According to data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2007), 25.6% of Americans are obese with 26.4% of men and 24.8% of women being obese. Obesity is marked by a condition of excess adipose (fat) tissue in the body. An unhealthy diet and lack of exercise are the major culprits to this epidemic. This results in numerous complications, one of which is diabetes mellitus (DM), a disorder of the metabolism.
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder wherein the human body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone that is required to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy. Diabetes mellitus is characterized by constant high levels of blood glucose. After eating, most of the food is broken down into glucose, the body’s main source of fuel. Glucose then enters the bloodstream where insulin is needed for the transport into the cells for energy. In normal metabolism, the beta cells of the pancreas automatically produce the right amount of insulin to move glucose from the blood into the cells. In the case of diabetes, the pancreas does not make enough insulin, or the cells in the muscles, liver, and fat do not use insulin properly. This results in a buildup of glucose in the bloodstream while the cells are starved of energy. Over time, this continual stimulation of the beta cells to produce insulin can result in beta cell burn out where little or no insulin is produced.
Though the broad types of diabetes have been categorized as type 1, type 2, and gestational, the root cause of all these are more or less the same. Diabetes mellitus is one of the most dreaded diseases in the United States with over 16 million suffering from it and its prevalence continues to rise.
Diabetes, when not taken care of on a continual basis with great emphasis on nutrition and physical exercises, can result in blood sugar fluctuations and ketoacidosis, a condition of too many ketones, chemicals that the body makes when there is not enough insulin in the blood and it must break down fat instead of glucose for energy, in the urine. Over time, high blood glucose levels damage nerves and blood vessels, leading to complications such as heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death among people with diabetes (National Diabetes Information Clearing house. Retrieved from http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/complications index.htm). Uncontrolled diabetes can eventually lead to other health problems as well, such as vision loss, kidney failure, amputations, gangrene, as well as endstage renal disease (ESRD).
