Predisposing Factors And Symptoms

PREDISPOSING FACTORS AND SYMPTOMS

1.     Heredity - The strongest predisposing factor is family history. Offspring of diabetics have insulin resistance and decreased insulin sensitivity.

a.     List : Familial Risk of Developing Diabetes

b.     Your risk chance

c.      If both parents are diabetics 99%

d.     If one parent is a diabetic and the other

e.      from a family with a history of diabetes 70%

f.       If only one parent is a diabetic 40%

g.     If there is no history of diabetes in family 20%

2.     Obesity - The chances of developing diabetes in obese individuals is 3 times higher than in non obese individuals.

3.     Waist circumference is a reliable method of identifying people with a higher risk of developing diabetes. Waist circumference expands with increasing body waist. If waist circumference is greater than 94 cm in women and 80 cm in men, the person is twice as likely to have more than 2 risk factors. Diabetics have a higher waist to hip ratio (WHR). If the WHR is greater than 1.0 in men and greater than 0.8 in women, there is a greater risk to develop diabetes mellitus.

4.     Age and sex - Individuals over 35 years of age have a 2 - 3 fold increase in developing diabetes especially if they are 50%

5.     above desirable weight. The prevalence of diabetes is more in men in India and more in females in western countries.

6.     Physical Activity - Lack of physical activity increases the chance to develop obesity which increases the risk for developing diabetes. Physically inactive individuals have a 40% chance of developing diabetes mellitus.

7.     Under nutrition - Under nutrition impairs b cell function by increasing the susceptibility of individuals to genetic and environmental influences.

8.     Stress - Stress precipitates diabetes in susceptible individuals. In stress the body releases adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisone that raise blood glucose levels and counteract available insulin.

9.     Intake of simple sugars - A high intake of sugar is associated with a prevalence of obesity and hence diabetes mellitus. Sugar also depletes chromium which is essential for regulating blood sugar levels.

10.  Alcohol - Short term risk of heavy or continuous alcohol intake include hypoglycaemia, glucose intolerance and ketone accumulation.

Symptoms :

Many diabetics are not aware that they have the disease. Following are the symptoms:

1.     Polydipsia (Excessive thirst)

2.     Polyphagia (Increased appetite especially for sweets)

3.     Polyuria (frequent urination) and nocturia

4.     Itching

5.     Easy tiring, weakness or irritability

6.     Drowsiness

7.     Slow healing of cuts and wounds

8.     Frequent infections of the skin, gums and vagina and pain in the legs, feet, urinary tract or fingers

9.     Blurred vision

10.                        Hyperglycaemia (elevated blood sugar level) above 140 mg / 100 ml, the normal level being 80-100 mg/100 ml - A deficient supply of functioning insulin affects the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and Proteins. As a consequence glucose enters the circulation and hyperglycaemia follows.

11.                        Glycosuria (sugar in the urine)