Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a systemic disease which has been conceived as a disease of blood sugar Alone by a majority of the population, which is not accurate. Diabetes is a systemic disease involving almost every organ system in the body including the vascular and nervous systems. The extent of how diabetes can affect these organs is enormous and in most of the effects, it's not easy to understand the specific Way by which diabetes Causes the disease in that organ.

For the same reason, prevention of diabetes is of utmost importance and if diagnosed with diabetes, a proper and comprehensive management of the disease is essential failing which the body will become a prey to the numerous complications that arise.

1. Diagnosing Diabetes
2. Prediabetes and precautions
3. Risk factors for DM
4. Screen for complications routinely
5. Multi-organ follow up
6. Treatment- essentials and goals
7. Medications
8. Prevention of complications
9. How to prevent Diabetes from setting in

Diagnosing DM

There are multiple ways to diagnose diabetes

Check hemoglobin A1c

This is a blood test that goose and aggregate of the blood sugar levels over a 3-month period.level of >=6.5%  is diagnostic of Diabetes and we also follow two consecutive readings over a 3 month period to be definite about the diagnosis of diabetes.(A level of 5.7% or more is diagnostic of prediabetes)

Fasting blood sugar levels

A fasting BG level of 126 or more on two consecutive days is diagnosis of Diabetes.(fasting blood sugar level of 100 to 125 is diagnostic of prediabetes)

Two-Hour Oral glucose tolerance test

This test is done by initially checking the blood sugar in a fasting State and then the patient is given to drink 50 grams of glucose solution. After this blood sugar levels are checked at 1 hour and 2 hours.A 2-hour reading of 200 or more is diagnostic of diabetes (A reading of 140 to 199 at two hours is diagnostic of prediabetes). Our office screens everyone for Diabetes on an annual basis and those who are at a higher risk get screened more frequently

PreDiabetes

Prediabetes is a state that precedes diabetes. This is actually a warning sign for anyone to take extra precautions so that they don't progress into full-fledged diabetes.This needs to take into consideration all the risk factors for diabetes and identify those factors in themselves and thereby Place corrective actions so that the disease that's in progress in them.

Our office takes pride in implementing prevention programs for diabetes in which diet has extreme importance.

Risk factors for Diabetes to develop

What makes a person to be at a higher risk of developing diabetes Diabetes has multiple factors which increase the risk of a person progressing into diabetes.

The most important among them are

1. Increased body weight
2.  Consumption of high-carbohydrate diets
3. High triglyceride and low HDL levels
4. Increased waist circumference
5. Family history of diabetes
6. History of gestational diabetes in females
7. Physical inactivity- spending more time in front of the TV
8. Polycystic ovarian syndrome
9. Acanthosis nigricans
10. Depression
11. High blood pressure

There are many more individual risk factors which has a combination makes a person at a higher risk of developing diabetes. These are evaluated on an individual basis and assessed. Please consult your doctor to know the details of your risk for developing Diabetes.

Complications

Complications in Diabetes are numerous and in short, we can say that there is no organ or part of the body that is not affected by Diabetes. Among those complications the most important ones. Need to be followed regularly include and not limited to

1. Heart disease- coronary artery disease

2. Kidney disease causing chronic kidney failure
3. Vascular disease leading to peripheral vascular block- which can lead to ischemia of the limbs
causing gangrene and leading to amputations
4. Strokes
5. Peripheral neuropathy- which can be painful and also cause injuries in the limbs due to lack of
sensation
6. Eye disease
7. Gastric disease causing gastroparesis
8.  Urinary bladder diseases due to loss of nerve supply
9. Lipid abnormalities

Consult your doctor to discuss all these complications of diabetes in detail and to entail the steps that need to be taken to prevent as well as to safeguard you against these complications

Multi-organ follow up

As mentioned earlier, diabetes involves multiple organ systems.Identification of this environment at the earliest stage and taking steps to prevent further complications to the maximum possible extent is important. Your doctor can discuss with you in detail about these complications which Canon wall of the heart, brain, kidney and multiple other areas of the body as well as multiple processes in the body.

Treatment- essentials and goals

Diabetes management does not mean sugar control alone. It involves a comprehensive approach to analyze each organ system and also focus on the basis of diabetes management which are the numerous processes that go on in the endocrine system as well as the transmission of disease processes to all parts of the body. Understanding this basis is essential in managing diabetes.Your doctor can explain all these in detail using pictures and you a detail Path of how the disease is going to go in your body.Control of blood sugar and we're done in numerous ways, however to choose the best possible route for an individual person is very essential. Not everyone can be treated with all the available methods and the treatment needs to be individualized based on the factors that are evaluated. Your doctor can explain these in detail and give you a good idea of why a particular treatment is good for you

Medications

Medications for diabetes type-2  fall under many different categories.Some of them increase the insulin level in the body and some decrease the resistance of the body to existing bodily insulin. Some increase urine excretion of sugar.

The type of medication you are eligible for OR which medication will serve you the best is decided by the doctor based on multiple factors including blood tests, sugar levels and others.

In many cases, more than one medication may be required to control blood sugar.However, you must understand that even though we say control blood sugar, essentially it means a comprehensive control of diabetes and not just blood sugar control.Your doctor can assign you a particular medication after taking a detailed history, examination and by doing some blood tests including following your blood sugar levels over a particular period.

Prevention of complications

Complications from diabetes arise in many systems as mentioned before. Cardiovascular, brain and kidney complications are among the top and most feared ones because
they create significant bodily morbidity and are associated with increased mortality. A few other medications are also required to prevent the complications are to lessen the progression of the complications.Your doctor can discuss with you in detail about this issues and the treatments are individualized and not generalized.

How to prevent Diabetes from setting in

The most important and common question asked is how do I prevent from becoming a diabetic.There are multiple ways of identifying the risk factors and also identifying the reasons why a particular person may become diabetic.This is of extreme importance because this is the stem of all the methods which anyone can adopt to not become a diabetic.Identifying the earliest stages of prediabetes and even earlier than the initial diabetic symptoms and signs arise is important because that is the best time to strongly enforce lifestyle modifications and dietary modifications which are the prime Path in preventing diabetes. Dr. Thampy is well learned and identifying these factors and can have a full discussion of how you can avert this disease to the best possible extent.