Diabetes in the Muslim World!

[sabr*]

As-Salāmu `Alaykum (السلام عليكم):

In Saudi Arabia alone 25% of the population is diabetic.

Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes—is a group of metabolic diseases in which a
person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because
cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. This high blood sugar produces the classical
symptoms of polyuria (frequent urination), polydipsia (increased thirst) and polyphagia (increased hunger).

There are three main types of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes: results from the body's failure to produce insulin, and presently requires the person
to inject insulin. (Also referred to as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, IDDM for short, and juvenile diabetes.)

Type 2 diabetes: results from insulin resistance, a condition in which cells fail to use insulin properly,
sometimes combined with an absolute insulin deficiency. (Formerly referred to as non-insulin-dependent
diabetes mellitus, NIDDM for short, and adult-onset diabetes.)

Gestational diabetes: is when pregnant women, who have never had diabetes before, have a high blood
glucose level during pregnancy. It may precede development of type 2 DM.
Other forms of diabetes mellitus include congenital diabetes, which is due to genetic defects of insulin secretion,
cystic fibrosis-related diabetes, steroid diabetes induced by high doses of glucocorticoids, and several forms of
monogenic diabetes.

All forms of diabetes have been treatable since insulin became available in 1921, and type 2 diabetes may be
controlled with medications. Both type 1 and 2 are chronic conditions that usually cannot be cured.
Pancreas transplants have been tried with limited success in type 1 DM; gastric bypass surgery has been
successful in many with morbid obesity and type 2 DM. Gestational diabetes usually resolves after delivery.
Diabetes without proper treatments can cause many complications. Acute complications include hypoglycemia,
diabetic ketoacidosis, or nonketotic hyperosmolar coma. Serious long-term complications include cardiovascular disease,
chronic renal failure, retinal damage. Adequate treatment of diabetes is thus important, as well as blood pressure control
and lifestyle factors such as smoking cessation and maintaining a healthy body weight.

As of 2000 at least 171 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, or 2.8% of the population.
[2] Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common, affecting 90 to 95% of the U.S. diabetes population.

The cause of diabetes depends on the type.

Type 1 diabetes is partly inherited and then triggered by certain infections, with some evidence pointing at Coxsackie B4 virus.
There is a genetic element in individual susceptibility to some of these triggers which has been traced to particular
HLA genotypes (i.e., the genetic "self" identifiers relied upon by the immune system). However, even in those who
have inherited the susceptibility, type 1 diabetes mellitus seems to require an environmental trigger.

Type 2 diabetes is due primarily to lifestyle factors and genetics.

source: http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=3757

[lhyne]

Diabetes is really a serious health problem. We must really understand that if anyone suspects that they may have the disease it is always most advisable to consult the doctor so as to ascertain the actual facts about the presence of the disease.