What Is Diabetes Mellitus? Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease caused by the failure of pancreatic organs to adequately produce the hormone insulin, causing an increase in glucose levels in the blood. DM is one of the non-communicable diseases and is one of the important public health problems.
The incidence of Diabetes mellitus has increased in decades. In general, it is estimated that as many as 422 million older persons were diagnosed with Diabetes mellitus in 2014, more than in 1980 (as many as 108 million people).
This may be accompanied by increased risk factors such as obesity and sedentary lifestyle (habits in the life of a person who does not do much physical activity or does not do much movement).
To be able to do daily activities, people will need energy. Under normal circumstances, when food enters the body, food is metabolized in the gastrointestinal tract.
Glucose will be absorbed in the intestine and circulated throughout the body through blood circulation until it reaches the cells. The entry of glucose into these cells requires insulin. Once glucose enters the cell, the metabolism in the cell is continued with the end result is energy.
In diabetics, glucose metabolism becomes energy is disrupted. This is because glucose in the blood cannot be entered into cells, due to reduced insulin, or insulin-resistant cells. So the amount of glucose in the blood continues to increase.
Learn more about How Does Insulin Work?
What Is Diabetes Mellitus Definition?
Diabetes mellitus or known as diabetes is a disease where the level of sugar in the blood is high enough because the body cannot release or use insulin so the sugar in the blood cannot be metabolized.
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Diabetes Mellitus Risk Factors
Diabetes mellitus is a degenerative disease (non-communicable disease) that has no cause, but has risk factors.
Hereditary factors (genetic)
Children who have parents with a history of Diabetes will be 3x more at risk for diabetes.
Over 40 years old
A person over 40 years of age will be more at risk of developing diabetes mellitus, especially DM type 2.
Obesity (overweight)
Obesity is a considerable risk factor for diabetes. The majority of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are overweight.
Unhealthy lifestyle
Poor lifestyle is one of the risk factors of DM disease that need to be alerted. Most people prefer foods that taste good compared to healthy foods. In fact, foods with good taste are not necessarily healthy, and most of these good foods, even worsen the condition of the body if consumed continuously.
Lack of activity and lack of exercise
Exercise is one of the main pillars of DM management along with diet, medicine, and education. Exercising can help improve glucose and fat metabolism because cells are more sensitive to insulin, in addition to lowering the dose of insulin injection drugs. Exercise can delay the appearance of DM, help DM management, and reduce DM complications.
Dyslipidemia
Dyslipidemia is a metabolic lipid disorder characterized by an increase or decrease in fatty components in the blood plasma such as high cholesterol. Dyslipidemia can cause plaque formation in blood vessels so there can be blockage of blood vessels.
What Is Diabetes Mellitus Diagnosis?
If you want to know if you have diabetes or not, you can see from the blood sugar test. Not only one test can be done, but some tests can determine the level of sugar in your blood.
There is a term Current Blood Sugar (CBS) is a blood sugar test that is done at any time even after eating. The results will describe blood sugar levels. If the results show >200 mg/dl (11.1 mmol/L), then surely the person suffers from blood sugar.
There is also the term Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS), usually an FBS test done intentionally and to find out the level of sugar in the blood after 8 to 10 hours of not eating. It is advisable to do in the morning. The FBS value must not exceed 126 mg/dl (> 7.0 mmol/L) because diabetes will be indicated.
In addition to measurements through blood sugar tests, glycate hemoglobin closely known as (HbA1C) can test production of hemoglobin A1C for the last 3 months. If it shows more than 6.5%, then it can be identified with Diabetes.
Learn more about What’s A Normal Blood Sugar Level, and Tips – How To Keep It Normal
Then there is also the method of Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Although different tests, but the accuracy are the same. This test requires to fast first, and 2 hours after drinking, then glucose can be known. If the value of 2 hours after taking glucose reaches greater than or equal to 200 mg / DL (11.1 mmol / L) then a person has Diabetes.
