World Health Day 2016: Diabetes and its health related repercussions

Zee Media Bureau/Shruti Mishra

New Delhi: Diabetes is the most common type of insulin disorder which occurs when the amount of glucose in blood remains consistently high. In this condition either body produces insufficient amount of insulin or body cells do not respond properly to the insulin or both.

Apart from blood sugar imbalance, over time this disease also affects heart, bone, eye, kidney and many other organs of the body.
In simple words, diabetes ups the risk of developing many other health complications. The health complications related with diabetes can be divided into two broad categories:

a) Immune related disorder.

Autoimmune disorder - In this condition the immune system of our body mistakenly attacks healthy tissues as though they are foreign invaders. This disorder is not actually caused by diabetes rather type 1 diabetes is a type of autoimmune disease in which immune system destroys the pancreatic cells which are responsible for insulin production.

Also, autoimmune disorder has nothing to do with the problems of blood sugar control.

The actual cause of this disorder is still unknown but genetic factor plays an important role. Kins (especially youngsters) of people with type 1 diabetes are more prone to autoimmune disorders.

b) Blood sugar related disorders:

Periodontal disease: Commonly known as gum disease, happens more often in people with poor blood sugar control.

Cardiovascular disease: High blood sugar slowly builds up fatty deposits that stiffens and partially blocks the walls of blood vessels that can lead to a stroke of heart attack.

Kidney disease: The high concentration of blood sugar also results in high blood pressure which ultimately causes kidney failure.

Eye disorder: Diabetes is one of the primary cause of blindness across the world. High blood sugar swells the blood vessels of retina which gradually leads to vision loss.

Nerve damage: Nerves transports oxygen and nourishment to body tissues. Severely high blood sugar levels swells, blocks or hardens the nerves of the body.