Types of Diabetes, Disease Statistics, and Treatment Mechanisms Research Paper - 1

Types of Diabetes, Disease Statistics, and Treatment Mechanisms - Research Paper Example Type-1 diabetes usually begins during childhood or adolescence.   Type-2 diabetes is the most common type and begins at a later age, usually after 40 years.   This condition is caused when the pancreatic glands do not produce enough insulin for blood sugar metabolism, thereby increasing the blood sugar levels in the body. The third type is gestational diabetes that develops in women during pregnancy.   This condition usually disappears after delivery but may continue in some women as Type-2 diabetes. The WHO fact sheet as of 2011 reports that more than 220 million people suffer from diabetes in the world.  Ã‚   Research and statistics indicate that the number of people developing diabetes will double in the next two decades.   A research conducted by Wild et al (2004) indicated India, China, and the USA as the three countries with highest numbers of diabetes patients in the world; this research also predicted these countries to still remain the highest in the same order by 2030 of people suffering from diabetes. The risk factors for Type-1 diabetes include hormonal imbalance, malnutrition, and viral infection of the pancreas. Risk factors for Type-2 diabetes include age, obesity, stress, lack of physical activity, and hypertension.   NIH reports indicate that specific geographical regions and races are highly prone to Type-1 diabetes.   In some cases, antipsychotic drugs such as Clozapine, Olanzapine, Quetiapine, Risperidone, Ziprasidone etc induce Type-2 diabetes. Clinical symptoms associated with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes include polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, increased hunger, decreased vision; in severe cases, the symptoms may progress to diabetic coma due to ketoacidosis.   Besides these symptoms, diabetes causes severe complications to other organs and their functions.   Patients with prolonged diabetes suffer from decreased brain functioning in terms of memory, an information-processing speed of understanding, and decreased cognitive ability.   Secondly, insulin dysfunction causes hypertension, obesity, and abnormal levels of lipids in the blood; this condition is termed as metabolic syndrome.