problem gaining access to it.
What Causes Diabetes Mellitus?
Some schools of though believe the culprit to be a virus that alters pancreatic tissue in such a way that the immune system sees it as ‘alien’. Insulin is a protein that is essential if the body is to adequately process large molecules like fats, proteins and glycogen from smaller molecules like glucose and amino acids. Insulin is also vital for the utilization of glucose in the body’s muscle cells.
If there is too little insulin in the body, the muscle protein in the body cannot be maintained and muscle wasting occurs. Body fats cannot be formed from glucose and the sugar accumulates in the blood forcing the kidneys to work extra hard at eradicating it. To do this large volumes of water are needed and the person becomes very thirsty and produces a large quantity of urine.
There are two types of Diabetes Mellitus namely:
Type 1 or Insulin-Dependency Diabetes
This type of diabetes affects 1 percent of the population. In Insulin-Dependency diabetes, the pancreas can produce little or no insulin. Type 1 diabetes requires life-long treatment and the levels of insulin in the blood must be checked constantly. Insulin is given by injection and is the only treatment for Type 1 diabetes.
The symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes include:
* Weight loss
* Excessive thirst
* Muscle wasting
* Frequent urination
* Laboratory tests reveal large amounts of sugar in the urine
