Diabetes Mellitus - The Unknown Disease

Diabetes has been around for centuries. It is referred to in writings in both India and China from 2000 years ago, indeed the name is a combination of the Roman word "mellitus", meaning "sweet" and the Greek word "diabetes", meaning "siphon".

This is because the Romans recognised the disease by tasting the urine of suspected sufferers, noticing it had a sweet taste, as did the Greeks, whose word "diabetes" means "siphon", referring to the symptom of having to urinate and drink profusely.

Despite this history of diabetes, it is estimated that approximately 30% of people who have the disease are completely unaware that they have it.

This is possibly due to the fact that many of the symptoms can often be put down to getting older, (type 2 diabetes usually occurs in those who are over 40 years old), or increased stress in the workplace.

Slightly blurred vision, the need to take a short sleep of 20 minutes or so in the afternoon and irritability are all things that are symptoms of diabetes, and indeed were symptoms experienced by the author of this article who put them down to getting older.

Many people, the author included, have a reluctance to visit the doctor. Whether it is rooted in pride, a desire not to be seen wasting the doctor's time or plain fear that something serious will be diagnosed, many of us just don't go.

However, if you find that you need to urinate excessively and at the same time have a seemingly unquenchable thirst, a visit to the doctor is very important.

Because diabetes type 2 is a condition resulting in high levels of glucose remaining in the blood, the kidneys work hard to filter it out. The sugar also draws with it water from the blood, thus setting up a cycle of frequent urination and drinking to replace the lost water.

The consequences of leaving diabetes untreated, be it type 1 or type 2, are very severe and include foot infections, leading to possible amputation, blindness and complete renal failure, curable only by transplant, and delivering the need for a life with dialysis if no donor can be found.

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