Type I Diabetes in Young Adults

Armstrong (2002) reported that according to results of surveys undertaken by the National Institutes of Health, the incidence of diabetes in the United States has increased six fold in the past 40 years and, currently, some 798,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in this country. Of the approximately 16 million U.S. residents with diabetes, some 1.6 million have Type I diabetes with the remainder having Type II diabetes. Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus emerges for the most part in childhood or in adolescence (Chase, 2001).

Type I diabetes is caused by destruction of cells in the pancreas, which causes the pancreas to produce insufficient amounts of insulin, a hormone that helps sugar enter the cells and which also controls the level of sugar in the blood (Chase, 2001). Given that numerous symptoms leading to ill health and a poor quality of life are often associated with Type I diabetes, early detection and nursing intervention is of special significance (Cradock, 2002). For the nurse charged with providing care and educational as well as supportive services to the adolescent with Type I diabetes, a thorough understanding of the patient's symptoms, lifestyle choices and behaviors, medication, dietary and exercise regime, and reaction to treatment interventions is especially important (Craddock, 2002).

Thus, the clinical problem investigated in t

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and Oddone (2002) argued that systematic disease screening has the potential to improve short-term health-related quality of life. Systematic and targeted screening of both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients may help to identify individuals at risk for actually experiencing diabetes. Sumner (1998) believes that nurses are a vital element in the multidisciplinary teams that are essential for the care and treatment of diabetes because of the large number of illnesses that can result from the disease. Because nurses in the primary care setting are more often than not responsible for initial assessments of symptoms and case histories, they are in a unique position to exert a positive influence on diabetic patients and to assist physicians in identifying Type I diabetes or its many symptomatic manifestations. The study is therefore significant because early detection of Type I diabetes results in the development of effective interventions and a decrease in the possibility that patients will develop comorbid problems such as heart disease (Ashraf, 2000). Assisting young adults with Type I diabetes in identifying their own physical and emotional or psychological states can lead to more effective treatment and interventions
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Approximate Word count = 1364
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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