The need has been stressed for Diabetics to always seek the professional services of a qualified medical doctor for proper assessment and introduction of the appropriate therapy.
A consultant physician, and Senior Lecturer at the Internal Medicine Department, Faculty Of Medicine in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Dr Chinyelu Ufoaroh, made the call in a chat with our correspondent on World Diabetes Day.
World Diabetes Day, marked every 14th of November each year, is the primary global awareness campaign focusing on diabetes mellitus.
The theme for the 2023 celebration is, “Access to Diabetes Care.”
Dr. Ufoaroh described Diabetes Mellitus as a metabolic illness that occurs when there is an abnormally high blood sugar and said it is a result of an absolute or relative deficiency or lack of insulin in the system.
“When we say absolute, it means that the pancreas that is supposed to produce insulin produces little or nothing.
“Relative deficiency means that the body produces insulin but not being able to utilize it due to resistance to insulin use.
“Type one diabetes is when there is an absolute lack, while type 2 is diabetes mellitus.
“There are other types of diabetes like the one that happens during pregnancy, diabetes in the young, and others,” she revealed.
On the factors that predispose people to diabetes, Dr Ufoaroh said for type one diabetes, some viruses have been linked to the cause or destruction of the pancreas that produces insulin.
According to her, type one usually occurs in young people, most times at a very tender age.
“For this type one, there is no insulin, so they are started on insulin.
“For type two patients, there is this interplay between the gene and the environment. So those who have the genetic components that predispose one to diabetes, are at risk of coming down with diabetes later in life, that is why it seems to run in families.
“Other risk factors include obesity which is the deposition of fats that cause resistance to insulin use, excessive alcohol intake, multiple endocrine anomalies, abuse of steriods, among others,” Ufoaroh said.
The medical expert maintained that a diabetic should seek the professional care of internal physicians, especially endocrinologists, who will access the system and institute the appropriate treatment, both to modify the risk factor and drugs to control the elevated blood sugar.
“Also, pharmacological ways of treating the disease such as dieting, exercise, and abstinence from drugs like steroids, are advised.
“Diabetes mellitus can affect most of the organs in the body. The essence of treating diabetes is to reduce the complications which can be an acute complication or chronic complication,” she concluded.
