Let us talk about Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes mellitus is a disease that affects about 463 million people worldwide according to International Diabetes Federation. This number will increase if nothing is done to prevent development of diabetes mellitus. It is not communicable.

It cannot be contacted from person to person. The problem with those who have diabetes mellitus is that their body cannot produce any or enough insulin or cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. It is a lifelong disease. Sufferers can live well if it is well managed.

The effect of the body not producing any or enough insulin or not effectively using the insulin it produces is high blood glucose. Insulin is an important hormone produced by an organ in the body called the pancreas. It helps glucose to move from the blood to the body cells.

It is in the body cells that this glucose is converted into energy so that the body can function well. Where is glucose coming from? Glucose comes from the foods we eat and must be converted to glucose before the body can use it. The ‘currency’ recognized by the body is glucose.

A lack of insulin, or the inability of cells to respond to it, leads to high levels of blood glucose (hyperglycaemia), which is the clinical indicator of diabetes mellitus. High glucose level over a long period that is responsible for the long-term damage to the body organs.

This damage leads to disabling and life-threatening health complications like cardiovascular diseases (CVD, damage to the heart and the blood vessels), nerve damage (neuropathy), kidney damage (nephropathy) and eye disease (leading to retinopathy, visual loss and even blindness).

If appropriate management of diabetes mellitus is achieved, these serious complications can be delayed or prevented altogether.

In the next installment, I will be discussing the types of diabetes mellitus.