| What is diabetes? | - Disease in which a person is unable to metabolise carbohydrate, especially glucose, properly
- One form of diabetes is diabetes mellitus or 'sugar diabetes' |
| Types of diabetes | - Type I (insulin dependent)
- Type II (insulin independent) |
| Type I (insulin dependent) | - Due to body unable to produce insulin
- Normally begins in childhood
- May be result of autoimmune response where immune system attacks own cells, in this case b cells of islets of Langerhans
- Develops quickly, usually over few weeks, sign normally obvs |
| Type II (insulin independent) | - Normally due to glycoprotein receptors on body cells begin lost or losing their responsiveness to insulin
- Also due to inadequate supply of insulin from pancreas
- Usually develops in people over 40
- But there's an increasing no. of cases of obesity + poor diet in teens
- Develops slowly, symptoms normally less severe, may go unnoticed
- Overweight people more likely to get type II, 90% w/diabetes are type II |
| Control of diabetes | - Although cannot be cured, recent trails in transplanting insulin-producing cells have shown promise
- Diabetes can also be successfully treated |
| Control of type I diabetes | - Injecting insulin, 2 or 4 times a day
- Cannot be taken by mouth, as its protein, would be digested in alimentary canal
- Dose matched to glucose intake
- If take too much insulin, they will experience low blood glucose conc. that can result in unconsciousness
- To ensure correct dose, blood glucose conc. is monitored using biosensors
- By doing injecting insulin, managing carb intake + exercising, they can lead normal lives |
| Control of type II diabetes | - Usually controlled by regulating carb intake + matching this to amount of exercise taken
- In some cases, this may be supplemented by insulin injections or use of drugs that stimulate insulin production- Other drugs can slow down rate at which body absorbs glucose from intestine |
