Diabetes - What Happens If I Do Nothing?



Posted: Thursday, February 02, 2012

by Dr. Gerry Hinley, D.C.
Integrative Physical Medicine of Chicago

Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects large number of people worldwide. It is a condition in which the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar in the body. Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose. Glucose is automatically carried to our bloodstream and then into our cells. Once it is in our cells, insulin manages to convert it into energy. If there are not enough hormones to break down or control blood sugar in the body, it often leads to diabetes. Diabetes is a common disease marked by abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood. It’s a lifelong (chronic) condition that can go silently undetected for a long time with no symptoms.

The three major types of diabetes are gestational diabetes, type I diabetes and type II diabetes. The intervention of these three is different but they have some commonalities when it comes to symptoms. Gestational Diabetes is a condition that is common to pregnant women. It can be easily diagnosed because physicians automatically check their blood glucose level. Type I diabetes is an autoimmune type of diabetes wherein various cells attack the pancreas which are vital to generate the hormones to control the blood glucose in the human body. And then there is Type II diabetes.  Type 2 Diabetes is a condition in which the body suddenly needs more hormones to process glucose than it can produce.  This disease does not yet have a known cause, but many researchers believe that two major contributing factors include heredity and lifestyle.

Many people become aware that they have diabetes when they develop one of its symptoms. Some of which include heart disorders, kidney failure, diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy, hypertension and diabetic foot problems. Diabetic retinopathy is a common diabetic eye disease caused by damages in retinal blood vessels. This eye condition often leads to blindness so it’s important that people with diabetic retinopathy must be given appropriate medical intervention and treatments.  Diabetic neuropathy starts as numbness or loss of sensation, but can easily lead to lifestyle changes like not being able to drive a car if you cannot feel the foot pedals, not being able to walk around the block or far worse, major problems like amputations when left completely untreated.

If you or someone you know is experiencing any of the symptoms above and are not doing anything about it, please go see a medical professional as soon as possible.

Dr. Gerry Hinley, D.C. was raised in Elmhurst, IL and made his decision to become a chiropractor after his experience with a disabling injury as a college high jumper and basketball player. Dr. Hinley was fascinated with Chiropractic's philosophy that taught that a person could heal from within, without the use of drugs, surgery or their harmful side effects. After graduating in 1989 with his doctorate degree in chiropractic he opened what is today Integrative Physical Medicine of Chicago.

Integrative Physical Medicine of Chicago has been making changes in peoples lives by helping them overcome and in many cases reverse type 2 diabetes. We integrate the best of medicine and lifestyle as well as nutritional couseling and functional medicine to bring all the tools needed to treat each patient where they are and deliver the best results possible.
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