an needed
to know, that could help?
The average lay person may find the technical language that
surrounds any condition complicated and confusing. Interpreting
a course of action is harder still. However, as with many
diseases, once it’s demystified, a patient can move on from
the initial shock, learning to manage his or her illness and
find the best method of treatment.
For people living with diabetes, several conventional options
are available, as well as a host of effective herbal approaches.
Although not as widely administered, herbal therapy serves
to diminish the symptoms of diabetes while addressing the
root cause of the problem and, in conjunction with orthodox
treatment, can put a diabetic on the road to better health.
Defining
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is a disease of the pancreas,
an endocrine gland that releases hormones directly into
the bloodstream and supplies the upper intestine with enzymes
to aid in the digestion of proteins, fats, sugars, and starches.
The most common of the endocrine disorders, diabetes affects
18.2 million people in America—about 6.3 percent of the
population, according to the American Diabetes Association.
These individuals carry high levels of glucose (hyperglycemia)
in their blood streams, while their cells contain inadequately
little. Normally, a healthy pancreatic gland will manufacture
the hormone insulin, which enables the body to utilize and
store this sugar (glycogen), but once it becomes damaged
and no longer secretes insulin, sugar is lost in the urine.
This condition leads to diabetes.
Researchers have not located one precise cause or trigger
of diabetes —the predisposing factor may be heredity, viral
infection, age, obesity, or stress— but the disease can
lead to weight loss, thirst, an increase in the volume of
urine passed, and recurrent urinary infections. If untreated,
complications can arise which may poorly affect circulation,
and prove detrimental to eyesight, the kidneys, and the
nervous system.
Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, referred to as Type
1 diabetes, usually appears in childhood or adolescence,
when the pancreas cannot produce insulin or produces an
insufficient amount. Type 1 may eventually damage the eyes,
kidneys, heart, and nerves, and can lead to coma or death.
Regular doses of insulin, however, keep it under control,
although individuals who have Type 1 often find maintaining
the balance between insulin dosage and sugar intake challenging.
Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes, called Type 2 or adult onset
diabetes, doesn’t usually appear until the early- to mid-forties
or later. In most cases, the problem stems not from a lack
of insulin, but from defective insulin receptors in the
cell walls of fat and muscle tissue, and in the liver. Glucose,
a major energy source for the body, is not successfully
transferred to these organs, a condition referred to as
insulin resistance. Although symptoms may not appear for
years or decades, insulin deficiency or resistance can result
in increased thirst and urination. If blood sugar levels
soar, a diabetic may develop severe dehydration, which can
lead to confusion, drowsiness, and
