Diabetes Mellitus has been defined by Brunner 's &b Suddarth 's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing as a chronic illness that requires a lifetime of special self-management behaviors. (Brunner, Suddarth, Smeltzer & Bare, 2004) Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic disorder of carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism, it occurs due to a discrepancy in the amount of insulin required by the body and the availability of insulin. (Sommers, Johnson & Beery, 2007)
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY:
Diabetes Mellitus has many types and can be classified according to the cause, clinical course it takes and the treatment used. The major types of diabetes include Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, Gestational Diabetes and Diabetes Mellitus associated with other …show more content…
In idiopathic type 1B Diabetes the beta cells are destroyed however, there is no evidence of autoimmunity present. The persons mostly affected though few in number are of African or Asian descent. This type of diabetes is inherited, and suffers of this disorder have episodic ketoacidosis due to varying degrees of insulin deficiency with absolute insulin deficiency that may come and go. (Porth and Porth, 2011) Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 90-95% of the cases of diabetes, two main problems with type 2 diabetes are insulin resistance and impaired insulin secretions. In a normal person insulin binds to special receptors on cell surfaces and initiates a series of reactions involved in glucose metabolism, however in someone with type 2 diabetes the intracellular reactions are dulled, which results in insulin becoming less effective at stimulating glucose uptake by tissues, and at regulating glucose release by the liver. (Brunner, Suddarth, Smeltzer & Bare, 2004) Increased amounts of insulin have to be secreted to maintain glucose level at a normal or slightly elevated level, this must be done in order to overcome insulin resistance and to prevent the buildup of glucose in the blood. If the demand for insulin reaches too high and the beta cells are unable to keep up, the glucose level rises and type 2 Diabetes develops. (Brunner, Suddarth, Smeltzer & Bare, …show more content…
(Sommers, Johnson & Beery, 2007) Beta cell destruction usually leading to absolute insulin deficiency, can either be caused by autoimmune destruction of beta cells or Idiopathic. It is believed that type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is caused by hereditary insulin resistance or abnormalities in insulin production, however if insulin resistance is acquired rather than inherited, it is usually the result of obesity. (Sommers, Johnson & Beery,