Diabetes and ADD/ADHD part 2 of 5 (pathology)
In continuing our series on diabetes, this posting is about the pathology of diabetes. Here is a short review. The beta cells of the pancreas produces insulin. When there is infecetion (viral, bacteria, secondary to trauma, etc), physical injury, blood related injury (anoxia), chemical, environmental, iatrogenic (injury caused by health professions such as doctors' "oops"...), secondary to metastatic disease (such as cancer spreading to the pancreas) and idiopathic (i.e. "we just don't know...).
The degree of injury, infection, or from metastic cancer causes the beta cells of the pancreas to function at certain capacity. That capacity determines what course of management is appropriate.
If the injury is mild and the beta cells can produce sufficient insulin to marginally maintain adequate control of blood glucose, then insulin is not needed. Maybe diet and exercise is sufficient.
When the injury is a little more severe, pharmacological agents may be necessary. Usually hypoglycemic agents are tried first. If not able to control blood sugar, a combination of hypoglycemic agent and insulin is necessary.
If more severe, insulin is the main pharmacologic agent used to control blood sugar.
With more advancing technology, an insulin pump may be suitable for certain patients. This is essentially a minature computer hook up to a person's body to constantly monitoring the blood sugar, If the blood sugar is high, a "shot" of insulin is injected to balance out the excess blood sugar.
The pathology is very simplistic for my readers. However, in future postings, I will go into more details for those who wish to learn more of the technical aspect of the pathology of diabetes.
The next posting will discuss some of the treatment plans (pharmacological and a little about non-pharmacological) for diabetes. So please stay tune...
The degree of injury, infection, or from metastic cancer causes the beta cells of the pancreas to function at certain capacity. That capacity determines what course of management is appropriate.
If the injury is mild and the beta cells can produce sufficient insulin to marginally maintain adequate control of blood glucose, then insulin is not needed. Maybe diet and exercise is sufficient.
When the injury is a little more severe, pharmacological agents may be necessary. Usually hypoglycemic agents are tried first. If not able to control blood sugar, a combination of hypoglycemic agent and insulin is necessary.
If more severe, insulin is the main pharmacologic agent used to control blood sugar.
With more advancing technology, an insulin pump may be suitable for certain patients. This is essentially a minature computer hook up to a person's body to constantly monitoring the blood sugar, If the blood sugar is high, a "shot" of insulin is injected to balance out the excess blood sugar.
The pathology is very simplistic for my readers. However, in future postings, I will go into more details for those who wish to learn more of the technical aspect of the pathology of diabetes.
The next posting will discuss some of the treatment plans (pharmacological and a little about non-pharmacological) for diabetes. So please stay tune...
posted by Dr Chan at 12:00 AM
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