What it is?
Diabetes is a condition in which the blood glucose, also known as blood sugar, is abnormally high. Your primary source of nutrition is blood glucose, which comes from the food you consume. Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, aids glucose absorption into cells for use as energy. Either your body doesn’t produce enough or any insulin, or it doesn’t use it properly. Glucose remains in your blood and does not enter your cells as a conclusion. Diabetes is a long-term disease in which the body is either unable to produce insulin or is unable to use the insulin it does produce properly. India used to be regarded as the world’s Diabetes capital, but it is now second only to China.
Types of Diabetes
Type 1, Type 2, and gestational diabetes are the most common forms of diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes
Your body does not produce insulin if you have type 1 diabetes. Your immune system attacks and kills the insulin-producing cells in your pancreas. Diabetes type 1 is most often diagnosed in children and young adults, but it can strike anyone at any age. To remain alive, people with type 1 diabetes must take insulin every day.
Symptoms of Type I Diabetes:
Apart from the average ages at which people develop type I and type II diabetes, the symptoms are almost identical in both cases. Symptoms of type I diabetes include:
- Fatigue
- Low Blood Sugar
- Frequent Urination
- Extreme Hunger
- Nausea and Vomiting
- Weight Loss
- Extreme Thirst and Hunger
- Change in the shape of eye lens causing blurry vision
- Sores on the soles of feet
Type 2 diabetes
Your body does not produce or use insulin well if you have type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can strike at any age, including childhood. This form of diabetes, on the other hand, is more common in middle-aged and older people. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type.
- Lack of Exercise or degenerative lifestyle
- Gender: Females are more prone to type II diabetes
- Race and Geography
- Insulin Resistance
- Age and Family History
- Prediabetes: Prediabetes is a condition in which a person’s blood sugar levels are higher than average but not to the point of diabetes. Individuals with prediabetes are at an increased risk of developing diabetes later in life.
Symptoms of Type II Diabetes:
Although we have tried to establish that Type I diabetes develops quickly in children and adolescents and Type II diabetes develops slowly in adults, it should be noted and understood that diabetes is a versatile disease in which adults in their later years can develop type I diabetes, as seen in children, and children can develop type II diabetes. Type II diabetes symptoms are similar to type I diabetes symptoms and include:
- Weight loss without any efforts
- Irritability
- Confusion
- Slower healing for sores and cuts
- Frequent urination
- Extreme thirst and hunger
- Tingling of nerve ends
- Rapid Heartbeat
Gestational diabetes
During pregnancy, some women develop gestational diabetes. This form of diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born. If you’ve had gestational diabetes, though, you’re more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life. It’s possible that diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy is probably type 2.
Other types of diabetes
Monogenic diabetes, which is a hereditary form of diabetes, and cystic fibrosis-related diabetes are two less common types.
Diabetes: Diagnosis
Blood sugar or diabetes is generally diagnosed via three simple tests:
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Fasting Glucose Test:
The fasting glucose test is performed before a person eats anything in the morning. The fasting glucose test is used to check a patient’s blood sugar levels after they haven’t eaten for 10-12 hours.
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Oral Glucose Tolerance Test:
The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) involves asking a person to drink a large amount of glucose in 30-60 minutes, followed by daily blood tests for up to 2-3 hours to determine the patient’s blood sugar absorption levels.
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A1c Test:
The A1c Test is a time-consuming test, but it is also the most accurate for predicting blood glucose levels and diagnosing diabetes. The A1c test measures the average of three months’ worth of blood sugar readings.
Treatment of Diabetes:
It should be known right away that, according to allopathy, diabetes has no cure once diagnosed; however, steps can be taken to monitor symptoms and slow the progression of the disease, and if a person is diagnosed with prediabetes, steps can be taken to prevent diabetes from developing. However, only type II diabetes can be avoided with early detection; type I diabetes cannot be prevented or cured; only the symptoms can be treated.
Type I diabetes is usually treated and managed by injecting a steady supply of insulin into the body. As a result, even though type I diabetes develops at a young age, it can be managed, monitored, and incorporated into a person’s daily routine from a young age.
Type II diabetes progresses over time, and a person must change his or her overall lifestyle in addition to taking insulin orally or through a syringe. To avoid the development of other complications, a patient with type 2 diabetes must lose weight and change his or her diet to include more blood sugar-balancing foods.
Development of Health Problems Associated with Diabetes
Over time, high blood glucose leads to problems such as
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Kidney disease
- Eye problems
- Dental disease
- Nerve damage
- Foot problems
Ayurvedic Approach
Ayurveda focuses on an individual’s general well-being, and therefore on the root cause of a disease. Ayurvedic physicians divide the human anatomy into doshas, dhatus, malas, and other body parts based on the attributes each body part exhibits, and conclude that a healthy body is a perfect balance between the doshas, dhatus, malas, and other body parts. Ayurvedic physicians have divided diabetes into over 20 types, with krisha meha (diabetes in lean people) and sthula meha (diabetes in obese people) described in the same way as type I and type II diabetes. Other forms of diabetes have been classified based on the cause of the disease and the symptoms that accompany it. Apart from some home remedies, there are some ayurvedic herbs and medicines that help the body control insulin and blood sugar levels while also focusing on pancreas rejuvenation.
Our Take
Dr. Soumya Hullannavar, our lead expert in diabetes treatment says, “The key is to maintain a natural method of controlling blood sugar levels, which can be accomplished by the use of Ayurvedic medicines. Ayurveda emphasises different diet and lifestyle changes as a long-term treatment for diabetes that can help a diabetic patient live a far healthier life.”
Get in touch with the extensively trained team at Elite Ayurveda to step out of the world of diabetes into a happier and healthier life.
