Diabetes In India


Diabetes is a disease marked by high levels of blood sugar, once identified, it remains throughout the life. India has been acclaimed along with China and the US, due to its alarming growth rate of diabetics by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). India, along with 30 million cases, is following China (39 million cases) while followed by the US with 21 million cases on the dubious roster.
Before going to any further discussion, it is essential to know the reasons behind the great rise in the diabetics in the past few years. 
 

Causes and Incidence

  • The very first cause of Diabetes could be due to resistance to insulin, little insulin (a hormone secreted by the pancreas to control blood sugar), or both.
  • To comprehend diabetes, it is essential to know about the process of food metabolism.
    When food is digested, glucose enters the blood which is also a source of energy for the body. As stated earlier, Insulin is made by the pancreas and its function is to move glucose from the blood to muscle, fat and liver cells, where it can be used as energy provider.
  • Diabetics usually have high blood sugar either because their pancreas don’t create adequate insulin, or their muscle, fat and liver cells don’t react to insulin by and large, or both.

Types of Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes:

Generally it is diagnosed in the childhood, and in this, the body creates little or no insulin at all. To continue life, one is required to take injections of insulin on a daily basis.
 

Type 2 Diabetes:

This is quite common among the patients of diabetes. Mostly occurs in adulthood, in this type of diabetes, the pancreas often fails to make enough insulin to maintain normal blood glucose levels. And sometimes, the body doesn't react well to insulin. Most of the times, people don’t know that they are have got diabetes even in serious conditions. It is getting more common because of escalating obesity and lack of exercising.



 



Gestational Diabetes:

It is actually high blood glucose which increases during a pregnancy in a woman, who does not have diabetes. It can be treated by giving insulin and making changes in the diet.