Diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous group of diseases, which all lead to an elevation of the level of glucose in blood, often called hyperglycemia, and also loss of glucose in the urine. It has three basic characteristics: (i) Polyurea, inability to reabsorb water, (ii) Polyphagia, excessive eating desire, and (iii) Polydipsia, excessive thirst.
Diabetes mellitus is caused mainly by reduced rate of insulin production by the insulin-producing beta cells of the islets of Langerhans. Two major types of diabetes mellitus are distinguished:
(i) Type-I diabetes : Juvenile diabetes
(ii) Type-II diabetes : Maturity-onset diabetes
Type-I (Juvenile Diabetes)
In this type of diabetes the hormone insulin is completely or almost completely absent from the islets of langerhans and plasma, and therapy with insulin is essential. It is called insulin dependent diabetes because of compulsory periodic insulin administration to control the rise of blood-glucose level. It can occur at any age, though it most commonly occurs during younger age.
Type-II (Maturity-onset Diabetes)
This diabetes is much more common than type-I, representing more than 30 percent of all cases. Type-II diabetes most often occurs in people who are over 40 and overweight. Since it occurs in the later stage in life, it is termed as maturity onset diabetes. In this condition of diabetes the hormone insulin is often present in plasma at near-normal or even above-normal level, and additional insulin is not required to sustain life and to maintain normal blood-glucose level. While patients with this type of diabetes produce some, or at times even excessive, insulin in their pancreas, it either is not enough for proper function or is not being produced quickly enough to influence glucose levels in the blood effectively. This happens probably due to defects in the molecular machinery that mediates the action of insulin on its target cells. That is why this diabetes is called non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.
What Causes Diabetes?
Although the causes of diabetes are still unknown, medical science does know that certain factors contribute to its development. One factor is heredity. One may have a tendency to develop diabetes because other members of the family have it. A child of non-diabetics can become diabetic, since the disease may skip generations because of genetic coding that prevents it from appearing in every generation. Stress that affects the cells of the body seems to set the stage for diabetes in these people. One such stress is extra weight. Obesity, affecting insulin utilization, contributes to diabetes. Researchers estimate that 80 percent of the people with diabetes are also overweight at the time they are diagnosed as having diabetes.
Stresses can be emotional or physical, such as surgery or a serious infection, an accident, or emotional shock. Many medications affect the body in a stressful way. Pregnancy also places extra-stresses on the body, and diabetes is often diagnosed in pregnant women or in the women who have repeated miscarriages.
People who develop diabetes, especially Type-II, frequently also have high blood pressure; people of middle or old age are more likely to develop diabetes than younger people, and women are more likely to have diabetes than men.
As mentioned earlier, Type-I diabetes develops due to beta cell destruction in pancreas, which happens to be attacked by the body’s own defence mechanisms (a condition of autoimmune disease) in genetically susceptible persons.The triggering events for this autoimmune response are unknown, although viral infection is a strong cause in some cases.
Glucose concentration value chart (mg per 100 ml of blood)
Normal
(a) Fasting value :65-100
(b) Post-prandial value (2 hr after meals) :100-120
Impaired glucose tolerance*
(a) Fasting value :105-120
(b) Post-prandial value (2 hr after taking glucose) :120-150
Diabetes mellitus**
(a) Fasting value : ° 120
(b) 2 hr after taking glucose :° 180
Source: WHO
* Values are the borderline
** 0 Stands for equal to or greater than
Preksha — Yoga management
Shat kriyas – Neti and kunjal
Yogic kriyas – Of abdomen and respiration
Asanas – Surya Namaskar, Pawan muktasana, Uttanpadasana, Ardha matsyendr-asana, Bhujangasana and Matsyasana
Pranayama – Bhramari and Nadi shodhan
Kayotsarga – 30 minutes daily
Preksha – Meditation on pancreas
Anupreksha – Contemplation for the correction of pancreatic functions
Dietary recommendations
• Low carbohydrate, sugar-free, vegetarian diet
• To avoid potatoes, rice, sugar and sugar products
• Salads of leafy green vegetables and lightly boiled vegetables should be preferred
• Spices, oil and ghee should be consumed in minimum quantity