As nurses you will come across many patients who have Diabetes Mellitus type 2. How will you deal with these types of patients? What are you looking out for? What are some signs and symptoms to look out for? How do we manage Diabetes Mellitus? People with diabetes can suffer a number of associated health complications, and strict management is required to reduce the risks. Diabetes type 2 is one of the most common diseases arising is the United States, according to Huether &McCance; (2012) "10.5% of those ages 45-64 years are affected by diabetes and 18.4% of those ages 65-74 years and has doubled in all adult age groups in the past two decades " (page.462). Diabetes will continue to grow if we don't understand and manage early. Hainer (2006) expands on this idea "Diabetes, especially DM2, is a growing problem in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identiï¬es diabetes as a chronic, progressive, and costly disease affecting nearly 17.6 million Americans at a total cost from diagnosed cases in 2002 of $92 billion (CDC, 2002).Boyle et al.(2001) project that the number of Americans with diagnosed diabetes will increase 165% in 2050. This prediction suggests that the number afflicted with DM will rise from 11 million to 29 million by 2050. The largest percentage of this increase in DM will be among older adults aged 75 or more " (pg. 310). .
Diabetes type 2 is generally thought of as the insulin resistance kind. So when do you know you have diabetes? Diabetes type 2 has a slow onset and somewhat progressive, diabetics may have symptoms of diabetes like being thirsty, polyuria, and visual disturbances before even being diagnosed. Genetics play a huge role in diabetes as well. Diet and exercise have a huge impact on diabetes. Many diabetic type 2 patients are overweight.
