Wellbeing > Diabetes

Diabetes Mellitus

Insulin is a hormone produced and released by special ‘Beta cells’ found only in the pancreas. Insulin is essential to life as it transports glucose from our bloodstream into the cells where it is needed for energy and for all the functions of our body. Without insulin, glucose cannot be transported into cells.  It stays in the blood, creating high blood sugar levels. Over a long period, sustained high blood sugar levels cause irreversible damage to many parts of our body, resulting in vascular disease, blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, blindness, peripheral neuropathy, poor wound healing, abscesses and other problems.

Diabetes Mellitus Type I is a relatively rare condition, sometimes called ‘insulin-dependent diabetes’.  In this case our body may have no beta cells at all, or too few of them. Or our beta cells make faulty insulin that doesn’t work properly. Type I diabetes is usually diagnosed in childhood or early adolescence.  In Type I diabetes, our body can’t make use of glucose sugars to get energy, so it breaks down proteins and fats instead.  This process releases damaging and potentially life-threatening levels of chemicals called ketones. Type I diabetes is treated using insulin injections, education and diet.

Diabetes Mellitus Type II is a condition that accounts for 90% of individuals with Diabetes, with the incidence rate peaking at 40-50 years of age. It is generally caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, obesity, and age-related changes to the way our pancreas produces insulin.

Obesity and other related health conditions cause stress to fat storing cells. These stressed cells produce chemicals which, over time, make them resistant to insulin. In response, our pancreas secretes more insulin in an attempt to overcome the insulin resistance. This puts our insulin-making beta cells in the pancreas under great pressure, and they eventually become dysfunctional and die. With less Beta cells, the ones that remain have to work harder and are increasingly prone to stress and dysfunction.  Eventually our pancreas can no longer produce enough insulin to transport the necessary glucose from the bloodstream into cells. As with diabetes Type I, this results in high blood sugar levels. Unlike Type I, Type II diabetes cannot generally be treated by insulin injection alone, because our cells have learned to be resistant to insulin. Type II Diabetes is usually treated with a combination of education, medication to reduce insulin resistance, exercise, and diet. Insulin injections may be required once our body is unable to make its own.

Diabetes and aging

Normal age-related changes that increase the likelihood of Type II Diabetes include:

1.       Cells become less sensitive to insulin

2.       Pancreatic cells become dysfunctional and are less efficient at producing insulin

3.       Hormonal changes lead to decreased physical activity, and weight gain

Exercise is an important part of the treatment for type II diabetes. Exercise triggers the release of chemicals that improve the insulin sensitivity of our cells, and burns up excess energy that would otherwise be turned into fat.

Diabetes is a complex condition, and a detailed description of the relevant pathophysiology and treatment is outside the scope of this website. For further information see our helpful resources page.