I am asked such questions very frequently.Why the patient is not feeling anything though his blood sugar is very high?
Usually mentioned classical symptoms of Diabetes are
Frequent urination
Excessive thirst
Extreme hunger
Unusual weight loss
Increased fatigue
Irritability
Blurry vision
A patient is newly detected with a very high blood sugar[fasting blood sugar>200] but with none of the above symptoms.Why?
It happens often. If the rise in blood sugar is very slow,and if it had taken place over a period of several months,the patient may fail to notice the symptoms.Also in some patients symptoms are not there.This usually happens when many members of the family are also having Diabetes[strong family history of Diabetes].
I am more worried about a newly detected Diabetic with no symptoms because most often we wont be able to predict the duration of Diabetes. It might have started months or even years before the detection.
In those who have the above mentioned symptoms estimation of duration is easy.It will be roughly equal to duration of symptoms.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Why I am a Diabetic? Will my children also be Diabetic?
Many patients ask me this question. What decides he or she becomes diabetic?
Answer is not very clear, yet we can say that both Genetic factors and environmental factors play a role.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes runs in families. In part, this tendency is due to children having a poor diet and lack of exercise, often learned from their parents, but there is also a genetic basis.
In general, if you have type 2 diabetes, the risk of your child getting diabetes is 1 in 7 if you were diagnosed before age 50 , and 1 in 13 if you were diagnosed after age 50.
Some scientists believe that a child's risk is greater when the parent with type 2 diabetes is the mother. If both you and your partner have type 2 diabetes, your child's risk is about 1 in 2.
People with certain rare types of type 2 diabetes have different risks. If you have the rare form called maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY), your child has almost a 1-in-2 chance of getting it, too.
Even if you don't have any family history of Diabetes, you can get Type 2 Diabetes. This is due to environmental factors.
Environmental factors include over eating, over weight, lack of exercises, stress etc.
Sudden change in lifestyle, from a semi-starvation state to over-fed state [along with genetic factors] is said to be the reason behind Type 2 Diabetes epidemic in India.
Type 1 Diabetes
In most cases of type 1 diabetes, the child need to inherit risk factors from both parents. These factors must be more common in the whites because the whites have the highest rate of type 1 diabetes. As most people who are at risk do not get diabetes, researchers are trying to find out what the environmental triggers are.
One trigger might be related to cold weather. Type 1 diabetes develops more often in winter than in summer and is more common in places with cold climates.
Another trigger might be viruses. A virus that has only mild effects on most people triggers type 1 diabetes in others.
Early diet may also play a role. Type 1 diabetes are less common in people who are breastfed, and in those who eat solid foods at later ages.
In many people, the development of type 1 diabetes seems to take many years. In experiments that followed, the relatives of people with type 1 diabetes, researchers found that most of those who later got diabetes had certain autoantibodies in their blood for years before.
(Antibodies are proteins that destroy bacteria or viruses. Autoantibodies are antibodies 'gone bad,' which attack the body's own tissues.)
In general, there is more environmental factors contributing than genetic factors in type 1 .
If you are a man with type 1 diabetes, the odds of your child getting diabetes are 1 in 17. If you are a woman with type 1 diabetes and your child was born before you were 25, your child's risk is 1 in 25; if your child was born after you turned 25, your child's risk is 1 in 100.
Your child's risk is doubled if you developed diabetes before age 11. If both you and your partner have type 1 diabetes, the risk is between 1 in 10 and 1 in 4.
Answer is not very clear, yet we can say that both Genetic factors and environmental factors play a role.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes runs in families. In part, this tendency is due to children having a poor diet and lack of exercise, often learned from their parents, but there is also a genetic basis.
In general, if you have type 2 diabetes, the risk of your child getting diabetes is 1 in 7 if you were diagnosed before age 50 , and 1 in 13 if you were diagnosed after age 50.
Some scientists believe that a child's risk is greater when the parent with type 2 diabetes is the mother. If both you and your partner have type 2 diabetes, your child's risk is about 1 in 2.
