Diabetes

It rained the whole day today. Feeling quite cold but rather cozy because i get to enjoy hot soup and hot tea. I hope it rains tonight too so i can sleep like a baby kitten (as I always do) :P

Today in the hospital I met a patient who is in her 60 who have been a diabetic and hypertensive for over 25 years. She came because of palpitation (her own awareness of the feeling that the heart is beating fast and hard) and breathlessness.

I won't blog about heart condition today, instead I'll talk about Diabetes. Diabetes is defined as high blood glucose (sugar) level in the blood.

Diabetes affects over 1.5 million people in Malaysia alone. It is one of the most dangerous disease because it creates multiple complications(bad outcome) to those who are suffering from diabetes. There are 2 types of diabetes. The type 1 affect children or younger age people because there is a defect in producing a substance called insulin to take up glucose while type 2 affects the adult due to their bad eating habits.

Some people might say "so what if I have diabetes? It's just high sugar in my blood. It won't harm my health at all."

Diabetes is frightening in spite of just high blood glucose level. Because of this high glucose level in the blood it creates many complications that can affect your entire body from your brain and down to your feet. Due to high glucose level in the blood, your body tissues are more prone to infections. The bacterias love to be around tissues and environment rich with glucose. And once infection sets in it is very difficult to treat unless if the person can control their blood glucose level. That is why some of you might have seen your elderly who have been having diabetes for a long time who had infection of their feet which did not improved and at the end had to go for an operation to amputate(operate and remove) some part of their leg.

Diabetics are also at risk in developing kidney failure. These patients undergo a complication called nephropathy which means that the kidneys are dying. Hence they need a treatment to replace their kidneys either by kidney transplant or hemodialysis. A transplant sounds easy but how many people do you know now who are willing to donate their organs for others? Hemodialysis is a good substitute because it works as an artificial kidney but it is expensive. One cycle of treatment of 3 times a week can cost up to RM300 and these people need to go for hemodialysis for the rest of their lives.

Other complications can be blindness, loss of sensation and hence you wont even feel that your feet are badly cut and that becomes a good source of infection. Uncontrolled diabetics can also develop heart failure, coma and stroke.

So don't give excuses not to care about your blood glucose level. You can get your blood glucose level checked in a clinic or if your diabetic parents have got a device called 'glucometer' like the picture up there you can test your glucose level yourself at home.