Diabetes Melllitus Type II Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diabetes Melllitus Type II - Research Paper Example The Indian physician Sushruta in 400 B.C. described the sweet taste of urine from individuals affected with a disease called ‘sugar’. Around 250 B.C., the name â€Å"diabetes† was first used, meaning in Greek â€Å"to siphon†, reflecting the marked polyuria and loss of water in diabetes. The complete term â€Å"diabetes mellitus† was coined in 1674 by Thomas Willis, personal physician to King Charles II. Gradually the latin word for honey, â€Å"mellitus† was added due to its link with sweet urine (Settley, 1996). Diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous clinical disorder with two major classifications: primary and secondary. Secondary diabetes is a condition when hyperglycemia (diabetes) is due to the complications of another disease. As per the latest recommendations of American Diabetes Association (2010) diabetes should be classified into four classes viz. I. Type 1 diabetes: Previously known as insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), since the patients require exogenous insulin for survival. Type I diabetes involves ÃŽ ²-cell destruction leading to absolute deficiency of insulin. According to ADA (2010), Type 1 diabetes could be described under two sub-headings – a) Immune-mediated - where the autoantibodies against ÃŽ ²-cells of pancreas destroy the islets of langerhans, b) Idiopathic diabetes – with no known cause of diabetes mostly seen in people of African or Asian ancestry. II. Type 2 diabetes: It represents 90-95% of all diabetes cases and presents with peripheral resistance to the effects of insulin or a defect in insulin processing/secretion. The disorder is also known as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), because insulin is not required for treatment in most of cases. It manifests at a later age (>40 years) that acquires it the third name -- late or ‘adult-onset diabetes’ and has a slow and silent onset. NIDDM is more commonly found in obese (particularly trunkal obesity) individuals and is