Diabetes: A Rampant Lifestyle Disease Affecting 24M in USA - Essay Sample

Introduction

Diabetes is a very rampant lifestyle disease. The disease affects both genders within any group, and as observed by (Doskina, 2010), it affects 24million people in the USA in lifelong terms. The number of people who were diagnosed by the condition in 2007 in the USA is approximately 1.6 million. Diabetes is one of the most rampant diseases that affect people. The disease affects both genders within any age group. The primary cause of the disease is an insulin secretion disorder. Given that human beings have different metabolic systems, and they are generally different based on their needs, the treatment of the disease is tailored to requirements. Different drugs can control the high glucose level in the blood and complication of diabetes, such as loss of limbs, kidney damage, blindness, and sexual dysfunctions alongside proper diet and exercise. Effective control of the disease also minimizes other gross effects such as stroke and heart attacks. There are two types of diabetes mellitus, namely, type 1 (IDDM) and type 2 (NIDM). The objective of this paper is to a multidisciplinary approach to diabetes care.

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Diabetes affects the metabolic system of the body. It impacts how the body utilizes digested food for energy. Breakage of sugar into glucose is one of the metabolic processes. The processed glucose is a form of sugar that is found in the blood, and it acts as the primary source of energy for the body. Diabetes arises when the glucose level in the blood becomes very high. In a regular operation of the body, all the processed glucose is used up by the cells and tissues of the body for energy, growth, and repair. The body cells are covered by a membrane that protects them from the entry of glucose with the help of an insulin hormone. The hormone is produced by the pancreatic gland.

Literature Review of Diabetes Care

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world today. The disease affects everyone, irrespective of their age and gender. There are different types of diabetes, and they are caused by varying body conditions. As observed by Doskina (2010), diabetes mellitus is characterized by a high concentration of glucose in the blood because of impairment in insulin secretion. There is no definite cause of high blood glucose concentration since it can be as a result of defects in secretion of insulin or insulin action in tissues since the two impairments simultaneously occur in a patient. The onset of diabetes mellitus has severe ramifications on the body. According to E. (2013), there are different causes of diabetes mellitus, and they could range from autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic v-cells, which reduces the production of insulin to irregularities that increase insulin resistance. E. (2013) also observed that affected insulin action on targeted tissues is the primary cause of the aberrations in the metabolism of fat, carbohydrate, and protein. Prolonged effects of hyperglycemia n diabetics reduce the functions of various organs by damaging them and eventually failing to function. Diabetes majorly affects the heart, nerves, blood vessels, kidneys, and eyes. A high concentration of glucose in the blood may also result in abnormal growth and susceptibility to certain infections (Kaufman, 2012). There are two types of diabetes mellitus, namely, type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. The primary cause of type 1 diabetes is a massive reduction in the secretion of insulin, while type 2 diabetes is caused by an amalgam of resistance of insulin and incorrect response to secretion of insulin to indemnify the used ones (Retnakaran, 2010).

Type 1 diabetes, which was previously known as insulin-dependent diabetes, is caused by autoimmune destruction of the v-cells pancreas. This type of diabetes is prevalent in children and adolescents, and on its advanced stage, the disease completely inhibits the secretion of insulin (Sargios & Fleckman, 2004). Type 2 diabetes, which was initially known as non-insulin dependent diabetes, is caused by insulin resistance and abnormal response to insulin secretion, and it is less deficient as compared to type 1 diabetes. Most cases of diabetes are of type 2, and the disease is more pronounced in adults, and its prevalence increases with age, lack of physical activity, and obesity. Most patients who have type 2 diabetes are obese, a condition that causes further insulin resistance (Reinehr & Wabitsch, 2005). The number of people suffering from diabetes has been increasing over the years, and as observed by Arbiter et al. (2019), the number of people who were suffering from diabetes across the globe was 371 million and out of this 5.1 million people succumbed to this disease. Arbiter et al. projected that this figure would rise to 592 million after 25 years. These high figures reflected how rampant this disease is in each country across the globe. For instance, the prevalence of diabetes in Mauritius was 14.76% in 2012, and the number remained constant to 2013 (Mohammadi, 2015). However, the number of diabetic cases in Mauritius has reduced since, based on a recent study, the country is no longer among the top ten regions with a high prevalence of diabetes.

