Stem Cell Treatment for Diabetic Foot Ulcer

The word, “diabetes” comes from the Greek verb “diabeinein” meaning “to stride or stand with legs asunder.” Hence, “diabetes” means “one that straddles” or more specifically, “siphon.” This term was therefore applied to the disease of diabetes due to the characteristic excessive discharge of urine.

Diabetes actually includes any of several metabolic disorders marked by an excessive discharge of urine and persistent thirst, including diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus is a disease in which a person has elevated blood sugar, either because pancreatic cells, called Islets of Langerhans, does do not produce enough insulin, or because insulin-receptor cells in the body do not respond to the insulin that is produced. Insulin is needed to transport sugar (glucose) into cells where it is metabolized into energy.

The classical symptoms of diabetes are polyuria (frequent urination), polydipsia (increased thirst) and polyphagia (increased hunger).Symptoms may develop rapidly (weeks or months) in type 1 diabetes while in type 2 diabetes they usually develop much more slowly and may be subtle or absent.

Prolonged high blood glucose causes glucose absorption, which leads to changes in the shape of the lenses of the eyes, resulting in vision changes; sustained sensible glucose control usually returns the lens to its original shape. Blurred vision is a common complaint leading to a diabetes diagnosis; type 1 should always be suspected in cases of rapid vision change, whereas with type 2 change is generally more gradual, but should still be suspected.

People (usually with type 1 diabetes) may also present with diabetic ketoacidosis, a state of metabolic dysregulation characterized by the smell of acetone, a rapid, deep breathing known as Kussmaul breathing, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain along with and an altered states of consciousness.A number of skin rashes can occur in diabetes that are collectively known as diabetic dermadromes.

Acute complications include hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, or nonketotic hyperosmolar coma. Serious partially reversible long-term complications include, cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, and retinal damage.

Type-I diabetes (formerly referred to as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes) is a chronic condition in which the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas produce little or no insulin. Various factors may lead to the development of type-1 diabetes, including genetics and exposure to certain viruses. While all the causes of type-I diabetes are not understood, it is known that the body’s immune system might accidentally attack and destroy the islet cells of the pancreas when endeavoring to attack harmful bacteria or viruses. It is important to note that although type-I diabetes typically appears during adolescence, it can, in fact, develop at any age. Because there is little or no insulin to transport sugar into cells where the sugar can then be converted to energy, type-I diabetes can cause life-threatening complications.

Type-II diabetes (once known as adult-onset or non insulin-dependent diabetes) is a chronic condition that can arise from either insufficient insulin secretion or from the body becoming resistant to the effects of insulin. In type-II diabetes, the islet cells are not destroyed, but they produce less insulin, or other cells in the body are resistant to the insulin that is produced. Whichever the case, in type-II diabetes,

Both type-I and type-II diabetes are chronic conditions that are believed to be permanent and progressive. Although I thought early onset type-II could be reversed if caught early.

Diabetes mellitus is characterized by recurrent or persistent elevated blood sugar, and is diagnosed by demonstrating any one of the following abnormal results:

A fasting plasma glucose level ≥ 7.0 mmol/L (126 mg/dL) repeated on different days or a Plasma glucose ≥ 11.1 mmol/L (200 mg/dL) two hours after a 75 g oral glucose load. This was known as the glucose tolerance test and has been shown to be inaccurate and generally is not used. Additionally an elevated Glycated hemoglobin (Hb A1C) ≥ 6.5%.[4] or symptoms of hyperglycemia with a casual plasma glucose of ≥ 11.1 mmol/L (200 mg/dL).

A positive result, in the absence of unequivocal hyperglycemia, should be confirmed by a repeat of any of the above-listed methods on a different day. It is preferable to measure a fasting glucose level because of the ease of measurement and the considerable time commitment of formal glucose tolerance testing, which takes two hours to complete and offers no prognostic advantage over the fasting test.[5] According to the current definition, two fasting glucose measurements above126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) is considered diagnostic for diabetes mellitus.

People with fasting glucose levels from 100 to 125 mg/dL (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L) are considered to have impaired fasting glucose. New work in the field has now suggested that the current levels of “acceptable” blood glucose are no longer appropriate. The subtle changes of even having a mild case of impaired blood sugar results in the formation of adverse AGE’s.