Diabetes & Homeopathy
Diabetes (medically known as diabetes mellitus) is the name given to disorders in which the body has trouble regulating its blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels.
Diabetes Can Be Silent
Diabetes can go silently undetected for a long time without symptoms. Many people first become aware that they have diabetes when they develop one of its potentially life-threatening complications, such as heart disease, blindness or nerve disease.
Fortunately, diabetes can be managed with proper care. Diabetes is a chronic (life-long) condition that can have serious consequences. However, with careful attention to your blood sugar control, lifestyle modifications and medications, you can manage your diabetes and may avoid many of the problems associated with the disease.
Types of Diabetes
There are three types of diabetes:
- Type 1
- Type 2
- Gestational Diabetes
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a disease that starts when the pancreas stops making insulin. Insulin lets blood sugar also called glucose enters the body’s cells to be used for energy. Without insulin, the cells can’t get the sugar they need and too much sugar builds up in the blood.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong disease that happens when the cells of the body can’t use insulin the right way or when the pancreas can’t make enough insulin. Insulin lets blood sugar also called glucose enters the body’s cells to be used for energy. When insulin is not able to do its job, the cells can’t get the sugar they need, and too much sugar builds up in the blood. Over time, this extra sugar in the blood can damage your eyes, heart, blood vessels, nerves, and kidneys.
Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes is a temporary form of insulin resistance that usually occurs halfway through a pregnancy as a result of excessive hormone production in the body, or the pancreas’ inability to make the additional insulin that is needed during some pregnancies in women without a previous history of type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after pregnancy, but women who have had gestational diabetes are at an increased risk for later developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers have identified a small percentage of diabetes cases that result from specific genetic syndromes, surgery, chemicals, drugs, malnutrition, infections, viruses and other illnesses.
Complications of Diabetes
Heart disease and stroke approximately 75 percent of people with diabetes will die of heart disease or stroke, and they are likely to die at a younger age than people who do not have diabetes. People with diabetes have the same cardiovascular risk as if they have already had a heart attack. People with diabetes are two to four times more likely to have heart disease (more than 77,000 deaths due to heart disease annually). Heart disease death rates are also two to four times as high as adults without diabetes. People with diabetes are two to four times more likely to suffer a stroke.
Blindness due to diabetic retinopathy each year 12,000 to 24,000 people lose their sight because of diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness in people 20 to 74 years of age.
Kidney disease due to diabetic nephropathy. Ten to 21 percent of all people with diabetes develop kidney disease. Diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease (kidney failure), accounting for 43 percent of new cases. In 1999, 38,160 people with diabetes initiated treatment for end stage renal disease, and 114,478 people with diabetes underwent dialysis or kidney transplantation. Kidney failure requires the patient to undergo dialysis or a kidney transplant in order to live.
Nerve disease and amputations. About 60 to 70 percent of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of diabetes-related nerve damage, which can lead to lower limb amputations. In fact, diabetes is the most frequent cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputations. The risk of a leg amputation is 15 to 40 times greater for a person with diabetes. Each year, 82,000 people lose their foot or leg to diabetes.
Impotence due to diabetic neuropathy or blood vessel blockage. Impotence afflicts approximately 13 percent of men who have type 1 diabetes and eight percent of men who have type 2 diabetes. It has been reported that men with diabetes, over the age of 50 have impotence rates as high as 50 to 60 percent.
Homoeopathy and Diabetes*
Diabetes mellitus can be effectively managed with homoeopathic healing at initial stage. Management in homoeopathy is given at different levels. Homoeopathy can act as a preventive towards development of diabetes in patients who have a familial history of diabetes.
Homoeopathy can help patients who are on allopathic medication but their sugar levels are still beyond normal levels. In such cases homoeopathic remedies started along with allopathic medication is found to give good results.
The patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes recently should opt for homoeopathic therapy as it can control the condition early and reduce or avoid the dependence of a person on regular medicines.
For proper homeopathic management consult a qualified homeopath. Self-medication is not advisable.