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What Is Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

 

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic medical condition that affects the ability of the body to make use of the energy present in food consumed. There are different types of diabetes mellitus, however, the most common one is Diabetes mellitus type 2.

Type 2 diabetic Mellitus is a metabolic disorder, that occurs mostly in adults, but there have been cases of it in young people. It develops over a long period of time. It occurs as a result of insulin resistance and inadequate insulin. It’s characterized by hyperglycemia (high blood sugar). The causes of type 2 diabetes mellitus include overweight, obesity, some from secondary causes, such as hypothyroidism, polycystic ovarian disease, medications. In addition, genetics is also a factor in the development of this condition. The symptoms of type 2 diabetes mellitus, apart from the triad (polyphagia, polydipsia, polyuria) are cardiovascular diseases, vasculopathy, retinopathy and so on. There are two main types of diabetes mellitus. They are the type 1 diabetes mellitus, also known as the Juvenile diabetes mellitus because it affects mostly kids, and then the type 2 diabetes mellitus. There are other forms of diabetes mellitus which are diabetes associated with pregnant women, maturity-onset diabetes of the young. However, the type 2 diabetes mellitus is the most common of all the types of diabetes. In fact, it makes up about ninety percent of the total number of people affected by the disease. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a long-term disease, and it has some complications, which can range from mild to severe. Apart from lifestyle and diet changes, there are anti-diabetic medications that are effective, especially when the diet and lifestyle modifications don’t work. In addition, stem cells and exosomes are also useful in the management of this disease. Stem cells derived from adipose tissues have proven to be useful in the treatment of this metabolic disease

Signs and Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The main signs and symptoms associated with this condition are frequent urination(polyuria), unusual thirst(polydipsia), and excessive hunger also known as polyphagia. Other symptoms associated with this disease are infections, tiredness, retinopathies, neuropathies, especially in the form of tingling sensations in the limbs, and so on. This disease is usually without symptoms in the first twenty-four months of onset.

Causes of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

There are three main causes of type 2 diabetes mellitus. They include

  1. Lifestyle: This plays a crucial role in the development of this disease. It has been proven that those who live a sedentary lifestyle, often tend to have diabetes. According to studies, engaging in physical activities such as jogging, walking, or even going to the gym totally reduces the risk of having type diabetes mellitus. Participating in frequent exercise keeps our weight in check, and drastically reduces our chances of having obesity which most times, eventually leads to this metabolic disease. In addition to this, diet also plays an important role, people who indulge in the excessive consumption of junk food and sugary substances have more risk of developing this condition. Cortisol, a stress hormone is released when the body is over-worked. This could be physically or emotionally. Cortisol when released in large amounts in the body lead to hyperglycemia, and also the hyperlipidemia. If not controlled, patients would start amassing weight, and might eventually have type 2 diabetes mellitus
  2. Heredity: It has been proven that genetics is a factor in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. As an illustration, most cases with this metabolic disease most times, do have a relative that is suffering or suffered from the disease. This is more evident in twins, for example, if an identical twin has type 2 diabetes mellitus, the probability that the other twin will have this disease is more than ninety percent.
  3. Medications: There are some drugs that do indirectly induce the development of diabetes mellitus. They include corticosteroids, antidepressants, statins and as on.
  4. Others: There are some medical conditions that do induce type 2 diabetes mellitus. Some of them are thyroid diseases, polycystic ovarian disease, and some types of cancer.

Complications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus can be divided into two. These are acute and chronic complications.

  1. Acute complication: The complications of the type 2 diabetes mellitus are a hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state, fatigue. This usually occurs shortly after the onset of the disease.
  2. Chronic complications: The long-term complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus include retinopathies, vascular problems, nephropathy, and neuropathy. Patients usually have the hand and glove signs; they would feel a tingling sensation in both the hands and the feet. When this is prolonged, the sensation in the limbs might start to dwindle. In addition to this, patients might have problems with the healing of the wound. Wounds take a long time to heal. Also, patients who get pregnant while having type 2 diabetes mellitus might have overweight Lastly, there have been cases of sexual dysfunction attributed to this metabolic disease, especially in men.

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How Is Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Managed Currently?

Type 2 diabetes mellitus has not cured, but can only be managed. Below are some of the ways it’s managed currently;

  1. Lifestyle: Just as a lifestyle is an important factor in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, it also plays a crucial role in the management. The first thing your physician would tell you to do is to modify your diet and engage yourself in more physical exercises. People suffering from this metabolic disease must cut down their consumption of carbohydrates, and other sugary food materials. They should rather consume more vegetables, fibres and protein foods. In addition to this, patients must lose some weight. Since obesity and overweight have a direct connection to the metabolic disease, the best thing to do is to join a gym or engage more in activities such as walking, jogging, swimming, cycling and so on. The intensity level depends on the age of the patient, but the more intense, the better.
  2. Drugs: This is the second line of action, should diet and lifestyle modifications fail to work. Biguanides, an example of which is metformin is usually the first medication to be considered. Others include sulfonylurea etc.

Stem Cell Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Stem cells derived from adipose tissues have proven to be useful in the treatment of this metabolic disease. The mechanism of action of the stem cell is that they reduce the amount of insulin the body needs by close to 90% within a period of six months. The stem cells also repair and regenerate to form new vessels that might have been damaged. The stem cells revitalize the pancreas and reduce insulin resistance. However, this should be done alongside lifestyle modifications. At the end of the procedure, the patients would barely have a need for their medications.

References

Pipeleers, D., Robert, T., De Mesmaeker, I. and Ling, Z. (2016). Concise Review: Markers for Assessing Human Stem Cell-Derived Implants as β-Cell Replacement in Type 1 Diabetes. STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, 5(10), pp.1338-1344.

Scoville, D. and Jetten, A. (2016). Studying pancreas development and diabetes using human pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cell Investigation, 3, pp.80-80.

Startstemcells.com. (2017). Diabetes type 1 treatment with stem cells. [online] Available at: http://www.startstemcells.com/diabetes-type1-treatment.html [Accessed 21 Dec. 2017].

Xi, Y. (2014). Stem Cells Therapy in Diabetes Mellitus. Journal of Stem Cell Research & Therapy, 04(05).

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