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DIABETES MELLITUS - AN OVER VIEW AND RELATION TO STRESS

Diabetes is a life style related condition due to an imbalance in handling a glucose load and is not a disease. It is one of the several life style related chronic conditions with an end result of complications that are related to early aging changes resulting in blockage of small and large arteries.

Omran, a famous scientist proposes a model in which he describes the health transition of modern times. He says that the life style changes brought about by industrialization, urbanization, changes in diet, physical activity, addictions (smoking) and stressful life events have paved way to chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer etc., in place of infections and nutritional deficiency disorders. In the 2nd half of 20th century this trend is more and more obvious with many of these non-communicable diseases reaching epidemic proportions.

There are an estimated 100 million diabetics in the world of which around 70 million belongs to heavily populated developing countries. Today, the health professionals are bewildered by the rapidity with which diabetes with its associations such as obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, triglycerides are assuming epidemic proportions. This phenomenon is more prominent amongst Indians both in India and abroad (migront), which is attributable to the rapidly changing trends of