What's new in diabetes care
Introduction to diabetes
Types of diabetes
Diagnosis
Risk factors & screening

Introduction to Diabetes

• What is diabetes mellitus?
• How common is diabetes mellitus?
• What are the symptoms?

........................................................................................................................................................................

What is diabetes mellitus?

Diabetes mellitus, usually called diabetes, is a condition in which there is a chronically raised blood sugar level. It is caused by insulin not being produced (type 1 diabetes mellitus) or there is insufficient insulin or ineffective insulin action for the body’s needs (type 2 diabetes mellitus). Insulin is a hormone produced by special beta-cells in the pancreas (an organ situated just behind the stomach). The main action of insulin is to control blood glucose by helping it enter body cells and be used as energy. A high blood sugar level can cause problems in many parts of the body. Therefore long standing diabetes can cause damage to the small (microvascular) and large (macrovascular) blood vessels and nerve of our body.

Diabetes mellitus is a complex disorder of metabolism which also involves some other unknown factors. This may explain the fact that in spite of good control of blood glucose, some complications still persist in some individuals with diabetes.

There is no cure for diabetes mellitus at present, but it can be effectively controlled or prevented.

How common is diabetes mellitus?

Data from the WHO estimate that the total number of people with diabetes worldwide is 135 million. It is expected to rise to 280 million by the year 2025. Almost half of those affected will be in the Asia Oceania region alone. Currently, in the US, 8% of the populations have diabetes mellitus with the majority of them have type 2 diabetes.

In Malaysia, the National Morbidity Survey 1996 showed that 8.3% of populations above 30 years of age have diabetes mellitus Current estimated prevalence rate is 10% of populations.   

It has been estimated that patients with type 2 diabetes have often had inappropriately raised blood glucose for several years before the diagnosis is made. Approximately 50% of patients with type 2 diabetes are undiagnosed worldwide, i.e. for every 2 people diagnosed, 1 person remains undiagnosed.

Symptoms of diabetes mellitus

Patients with type 2 diabetes may complain of the following symptoms:

• increased thirst
• frequent passing of urine
• feeling tired
• unexplained weight loss
• blurred vision
• slow healing of wounds
• itching and skin infection

Some individuals may not have any symptoms at all.