Paper Sample: Prevention and Control of Diabetes Type 2

Introduction

Diabetes refers to a lifelong health condition with symptoms of high blood sugar with consequences of insufficient or lack of insulin production, insulin resistance (inaction), or both occurring concurrently. The human body requires blood glucose to generate energy (Zimmet, 2017). Insulin represents a chemical developed by the pancreas that ensures the body uses glucose to create body energy. Insulin ensures that the body cells allow glucose to get in and trigger the production of energy. When the body cells deny the entry of glucose, the glucose deluges the blood system, a condition called high blood sugar or hyperglycemia (Zimmet, 2017). The long-term complications of diabetes involve nephropathy, retinopathy, and neuropathy.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

There exist three types of diabetes, namely diabetes type 1, 2, and 3. Diabetes type 2 begins when the body refuses to produce adequate insulin or when the insulin generated does not function, a condition called insulin resistance. Diabetes type 2 usually develops in people over the age of 40; however, recently, it has started appearing in young people (Scott et al., 2016). The disease can have preventive and control measures through a healthy diet, enhanced physical exercise, and a treatment plan of oral drugs, and in the future, the implementation of insulin program to regulate the condition (Dempsey et al., 2016). The purpose of this paper involves an examination of prevention and control measures for diabetes type 2.

Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes

Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes include excessive thirst, frequent urination, extreme hunger, increased fatigue, unplanned weight loss, and irritability. Also, women experience itching in their private, people experience blurred vision, slow healing of wounds and cuts, and men generally experience a failure to sustain an erection or undergo impotence (O’Reilly et al., 2016).

Moreover, individuals with diabetes show numbness, pins, and needles of the hands and feet, and a burning sensation. Other signs of diabetes type 2 involve signs of acute metabolic decline and medical signs of chronic problems. Medics advise that a person can have diabetes without showing the signs and symptoms listed above (Moodie et al., 2016). Thus, it must undergo constant testing of blood sugar.

Risk Factors of Diabetes

There exist two categories of risk factors in the control and management of diabetes. The first category consists of risks that cannot adapt, such as the family history of diabetes and advancing age (Scott et al., 2016). The second type involves modifiable risks like drug and alcohol abuse, overweight and obesity, a stressful lifestyle, tobacco usage, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet. Risk factors resulting in the massive burden of type 2 diabetes in the Aboriginal population includes high use of tobacco, physical inactivity, overweight, alcohol use, and high blood cholesterol (Crowshoe et al., 2018). The burden of hyperglycemia in expectant women has increased considerably in Australia over the past decades and continues to influence birthweight developments.

Diagnosis

Type 2 diabetes, which remains the most common type of diabetes, has varying levels of beta-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance. People who have type 2 diabetes remain overweight and obese (Huo et al., 2016). Most people experiencing signs and symptoms of diabetes can get diagnosed by making an individual fast by not eating overnight or not consuming any food for at least eight hours indicating a blood sugar level of over seven mmol/L or a random blood sugar of approximately 11.1 mmol/L also confirms diabetes (Zimmet, 2017). The blood sugar levels must get confirmed from a reputable hospital. Venous plasma glucose remains the internationally recognized standard for estimating and reporting diabetes.

Management of Diabetes

Diabetes type 2 exists as a progressive disease, with insulin exudation reducing gradually. The objective of managing diabetes involves enhancing the quality of well-being and efficiency of people who have diabetes. The blood glucose management plan helps patients with developing or newly diagnosed diabetes type 2. There exist two strategies for managing diabetes that incorporate the creation of awareness (Aguiar et al., 2016). The first method involves a treatment plan that does not entail the usage of drugs. The non-drug approach encompasses the deployment of suitable diet usage and the execution of physical activity (Dempsey et al., 2016). The second medical tactic involves using drugs, such as the implementation of a treatment plan that entails the use of diabetes tablets, such as metformin or sulfonylurea, to reduce blood sugar levels and the employment of insulin treatment.

Society and those living with diabetes require awareness and better information to handle the disease. The community must have information that diabetes represents a severe lifelong illness without a cure (Aguiar et al., 2016). However, the disease has controllable measures. The aspects of management consist of diabetes education that comprises knowing a healthy diet, such as the type of food to consume, the quantity, and the frequency of food to eat (Moodie et al., 2016). It remains an essential knowledge that persons living with diabetes and the populace must understand. People across the globe must also know the significance and deterrents of exercise, how, and when to take diabetes prescriptions.

Besides, people must identify and be encouraged to pursue persistent medical screening, which remains a vital aspect of early recognition of the illness. People who have diabetes require knowledge to recognize diabetes-associated emergencies resulting from low or high blood sugar levels and the time to look for medical assistance. Expectant women must regularly check their blood sugar and understand that diabetes problems remain a preventable disease (O’Reilly et al., 2016). It remains an essential task to prevent lasting difficulties of diabetes through enhanced blood sugar control measures. Society must also obtain information on how to look after their feet to prevent harm and therefore manage ulcers and amputations.

