September 16, 2012 Dear Diary,
I had recently gone in for my annual physical; I wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary to take place expect for the usual ‘how are you feeling’ and maybe some blood to be drawn. When I received the results from the recent blood test I was shocked to read that I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I scheduled a second appointment with my doctor to go over a recommended treatment plan to get me going on the right track. Being honest with myself I was scared of having diabetes, I didn’t know the specifications the condition entailed. When sitting down with my doctor the first question I immediately asked was, “What exactly is diabetes?” He told me I wasn’t producing enough insulin to sustain normal glucose …show more content…
I began to jot down his explanation on a little notebook I brought with me. I wanted to have a good grasp on the concept of diabetes so that I could inform my family properly on the subject. I noted that diabetes affects the way my body processes sugar and that insulin is an important hormone that regulates the sugars movement from the bloodstream into my cells ultimately creating the energy I needed on a daily basis. What my doctor said next though had me putting down my pencil and reevaluating some of my choices over the years. “There is no cure.” What did he mean by there was no cure? Noticing the shock in my facial features he tried to reassure me that the condition could be managed if handled and approached in the right manor. He began to tell me that either genetics or my lifestyle caused the type 2 diabetes but by looking into my family’s medical history the answer was my lifestyle, since no one else had ever been diagnosed. My poor eating habits and lack of exercise over the years had finally caught up. I asked him why I hadn’t felt any changes in my body and he said the symptoms happen so gradually that you may miss them. He then began to ask me if I have been feeling any fatigue or have had …show more content…
He followed up by explaining to me that the pancreas is a long gland that lies behind the stomach and in front of the aorta and inferior vena cava. Its large head is framed by the duodenum, a C-shaped loop, while its tail touches the spleen. The pancreas is a part of the endocrine system responsible for producing hormones that control blood glucose levels. Insulin and glucagon, a hormone that counteracts the effects of insulin, are produced in special cell types within many tiny spherical clumps of pancreatic tissue, which are known as the pancreatic islets or the islets of Langerhans. Inside the islets are beta and alpha cells. The beta cells secrete insulin whereas the alpha cells secrete glucagon. The secretion of insulin affects the metabolism of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates which explains why I was hungrier than usual. I wasn’t producing enough insulin to move the glucose molecules through the bloodstream. Since the cells weren’t able to gain access to glucose, they sent out hunger signals from hormones such as leptin and ghrelin. The hormones signaled the brain’s hypothalamus triggering my hunger. The doctor than explained that he was going to start me on medication right away and refer me to an
I had recently gone in for my annual physical; I wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary to take place expect for the usual ‘how are you feeling’ and maybe some blood to be drawn. When I received the results from the recent blood test I was shocked to read that I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I scheduled a second appointment with my doctor to go over a recommended treatment plan to get me going on the right track. Being honest with myself I was scared of having diabetes, I didn’t know the specifications the condition entailed. When sitting down with my doctor the first question I immediately asked was, “What exactly is diabetes?” He told me I wasn’t producing enough insulin to sustain normal glucose …show more content…
I began to jot down his explanation on a little notebook I brought with me. I wanted to have a good grasp on the concept of diabetes so that I could inform my family properly on the subject. I noted that diabetes affects the way my body processes sugar and that insulin is an important hormone that regulates the sugars movement from the bloodstream into my cells ultimately creating the energy I needed on a daily basis. What my doctor said next though had me putting down my pencil and reevaluating some of my choices over the years. “There is no cure.” What did he mean by there was no cure? Noticing the shock in my facial features he tried to reassure me that the condition could be managed if handled and approached in the right manor. He began to tell me that either genetics or my lifestyle caused the type 2 diabetes but by looking into my family’s medical history the answer was my lifestyle, since no one else had ever been diagnosed. My poor eating habits and lack of exercise over the years had finally caught up. I asked him why I hadn’t felt any changes in my body and he said the symptoms happen so gradually that you may miss them. He then began to ask me if I have been feeling any fatigue or have had …show more content…
He followed up by explaining to me that the pancreas is a long gland that lies behind the stomach and in front of the aorta and inferior vena cava. Its large head is framed by the duodenum, a C-shaped loop, while its tail touches the spleen. The pancreas is a part of the endocrine system responsible for producing hormones that control blood glucose levels. Insulin and glucagon, a hormone that counteracts the effects of insulin, are produced in special cell types within many tiny spherical clumps of pancreatic tissue, which are known as the pancreatic islets or the islets of Langerhans. Inside the islets are beta and alpha cells. The beta cells secrete insulin whereas the alpha cells secrete glucagon. The secretion of insulin affects the metabolism of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates which explains why I was hungrier than usual. I wasn’t producing enough insulin to move the glucose molecules through the bloodstream. Since the cells weren’t able to gain access to glucose, they sent out hunger signals from hormones such as leptin and ghrelin. The hormones signaled the brain’s hypothalamus triggering my hunger. The doctor than explained that he was going to start me on medication right away and refer me to an