Information About The Treatment Of Different Types Of Diabetes
There is no cure for diabetes, although there has been some limited success with transplantation of beta cells as a method to restore insulin production. The goals of diabetes treatment is to keep blood glucose levels close to normal and treat vascular disease or organ damage that may occur.
Treatment of diabetes at diagnosis is a little different maintenance treatment. The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is usually sudden, with very high levels of glucose, electrolyte imbalance, and ketoacidosis, with some degree of renal insufficiency. In the worst cases, the patient may be unconscious and comatose. This is a serious condition that requires immediate hospitalization and specialized care to return the body to its normal balance.
Type 2 diabetes can sometimes present a similar picture when they ignore early symptoms, treatment or neglect have serious crises, like heart attack, stroke or infection. Very high levels of glucose and dehydration reinforce them, causing weakness, confusion, seizures and coma hyperglycemic hyperosmolar. This is also a serious condition that requires immediate hospitalization.
Maintenance treatment in diabetes involves daily monitoring of glucose levels, a diet plan and regular exercise (to lower the level of glucose in the blood, increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin and stimulate circulation). It is important to follow in detail the medical counseling, do periodic reviews (several times per year), including examinations of monitoring, microalbumin and as glycated hemoglobin, and treat complications immediately. Complications include:
- Infections of wounds, particularly in the feet. They may have slow healing and, if not treated immediately can cause amputations. Specialized and aggressive measures are often necessary, and the patient may need the attention of a specialist diabetic wounds.
- Diabetic retinopathy, which can cause eye injury, retinal detachment and blindness. Laser surgery is often used to repair a detached retina.
- Urinary tract infections, which may be frequent and resistant to antibiotic treatment. Improper handling can cause or exacerbate kidney damage.
Type 1 diabetics must check their blood glucose levels and injecting insulin several times a day. There is no oral form of insulin because it is destroyed in the stomach. Thus, it must be injected under the skin. The amount and type of injected insulin should be adjusted taking into account the quality and quantity of meals, and activity of the patient. Several types of insulin available. Some have fast action and short, while others take longer to act but have more prolonged action.
Most type 1 diabetics use a combination of insulins, but maintaining control can be a challenge. Stress, diseases and infections may alter the amount of insulin required, and some diabetics have type 1 control "unstable" with rapid changes in glucose levels during the day. Many type 1 diabetics using insulin pumps, programmable devices attached to the waist and that inject small amounts of insulin via a needle under the skin throughout the day, best simulating normal secretion of insulin. Another complication is that type 1 diabetic patients may develop antibodies to insulin. With time, the body identifies injections as "invasive" and acts to destroy the insulin requiring higher doses or changing the type of insulin.
Type 1 diabetics may also have hypoglycemia inject insulin when in excess, are long or when fasting insulin requirements change. They are handy glucose in the form of tablets or sweets to intake the first signs of hypoglycemia. They can also use injections of glucagon, which stimulates the release of glucose from the liver, to be used when there is no response to oral glucose or to be applied by another person if the patient is unconscious. Acute problems, such as diabetic ketoacidosis or acute renal failure, may require hospitalization for treatment.
Type 2 diabetics often check their glucose once or more times per day. The clinical picture varies. Some patients can control their glucose levels with diet and exercise, others need to use oral medications, and others need to take insulin every day. Many may move from one group to another with disease progression. Oral medications are of three types: those that stimulate the production of insulin by the pancreas, which make the body more sensitive to insulin and which retard carbohydrate absorption, decreasing the postprandial rise of blood glucose. Type 2 diabetics usually take two or three of these drugs with or without injections of insulin, which is needed to control blood glucose.
In gestational diabetes, pregnant women need to use a special diet, getting regular exercise and monitor glucose levels in accordance with the guidance of the doctor. If you need more control, insulin injections are used. At this time, oral medications are not used. In general, the hyperglycemia disappears after birth, but remains an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and future pregnancies should be monitored carefully. Immediately after birth the baby should be observed for signs of respiratory distress and hypoglycemia.