A healthy diet and regular physical exercise remain essential in the management of newly diagnosed individuals with diabetes. Healthy eating and physical activity must remain sustainable since it ensures optimum body weight (Dempsey et al., 2016). People must minimize the consumption of animal fat, refined foods, and salt. Besides, the consumption of domestic foods with a high quantity of fiber, fruits, and vegetables can help manage diabetes. Society must know that tobacco and alcohol use encourage diabetes; hence people must avoid their overuse (Huo et al., 2016). Doctors also encourage the intake of at least eight glasses of water daily to maintain normal body operations.

Health professionals encourage constant physical activity to assist in enhancing insulin sensitivity, thereby augmenting blood sugar management, sustaining blood pressure, and supporting blood flow in blood vessels. Also, physical exercise encourages weight loss and care of vigorous body weight and ensures a sense of wellness (Dempsey et al., 2016). Professional personnel recommends regular physical activity that entails three days per week of exercise, taking a minimum of twenty minutes per session, and adequate intensity. People can carry out the following activities to enhance physical fitness, which helps manage diabetes; walking, gardening, climbing stairs, cycling, housework, jogging, and engaging in playing games.

Also, weightlifting, swimming, rope jumping, and indoor exercises like press-ups and sit-ups can ensure physical fitness (Dempsey et al., 2016). However, people living with diabetes must seek medical guidance on the physical activities they can engage in and put on appropriate shoes to prevent foot injury. People can also manage diabetes by using medical drugs, such as oral blood sugar, reducing tablets, or insulin injections. The implementation of oral tablets as a treatment plan can only be employed when a person's blood sugar regulation cannot be resolved by a mixture of the dietary program and physical exercise (Dempsey et al., 2016). People presently under the use of oral drugs may, in the future, have a treatment program that incorporates the use of insulin injections since the tablets may cease to function effectively.

In the case of extremely high blood sugar, a patient may have to deploy the usage of both insulin injection and oral tablets. Insulin injection occurs in the thigh, abdomen, and the outer upper arm of a person with diabetes. The absorption rate remains high in the abdomen than any other body part. A person under physical exercise should avoid thigh injection since it accelerates the rate of absorption of insulin (Dempsey et al., 2016). Also, rotation of injection sites remains ideal to avoid hard scar development (lump). Persons under the injection program must observe medical procedures, such as the correct angle for injection and the duration for needle withdrawal.

Complications of Diabetes

Reducing the impact of complications on a person with diabetes and the healthcare system requires regular screening, proper management, and early diagnosis. There exist two forms of complications, namely; short- and long-term complications. Short-term complications involve low blood sugar (a condition called hypoglycemia) and need immediate medical treatment (Zheng et al., 2018). Some of the causes of hypoglycemia include alcohol consumption, delaying or skipping meals, eating an insufficient quantity of food, and complications from medication. Inappropriate schedule of medications, drug abuse, irregular exercise, and over-physical activities can also cause diabetes.

Some of the signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia entail weakness, dizziness, hunger, confusion, decreased concentration, and nervousness. Moreover, headache, fast heartbeat, fainting and loss of consciousness, and numbness of tongue and mouth signify hypoglycemia. The prevention and treatment of hypoglycemia comprise of consumption of fast-processing sugar, eating enough food, utilizing prescribed medications, and avoiding alcohol abuse (Zheng et al., 2018). Besides, people should avoid missing and delaying meals and avoiding irregular and extreme physical exercise (Dempsey et al., 2016). In case the conditions persist, the individual should seek medical intervention from a hospital or healthcare provider.

Long-term complications of diabetes result from ineffective control of blood sugar. Furthermore, long-term complications originate from damaged blood vessels causing infections of the large and small blood vessels and the nerves. Large blood vessel infection influences the heart and the brain, while small blood vessel infection affects the kidneys, feet, eyes, and sexual organs (Zheng et al., 2018). Uncontrolled diabetes can result in nerve impairment or reduced blood supply to the feet and develop into a foot infection that may result in amputation.

Hyperglycemia emergencies remain life-threatening. Hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (HHS) and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) can feature in people with diabetic type 2. Common signs and symptoms of DKA include vomiting, nausea, and abdominal pain. Severe complications of DKA entail Kussmaul's breathing (Zheng et al., 2018). Also, alterations in sensorium in DKA vary from concentration to coma reliant on the severity. Management of hyperglycemic complications involves interventions through hydration electrolyte misbalance and insulin injection (Moodie et al., 2016).