Diabetes is a disease that affects many people every year. Without proper treatment, diabetes can prevent people from living a healthy, productive life. Since diabetics can also suffer from a variety of other complications, they must also undergo various treatment regimens that can alleviate these complications. Such complications may include cardiovascular disease, renal failure, liver failure, hypertension, eye issues, foot issues, and general organ and tissue damage. There are many other complications that can arise from being diabetic.

There are three main types of diabetes, and all of them involve the inability of pancreatic cells to produce the metabolic hormone insulin. Insulin helps break down complex sugars and carbohydrates into forms that the body can use for energy. If insulin is not present in large quantities or if insulin is not in a functional form, blood glucose levels may increase significantly. This can cause extensive tissue and organ damage and in extreme cases can lead to sugar shock and possibly coma.

Type I diabetes

Type 1 diabetes was previously referred to as juvenile diabetes, as it has often been found and diagnosed in children. Type I diabetes is essentially believed to be an autoimmune disease. People with Type I diabetes have an overactive immune system that destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, so they may have to take insulin if prescribed by a clinician.

Type II

Type II diabetes develops in adulthood and is often associated with obesity, which scientists find is a major risk factor for this type of diabetes. In type II diabetes, the tissues and organs of the body are resistant to insulin. This condition is similar to the third type of diabetes called gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes develops because higher levels of pregnancy hormones can make organs more resistant to insulin; however, this type of diabetes generally disappears after delivery.

Medical human insulin is produced in large quantities to meet the needs of an increasing number of people with diabetes. This important hormone was once sourced from carcass pancreases, which was a very inefficient method that made insulin injections expensive. However, with the advent of recombinant DNA technology, microbial cells are used to produce large quantities of human insulin, which can then be harvested and purified from the microbial culture.

Today, insulin is available in oral or tablet form, which can be useful for all types of diabetes. However, insulin injections are usually prescribed for Type II diabetics only when the disease is very advanced. Not all diabetics take insulin, and you must always consult a physician and get a prescription before taking insulin(in any form), or any other medication, for diabetes. Recently, insulin has also been approved in inhaled form, although this type of insulin is prescribed for people with type I diabetes. Always consult your clinician for anything related to diabetes, and get tested for diabetes regularly. Catching the disease early makes a huge difference.

What are diabetic supplies used for?

In general, diabetic testing supplies can be expensive. The common term “diabetic supplies” usually does not refer to insulin or medication, but rather the home diabetes testing kits that most diabetics need in order to manage their blood glucose. Home testing kits offer valuable information about blood sugar levels at various times of the day. Often these meters will keep track of blood sugar readings which can then be downloaded at your doctor’s office, so they can also see how your sugar levels have been behaving. Testing your sugar multiple times a day is a great way to gain knowledge about this disease.

*The author of this blog is not a medical professional and this article does not contain professional medical advice. This blog is not intended to substitute for medical advice, treatment, or diagnosis. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of the contents of this article. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call 911 immediately.