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Type-1 Diabetes (T1DM)

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Diabetes is a heterogeneous group of metabolic diseases characterised by high levels of blood glucose (hyperglycaemia) due to defects in the β cell function in the pancreas which is impacting the insulin secretion or insulin action, resulting in the inability to self-regulate the levels of blood glucose in the body (Stumvoll et al.,2005). Short term symptoms of hyperglycaemia include: polyuria , polydipsia, blurred vision, however the chronic effects of hyperglycaemia are associated with long term organ dysfunction and damage, especially the blood vessels, retina in the eye, kidneys and heart (Uazman et al., 2014). Diabetes has become a world-wide concern due to its high prevalence in the world (in 2015, 415 million of people were estimated …show more content…

The first type is Type-1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), which accounts for around 5 – 10 % of all the patients diagnosed with diabetes and it is an auto-immune disease that is characterised by the progressive destruction of β cells which eventually leads to nearly complete insulin deficiency. T1DM is also called insulin dependent diabetes or juvenile-onset diabetes, being more often seen in children or young populations (Imkampe and Gulliford, 2011). 80 – 90 % of the population that is being diagnosed with T1DM are noted to also have some of the following anti-bodies raised: glutamic acid decarboxylase, tyrosine phosphatases and insulin. They also tend to be more susceptible to develop other types of diseases such as: Addison’s disease, coeliac disease, myasthenia gravis, autoimmune hepatitis (American Diabetes Association, 2014) and they usually are of normal or even low weight. To be noted that obesity does not exclude the diagnosis of …show more content…

Most patients that are diagnosed with T2DM are noted to be either overweight or obese. High levels of body fat percentage, high body mass index (BMI), lack of physical activity, hypertension and some ethnicities (Hispanic, south Asian and Middle Easterns) are important risk factors for this type of disease. There are also some genetic markers risk factors and there is often a history of the disease in the family, however these factors are not used in routine diagnosis practice (Solis- Herrera et al., 2014). In this more prevalent type of diabetes, the cause for hyperglycaemia (high level of blood glucose) is considered to be a combination of both an increased resistance to the action of insulin and an inadequate insulin secretion response. At the time of diagnosis almost all patients have some degree of impaired insulin secretion (Defronzo, 2009). It depends on the degree of hyperglycaemia, however, after some level it can cause functional and pathological changes to some tissues but without any symptoms. For this reason, the dysfunction in the β cells can be present for a long period of time, before it can be diagnosed. However, it is still possible to be diagnosed by measuring blood glucose levels of individuals at a fasting state, during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) or via measurements of HbA1c in

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