Diabetes

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is an increasingly common endocrine condition caused by problems with your body’s production or use of the hormone insulin.

Insulin, which cells in your pancreas produce, regulates sugar levels in your blood. Having too little or too much sugar circulating around your body can cause serious and potentially life-threatening problems. Some common complications of diabetes include:

• Eye diseases like glaucoma and cataracts
• Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage)
• DKA: Diabetic ketoacidosis (ketone poisoning)
• Kidney disease
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Peripheral vascular disease

Diabetes patients who have peripheral vascular disease and diabetic peripheral neuropathy can develop open sores (ulcers) on the feet and lower legs. These wounds are slow to heal and prone to infection. Patients with severe diabetes might develop gangrene (tissue death) from an ulcer that leads to limb amputation.

What are the different types of diabetes?

More often than not, Type 1 diabetes begins in childhood or early adulthood. It’s an autoimmune disease, meaning your immune system kills the cells that produce insulin by mistake. As a result, your body can’t make insulin at all. Type 1 diabetes is unpreventable and incurable.

With Type 2 diabetes, your body produces too little insulin or becomes resistant to it. It’s usually caused by leading an unhealthy lifestyle — a diet high in fat and sugar, too little exercise, and being overweight or obese.

Before you get Type 2 diabetes, you go through a stage called prediabetes. At this point, your blood sugar is too high, but the condition is still reversible. You can also get gestational diabetes if you’re pregnant. This kind of diabetes resolves after birth but can cause complications beforehand.

What treatments can help with diabetes?

If you have Type 1 diabetes, you need to take insulin daily for life. A nutritious, well-balanced diet and regular exercise are also important to keep you healthy.

If you have early-stage diabetes or prediabetes, you can reverse the damage by adopting healthier lifestyle choices. That means cutting out fatty, sugary, and processed foods and getting more exercise. Weight loss is also vital. Dr. Aneela can help you reach your target weight and live a healthier life.

You might need medications to regulate your blood sugar if your condition reaches a more advanced stage. Dr. Aneela uses conventional medicines combined with functional medicine and principles from Chinese medicine for optimal results.  

To find out whether you have diabetes and get the most holistic treatment available, call Optimal Health by Dr Aneela today, or book an appointment online.