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Essay On Type 1 Diabetes

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Diabetes Nearly 16 million people in the United States have diabetes, the disease classified as a problem with insulin. The problem could be that your body does not make insulin, does not make enough, or it simply does not know how to use it properly. Diabetes is also known as "diabetes mellitus". There are many types of diabetes. The two I will be discussing are type 1 and type 2. Type 1 generally affects young people and requires treatment with insulin. Five to ten percent of Americans with diabetes have this type. People with type 1 diabetes do not produce insulin and need regular shots of it to keep their blood glucose levels normal. People who are at risk for type 1 are those who have a family history of the disease, …show more content…

Frequent urination leads to excessive water loss and dehydration, which seriously jeopardizes health. Being extremely thirsty is another symptom. A person becomes thirsty because of the loss of water through urine. Excess sugar concentrates the blood, which also triggers thirst. Fatigue occurs because glucose is unable to be effectively used as a fuel by muscle cells. They are "fuel deprived" and are less able to perform work. Dehydration also causes fatigue. Weight loss is another symptom of a diabetic. It may be slow or rapid. Lots of people with early diabetes actually eat more and still continue to lose weight. This is due to the amount of water loss and the increased breakdown of fat and protein tissues, as the body makes up for poor glucose utilization. Hunger is also a symptom because glucose is unavailable to cells as fuel. Blurry vision develops as the rapidly rising blood sugar levels cause fluid shifts in the lens of the eye. Lastly, infections of the gums, bladder, skin, and vagina become harder to treat. This is because germs thrive in the high sugar content of blood and body fluids. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are different disorders with different causes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The immune system destroys the insulin producing cells, also known as beta cells, in the pancreas. Type 1 is also known to appear shortly after a viral infection. The

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