Diabetes
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Diabetes is a chronic condition that reflects the fact that the body does not produce enough of the hormone insulin to break down the body's blood sugar and keep the blood-sugar count from being excessively high (Squires, 1997; Novitt-Moreno, 1996). But one of the most striking features about diabetes is the estimate that nearly one-half of those who have the disease are not aware of it (Type II, 1996; Squires, 1997). There are two types of diabetes, one congenital and the more common other type, known as diabetes mellitus or sugar diabetes, which mainly affects persons over 40 years of age. Symptoms include frequent urination, thirst, high blood pressure, and fatigue, and the condition is aggravated by overweight (Gomez & Gersh, 1968). Severe cases can cause heart disease, blindness, and arterial "furring," which cuts off blood supply to extremities (Susman & Helseth, 1997). This explains amputation of limbs in many diabetics (Dancer & Others, 1997; Needham & Others, 1993).In part, psychological symptoms can be expected to proceed from physical ones and to connect in turn to an individual's social experience. For example, the need to urinate frequently could prove to be a social embarrassment, as could a pattern of unexplained and heavy perspiration that could not be attributed to, say, weather conditions. The stress that physical discomfort causes could have an adverse effect on interpersonal relationships, and of course there is bound to be stress owing to anxiety over t
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isease. The specter of possible amputation or cardiovascular complications alone makes this transformation necessary.
Susman and Helseth (1997) say that individualized counseling and support groups are one option for this kind of therapy. The support-group option, however, has the potential of straying from the point, owing to the encounter of diverse personalities and needs. Accordingly, an individualized, customized approach is the more to be preferred and more likely to be effective. In this regard, Spollett suggests individualizing a nutrition "prescription," (1997, p. 296). If the disease were so bad that blindness or amputation might occur, individualized treatment would seem even more important; Dittbrenner (1997) cites the benefits of home health care, which implies a strongly individualized component, for diabetics along these same lines.
If diabetes is diagnosed and treated early enough in the course of the disease, then the effect on family and home environment might be minimal. To be sure, it would be wise to wear a medical identification bracelet. The principal way in which others would be affected by the disease is that they would need to be informed that the condition exists. Just as the patient himself has to be "a
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Approximate Word count = 2006
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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