Diabetes Today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Diabetes Today - Essay Example Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy, which can potentially develop into type 2 diabetes later in life. Diabetes mellitus is characterized by long-term complications involving small and large blood vessels (micro and macroangiopathy) affecting the eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in childhood and accounts for 5-10% of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is considered to be an autoimmune disease, where there is destruction of the beta cells of the pancreas, which produces insulin. This results in absolute insulin deficiency. Type 2 diabetes is more common than type 1 and accounts for 90%-95% or more of all cases of diabetes. It is characterized by insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. Although it usually occurs in adults over the age of 45, it is increasingly being seen in obese individuals of all age groups, including children and adolescents (New York State Department of Health, 2006). Other causes of diabetes include: due to chronic pancreatitis in alcoholics, hormonal abnormalities like pheochromocytoma, acromegaly, and Cushing’s syndrome, steroid hormone administration, endogenous release of glucagon and catecholamines following severe burns, acute myocardial infarction (â€Å"stress hyperglycemia†), diabetes caused by drugs or chemicals, diabetes caused by insulin receptor abnormalities, and diabetes associated with genetic syndromes like lipodystrophies, myotonic dystrophy and ataxia-telangiectasia (Foster,1998.) It has been suggested that modern food processing methods result in glycation end products, oxidized ascorbic acid and lipoic acid, all of which are potential causes of diabetes. High levels of glycation products are also found in infant formula, which also has added ascorbic acid. Adverse immune effects leading to diabetes can result from glycation of a casomorphin released from A1 beta-casein (Elliott, 2006). Since the 1960s, there has been