During food ingestion, the body signals the brain to produce the right amount of insulin in the bloodstream that would facilitate the entry of glucose into the cells. However, diabetes inhibits the pancreas from creating the right amount of insulin that would facilitate the passage of glucose into human cells. In most circumstances, the pancreas produces a small amount of insulin or, at times, no insulin at all. Coincidentally, the body cells cannot adequately respond to the amount of insulin produced, a phenomenon known as insulin resistance. This signals the beginning of an abnormality since the holes allowing the insulin to enter cells cannot open. At the same time, the pancreas keeps on producing insulin since the cells are deficient in glucose, and the resistance will continue inhibiting the entry of glucose in the cells. Hence, the level of glucose in the bloodstream will increase and become a by-product, and it will be excreted via urine (Ametov, 2015). Although the body has a large amount of sugar in the blood, it can convert it into the desired form that can fuel the cells. At times, the increased levels of insulin in the blood can result in the entry of blood sugar into the cells. However, the pancreas eventually gets exhausted and will no longer be able to fulfill the demand of insulin by the body. This would result in a high amount of glucose in the bloodstream, which will ultimately build up in tissues around organs such as heart, kidney, nerve endings, and eyes. The build-up of sugar around these organs explain the short-term and long-term effects of diabetes.

The manifestation of diabetes is not vivid during the early stages of infection. During the onset of the condition, only a few symptoms appear, and this makes it hard for one to determine if they are suffering from the disease. The effects of the disease are majorly experienced in the kidney, eyes, and cardiovascular system. The signs that one is about to get a diabetic infection are frequent urination, sores, bruises, extreme thirst, slow healing wounds, hunger, lack of sensation in the hands, tingling, gum, bladder, recurrent skin, and vaginal yeast infection (Shanmugam, 2006). Diabetes is a disease that affects everyone, but it is highly prevalent in certain groups of age, ethnicities, or gender. The disease majorly affects men, but its effects take a toll order on women. The condition tends to kill most women as compared to men, and they suffer from poor quality of life. Extreme complications of the disease such as blindness are also prevalent in women. The disease affects women majorly during pregnancy, a condition that is described as gestational diabetes. The disease is also prevalent in certain racial groups such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and American Indians are highly predisposed to diabetes, particularly type 2. Most researchers believe that the ancestors of these ethnic groups had developed a thrifty gene that enabled them to store foods in preparation for drought in regions where food was scarce (E., 2013). When the food insecurity was resolved in America, the genes that were useful for their ancestors were rendered useless for the above groups. Besides ethnicities, individual lifestyles also predispose one to the disease. For instance, people who are overweight and above 45 years of age and who have an unbalanced diet such as high cholesterol and low fiber meals and with sedentary lifestyles are highly likely to be infected with diabetes. Additionally, a family with the history of the disease is expected to suffer from it because of the inherited genes which are very susceptible to it (E., 2013).

Diabetic patients are four times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease as compared to non-diabetic patients (Shanmugam, 2006), and for people suffering from type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease is the primary cause of the death among them, followed by blindness, renal failure, and lower limb amputation. Among the patients who had renal failure in Mauritius, 40% of them succumbed to heart failure, and 30% died from a stroke. Besides the discussed side effects of diabetes, it also acts as a significant impediment to the global development, as observed by Mohammadi (2015). One of the primary causes of diabetes is an insensitivity of insulin, and as noted by NM (2014), it is altered in different ways via modification of insulin signaling pathways. One of the alteration steps is the phosphorylation of the residues of serine of the substrates of insulin receptors. This results in a cessation of signaling of insulin, which causes insulin resistance. The number of people suffering from diabetes effects of diabetes in the USA is portrayed in the graph below.

The effects of diabetes are gross if glycemic management is not carried out properly. The management process requires both patients and medical practitioners to collaborate and be close. Patients who are skilled and empowered manages the situation well and reduces the effects of the disease in the body. This can be achieved through evidence-based nursing, which entails an amalgamation of quality research evidence, clinical expertise, and the values of patients during the decision making process that is tailored to improve the health of the diabetic patients (Istvan, 2018). Diabetes is increasing becoming very prevalent, and this has caused serious alarm to the medical practitioners. The application of education programs via nurse education is very cost-effective in controlling the development of diabetes through behavioral, biomedical, and psychological enhancements. Educational programs are created with the evidence-based curriculum, and they vary in technological applications and means of delivery. The programs which are centered at patients with diabetes, and they consider their social, ethnic, cognitive, literacy, and cultural factors patients (Istvan, 2018).

The management of diabetes was pragmatic, but this has shifted to education and empowering of patients on how to manage the condition to avoid complex complications that it causes. Medical practitioners realized that the disease could be controlled best through a collaborative process in which skills and knowledge are achieved through a change in behavior and self-management. When the education of diabetes is applied in full and different practical settings, an improvement in clinical practice is achieved, and the quality of lives of patients are improved. Kang (2011) carried out a study that was meant to establish the effectiveness of diabetes self-management education (DSME) in impro...