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Diabetes or diabetes mellitus is a condition of the body in which the level of sugar (glucose) in bloodstream becomes higher than the normal limit.
Glucose is the fuel of our body cells. Two hormone insulin and glucagon work together to control the level of glucose in blood. Insulin hormone is produced in pancreas and causes body cells to absorb glucose so that they may get energy from it. It also controls the excessive blood sugar. When the level of glucose increases in the bloodstream, it signals the liver to store excessive glucose. Liver store it for later use in form of glycogen.
Diabetes is the condition of the body in which it cannot use glucose properly or pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin to control the level of sugar. There are mainly two types of diabetes-type-1 and type-2. A third type of diabetes is also known and is referred as gestation diabetes. It affects females during pregnancy.
Type-1 diabetes occurs when our immune system destroys the insulin producing beta cells of pancreas. It is believed that 10% cases of diabetes are type-1. Scientists believe that its reason may be virus infection, chemical reaction, hormonal diseases, medicines and other things including genetic history.
Type-2 diabetes is very common. It is the result of our unhealthy lifestyle. Our sedentary lifestyle is making us obese. In the modern world we are consuming too much junk and fast foods which are full of trans-fats and carbohydrates but we don’t do enough exercise to burn those extra calories. These extra calories get store in our body and disrupt its functions. Normally we get up late in the morning and also sleep late in the night. After getting up we spend our time in offices and after coming from there we spend time on watching television or surfing internet. Social media’s addiction is also making us more sedentary. This is also true for children. Now they are not easily seen playing games and sports which require active physical participation. In our over-crowded cities, it has become very difficult to find free space for sports. So, children becoming confined in their apartments, playing video games or spending time watching television. Type-2 diabetes was rare in children but now children are also getting affected by this condition. The main reasons of this condition in children are the lack of physical activities and consuming too much junk food. We are seeing obese children and grownups everywhere. There were not many obese persons 30 to 40 years ago.
Type-1 diabetes can develop in kids because of the reason that are mentioned above.
Symptoms of this disease are too much thirst and urination, hunger, fatigue, sudden weight loss or weight gain, numbness and tingling sensation over body, wounds which do not heal easily and yeast infection etc. Babies’ can develop nappy rashes and little girls can experience genital yeast infection induced by diabetes. When one sees these symptoms in kids, one should consult a doctor immediately.
For preventive type-2 diabetes, kids must be allowed to engage in sports and games which require lots of physical activities. Kids should not be allowed to consume junk and fast food. A healthy lifestyle can prevent this anomaly.
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