Diabetes Mellitus :: essays research papers fc

Diabetes mellitus has a long historical record dating foul to second century AD. The word "diabetes" was first used by the Greek physician Aretaeus. The word diabetes means "siphon". It was first used to describe forbearings with high-spirited thirst and urination. In the 17th century, the word mellitus, meaning "like honey", was added when diabetes patients urine was noticed to be sweet. However, the disease is not directly related to urine, besides instead to the pancreas. Today many other symptons and complications of the disease are known. Although, the disease has many complications there are also simple treatments to follow to avoid in force(p) problems. Diabetes is a familiar health problem that affects millions of people world wide.Diabetes results from the stroke of the pancreas to produce a sufficient amount of insulin. Insulin is the hormone that regulates the bodys use of glucose. Therefore, the excess gluce carcass in the bloodstream and p asses out the body in urine. In some cases, the pancreas produces a sufficient amount of insulin, but the insulin is blocked from the bodys cells and cannot be used. This causes diabetes patients to have abnormally high amounts of sugar in their blood and urine. Diagnosing a patient with diabetes is more complicated than measuring the glucose level of urine only one time. preferably the diagnosis involves several hours of glucose-tolerance tests. These tests measure the rate in which sugar is removed from the bloodstream. After the test are complete, a high glucose level indicates insufficient insulin and the patient is diagnosed with diabetes.There are several symptoms and complications involved with diabetes mellitus. The symptoms are excessive thirst and urination, unusual hunger, a lot of weight loss, and fatigue. The complications are heart attack and stroke, degenerative kidney disease, lower-extremity amputations, blindness, and death. Arteriosclerosis is a condition caused by prolonged high levels of blood sugar that causes the walls of small blood vessels to thicken. This condition results in heart disease and stroke. Kidney failure may be caused by inadequate blood circulation. Poor circulation in the legs leads to gangrene which may require amputation of the toes or the legs. New cases of blindness in adults betwixt the ages of 20 and 74 are caused by diabetic retinopathy. This condition causes hemorrhages in the capillaries of the eyes retina resulting in a loss of vision. Pain or a loss of ruling in the arms or the legs is caused by neurophathy which damages the nerves.