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Essay on Diabetes Mellitus

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Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death listed in the United States. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness. “In 1996 diabetes contributed to more than 162,000 deaths”(Lewis 1367).

“Diabetes mellitus is not a single disease but a group of disorders with glucose intolerance in common” (McCance 674). Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia (increased blood sugar) and results from defective insulin production, secretion, and utilization. There are many forms of diabetes. “Diabetes increases the risk of heart and blood vessel disease, amputation, infections, kidney damage, eye problems (including blindness), and nerve malfunction” (Husain). I will briefly define the …show more content…

According to McCance the diagnosis of diabetes is based on (1) more than one fasting plasma glucose level greater than 140mg/dl, (2) elevated plasma glucose levels in response to an oral glucose test, and random plasma glucose levels above 200mg/dl combined with classic symptoms of polydipsia, polyphagia, and polyuria (674).

The pancreas is located partially behind the stomach in the abdomen. The pancreas is a mixed gland composed of endocrine and exocrine gland cells. These cells are called acinar cells. Acinar cells, forming the bulk of the gland, produce an enzyme-rich juice that is ducted into the small intestine during food digestion.

Scattered among the acinar cells are approximately a million pancreatic islets (islets of Langerhans), minute cell clusters that produce pancreatic hormones. The islets contain two major populations of hormone-producing cells, the glucagen-synthesizing alpha cells and the more numerous insulin-producing beta cells. Insulin and glucagons are intimately but independently involved in the regulation of the blood glucose levels. Their effects are opposite: Insulin is a hypoglycemic hormone (lowers blood sugar), whereas glucagon is a hyperglycemic hormone (increases blood glucose.) Islet cells also synthesize other peptides in small amounts. These include somatostatin

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