People with certain rare types of type 2 diabetes have different risks. If you have the rare form called maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY), your child has almost a 1-in-2 chance of getting it, too.
Even if you don't have any family history of Diabetes, you can get Type 2 Diabetes. This is due to environmental factors.
Environmental factors include over eating, over weight, lack of exercises, stress etc.
Sudden change in lifestyle, from a semi-starvation state to over-fed state [along with genetic factors] is said to be the reason behind Type 2 Diabetes epidemic in India.
Type 1 Diabetes
In most cases of type 1 diabetes, the child need to inherit risk factors from both parents. These factors must be more common in the whites because the whites have the highest rate of type 1 diabetes. As most people who are at risk do not get diabetes, researchers are trying to find out what the environmental triggers are.
One trigger might be related to cold weather. Type 1 diabetes develops more often in winter than in summer and is more common in places with cold climates.
Another trigger might be viruses. A virus that has only mild effects on most people triggers type 1 diabetes in others.
Early diet may also play a role. Type 1 diabetes are less common in people who are breastfed, and in those who eat solid foods at later ages.
In many people, the development of type 1 diabetes seems to take many years. In experiments that followed, the relatives of people with type 1 diabetes, researchers found that most of those who later got diabetes had certain autoantibodies in their blood for years before.
(Antibodies are proteins that destroy bacteria or viruses. Autoantibodies are antibodies 'gone bad,' which attack the body's own tissues.)
In general, there is more environmental factors contributing than genetic factors in type 1 .
If you are a man with type 1 diabetes, the odds of your child getting diabetes are 1 in 17. If you are a woman with type 1 diabetes and your child was born before you were 25, your child's risk is 1 in 25; if your child was born after you turned 25, your child's risk is 1 in 100.
Your child's risk is doubled if you developed diabetes before age 11. If both you and your partner have type 1 diabetes, the risk is between 1 in 10 and 1 in 4.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
I am not eating any sugar.Why my blood sugar is always high?
I am asked this question very often.
Answer is very simple.The 'blood sugar' is the common term we use for glucose in blood. Glucose is not the sugar we eat in sweets or add in tea and coffee.
It is a biochemical molecule.
It is produced in the body by several methods. Most of the food substances we eat are digested to smaller and smaller particles and finally turned into glucose. Also, liver and some other tissues in the body produces glucose from other substances like fat and protein.
So not eating sugar do not mean you would not get a high blood glucose.
Not eating anything also do not mean you would not get high blood sugar as the body produces its own glucose.
Body needs glucose continously 24 hours a day for its proper functioning.
In Diabetes the problem is the inability of the body to utilise glucose. As glucose is not utilised, it gets accumulated and produce damages to various organ systems of the body.
Answer is very simple.The 'blood sugar' is the common term we use for glucose in blood. Glucose is not the sugar we eat in sweets or add in tea and coffee.
It is a biochemical molecule.
It is produced in the body by several methods. Most of the food substances we eat are digested to smaller and smaller particles and finally turned into glucose. Also, liver and some other tissues in the body produces glucose from other substances like fat and protein.
So not eating sugar do not mean you would not get a high blood glucose.
Not eating anything also do not mean you would not get high blood sugar as the body produces its own glucose.
Body needs glucose continously 24 hours a day for its proper functioning.
In Diabetes the problem is the inability of the body to utilise glucose. As glucose is not utilised, it gets accumulated and produce damages to various organ systems of the body.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Welcome to the diabetesdoctorblog
Hello everybody,
This is a blog for everything you want to know about diabetes.
I am Dr Arun.N.M, from India. I have been treating Diabetics for the last 11 years. I will share my experiences and give you the needed advise. Feel free to ask me all your doubts.
This is a blog for everything you want to know about diabetes.
I am Dr Arun.N.M, from India. I have been treating Diabetics for the last 11 years. I will share my experiences and give you the needed advise. Feel free to ask me all your doubts.
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