Diabetes Essay Paper

According to the American Diabetes Association (2011), 25.8 million children and adults have been diagnosed with diabetes in the United States. Approximately 2 million more are diagnosed every year, with another 79 million people considered to be in a pre-diabetes state. These millions of people are at risk of several alterations, including heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, neuropathy, and blindness. Since diabetes has a major impact on the health of millions of people around the world, it is essential for nurses to understand the pathophysiology and associated alterations of this disorder. In this Discussion, you compare two types of diabetes—diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus.
To Prepare
Review Chapter 19 in the Huether and McCance text and Chapter 18 in the McPhee and Hammer text. Identify the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus. Consider the similarities and differences between resulting alterations of hormonal regulation.
Select two of the following patient factors: genetics, gender, ethnicity, age, or behavior. Think about how the factors you selected might impact the diagnosis and prescription of treatment for these two types of diabetes.

Post an explanation of the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus. Describe the differences and similarities between resulting alterations of hormonal regulation. Then explain how the factors you selected might impact the diagnosis and prescription of treatment for these two types of diabetes.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

Diabetes

Pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus

Diabetes is a general terms referring to the incurable range of medical conditions characterized by problems with the hormone insulin. These conditions are classified into two groups: diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetes insipidus (DI). DM is a metabolic condition that is reported in 770 in 100,000 people. It presents in two forms. Diabetes Essay Paper  The first form is type I diabetes that is characterized by immune-mediated chronic hyperglycemia resultant from autoimmune abnormalities. The second form is type II diabetes that is characterized by insulin resistance hyperglycemia resultant from infection, lifestyle and genetics. Symptoms include increased hunger and thirst, excessive urination, and high blood sugar. Treatment entails adopting a healthy lifestyle and undergoing insulin therapy. DM prognosis is a reduction in life expectancy by up to ten years (Huether & McCance, 2017).

On the other hand, DI is caused by vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone – ADH) either presenting in abnormal levels or functioning abnormally. ADH hormone is typically produced in the hypothalamus and transported to the pituitary gland for storage before being released to function in regulating fluid levels in the body. In healthy persons, ADH is released when fluid levels fall below normal with the hormone preventing additional fluid excretion from the body through urine by causing the trans-membrane protein channels in the kidneys to hold water and increase water reabsorption into the blood. This results in concentrated urine of lower volume. It is reported in 3 in 100,000 people (Cushny, 2017). It has no effect on life expectancy with the treatment involving taking low salt diets and prescription vasmopressin or desmopressin. DI presents in two forms. The first form is central (cranial) DI whereby ADH is released in low amounts with minimal effects on water reabsorption thus causing the individual to lose more water and become thirstier. It is caused by genetics, brain tumors, head injury, brain infections, Sheehan’s syndrome, and stroke. The second form is nephrogenic diabetes whereby defective kidneys do not respond to ADH signals so that water loss remains high despite high amounts of ADH being released. It is caused by genetics, metabolism, drugs, and kidney diseases (Cushny, 2017).

Describe the differences and similarities between resulting alterations of hormonal regulation.

DM and DI are fundamentally different medical conditions with the only similarity being that both are incurable. The first difference is that DM involves insulin management while DI involves ADH management. The second difference is that DM reduces life expectancy by as much as ten years while DI has no effect on life expectancy. The third difference is that DM is more common with incidence reported in 770 in 100,000 people while DI is less common with incidence reported in 3 in 100,000 people. The final difference is that DM treatment involves lifestyle management and insulin therapy while DI treatment involves vasmopressin or desmopressin prescription and low salt diets (Dunford & Doyle, 2015).

Explain how the factors you selected might impact the diagnosis and prescription of treatment for these two types of diabetes.

The selected factor is lifestyle, in the form of both diets and exercise. It has an influence on the diagnosis and prescription of both DM and DI. For DM, the diet affects blood sugar levels. This is particularly true for fats and carbohydrates whose metabolism includes sugar as one of the end products. Exercise also affects DM since an inactive lifestyle causes blood sugars to build up. Lifestyle is used in the management of DM through presenting healthy foods with low sugars to support insulin in blood sugar control. Also, exercise is recommended to reduce the blood sugar levels. For DI, any lifestyle that places a strain on the kidneys is a source of concern, especially when this results in dehydration. This is addressed through a lifestyle change with focus on preventing dehydration through taking in the right amounts of fluids every day (Hammer & McPhee, 2014).

References

Cushny, A. (2017). The secretion of urine. Trieste: Trieste Publishing.

Dunford, M. & Doyle, A. (2015). Nutrition for sport and exercise (3^rd ed.). Stanford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Hammer, G. G.  & McPhee, S. (2014). Pathophysiology of disease: an introduction to clinical medicine (7^th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Huether, S. E., & McCance, K. L. (2017). Understanding pathophysiology (6^th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.  Diabetes Essay Paper