Diabetes

04/05/2021

Why does diabetes hurt so many parts of the body?

There are two kinds of diabetes, type 1, the kind you are born with or get as a child and used to

be called juvenile diabetes. It occurs because the body can't produce any insulin and the

pancreas just doesn't work right. They can't produce any insulin at all.

Adult-onset diabetes or type 2, is a problem that occurs when the pancreas

can no longer produce enough insulin for its needs. Oral medications are given to help the

pancreas produce extra insulin and when that doesn't work any more insulin is given.

The sugar molecule is the main culprit in diabetes. All foods we eat eventually must be broken

down to sugar or glucose in order for the body to use. Foods that start out as sugars like

starches and sweets go straight into the bloodstream as sugar and hit the pancreas first to be

used.

The sugar molecule relatively speaking is large, as opposed to salt that separates in the body

into sodium and chloride, which is much smaller. Glucose is both large and 'sticky'. Think

about sugar that is spilled. When you step on a dried puddle it sticks to the shoe. In the body

those molecules stick to our red blood cells and to the walls of the blood vessels and inside

many of our organs.

Problems occur when they move with the blood into the very small blood vessels, the

capillaries, of our body. The blood vessels get small when they reach important organs like

our eyes, heart, kidneys and liver. Those large molecules tend to cause damage by decreasing

blood flow when they block those small vessels. They can also cause tears and inflammation.

So what does all of this mean? Well, a recent article states that just about any chronic health

problem is worse when the person has diabetes. The article was specifically dealing with heart

disease and congestive heart failure. Heart failure occurs many times after a person has

survived a heart attack. They may have a part of their heart muscle weakened due to damage

from the heart attack and then further damage comes from diabetes which weakens the

muscle even more.

So, any health problem becomes more serious when diabetes is part of the equation. The

damage that occurs becomes worse because it becomes more widespread involving more body

parts and making the body more stressed. Healing is more difficult and takes longer.

We never expect to develop long-term health problems. Our bodies are very resilient and can

recover time and again. But over time, the more we treat it badly the harder it is to recover.

Diabetes can creep up on the body and cause problems when we aren't even aware. We

need to have our sugar checked to make sure it hasn't developed and keep track of our

own ability to handle the amount of sugar we put in our bodies.

- Sandy Turner, EdD, RN-C, FNP

To read more articles click here

PROVIDING COMPREHENSIVE PRIMARY MEDICAL CARE FOR OUR PATIENTS, PARTICULARLY THE UNINSURED AND UNDERINSURED

Powered by Webnode
Create your website for free! This website was made with Webnode. Create your own for free today! Get started