Diabetes is considered one of the most horrible diseases, besides cancer, in our society today. It can affect the body to the extent of the loss of limbs. It causes blindness, strokes, and all other kinds of problems throughout the body. Diabetes is a metabolic disease where the body either doesn't produce enough insulin or no insulin at all. There are two types of diabetes, but they affect the body in different ways.
Type 1 diabetes is often diagnosed in children (juvenile diabetes). This form of diabetes is when the body does not produce insulin. Insulin is needed to convert sugar into energy. Since the body does not produce any insulin, it is essential to get an insulin pump. An insulin pump is sort of like a mechanical pancreas; it produces the insulin needed and pumps it into the body continuously throughout the day to ensure the affected person's blood sugar does not skyrocket nor plummet. Blood sugar, the amount of glucose in the blood, can either be average, above average or below average. A "normal" blood sugar level would be considered anywhere from 90-130, a high blood sugar reading would be 150 or anything over. If it exceeds anything higher a correction dose is needed to lower the levels of glucose in the blood. The medication needed for type 1 diabetes are all insulin-based but some examples are rapid-acting insulin and long-acting insulin. The long-acting is a 24 hour dose of insulin and the rapid-acting insulin is used as the correction dose. DKA, Diabetic ketoacidosis, and ketones occur when the cells don't receive enough sugar to produce the energy the body needs. DKA is caused when the body doesn't receive enough insulin, sometimes when a meal is missed, and a low sugar reading. When there isn't enough energy the body starts burning fat, which causes ketones. Ketones are the acids that build in the blood and show in urine when there isn't enough insulin present.
