Aspect of Care

Types 2 Diabetes

Diagnosis

Diabetes results in the malfunctioning of the insulin secretions in the body and the diagnosis of this complicated disease can be challenging for the patient. A type of diabetes that is the most commonly diagnosed in patients is type 2 diabetes, but this type can prevail in the body without being diagnosed for some time that makes the patient vulnerable in terms of underlying physical dysfunctionalities (American Diabetes Association, 2004).

Diagnosis of diabetes should be as early as possible because the patient gets exposed to other diseases including stress, heart disease, hypertension and obesity. There is a difference between diagnostic and screening for diabetes. Former is the process used for identifying type 2 diabetes when a person starts showing the symptoms while the later term is the process used to check if a person is likely to have type 2 diabetes in the future.

Two components of tests used for type 2 diabetes include the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Both of these tests are easy to perform in a clinical setting and don’t cause much hassle to the patient being diagnosed. As type 2 diabetes does not show many symptoms before its risks reach a certain level, diagnosis of this disease should be as early as possible to reduce the mortality and morbidity rate in the patient. A1C is also appropriate for type 2 diabetes diagnosis and should be considered in patients with higher risks of diabetes, and obese children and adults (Yu & Zinman, 2007).

Treatment

The treatment of type 2 diabetes does not only require taking medication; it also needs quality of life followed by several precautions. Moreover, the treatment level depends on the complications of diabetes that determine the patient’s satisfaction with the treatment process. As type 2 diabetes is more about resistance to insulin, it is different than type 1 diabetes and therefore, needs different treatment process and quality of life during the treatment. Oral medication is used for patients with type 2 diabetes so that their sensitivity to insulin can be restored and brought to a normal level (Rother, 2014). The treatment, medication and strict eating plan might lead to stress and hypertension and is also difficult for the family to handle. 67% of the type 2 diabetes patients report stress doing the treatment.

Obesity is a reason for diabetes and is also a risk factor that intensifies the complications of diabetes. Therefore, during a type 2 diabetes treatment, the patient should be provided a healthy life style that helps reduce his weight and maintain it to a health level. The family of the patient is provided a diet plan for the patient to follow, and it is advised that they keep a proper check on the patient’s eating and physical exercise habits. The treatment process is certainly challenging not only for the patient but the family of the patient as well. This is true because it is a long term disease and requires constant effort and care (Rajan, et al., 2016). 

Management of Long-term Condition

Managing a long-term condition like type 2 diabetes is challenging for both the patient and his family at the same time. When the patient has to take his medication and follow the diet plan, the family also plays its role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle for the patient. On a community level, education, prevention, regular screening, dietary plans and mentoring play a role in making the disease management easier for the patient and his family (Hiss, et al., 2004).

In the case of type 2 diabetes, a long term disease management program and optimal quality framework are adopted to make things easier for the patient. The patient is guided about the disease and his medication and progress on the disease control is also taken into consideration by the patient, family and the medical team as well. It is argued that the patient’s condition is more under control if he is willing to cooperate and also has someone in the family to take care of him and keep track of his condition.

Because type 2 diabetes is a long term condition and is strongly linked to other physical and psychological conditions, it is to be made sure that regular checkup is done on the patient. It gets tough for the family of the patient, and family members might also get stressed due to the constant care and sensitivity of the patient, but their efforts can be facilitated by inter-professional intervention and support (Rajan, et al., 2016).  

References

American Diabetes Association, 2004. Screening for Types 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care, 27(1), pp. 3-12.

Hiss, R. et al., 2004. Community Diabetes Care: A 10-Year Perspective. Diabetes Care, 17(10), pp. 1124-1134.

Rajan, N. et al., 2016. Utilities for Type 2 Diabetes Treatment-Related Attributes in a South Korean and Taiwanese Population. Value in Health Regional Issues, 9(1), pp. 67-71.

Rother, K., 2014. Diabetes Treatment - Bridging the Divide. The New England Journal of Medicine, 356(15), pp. 1499-1501.

Yu, C. & Zinman, B., 2007. Type 2 Diabetes and Impared Glucose Tolerance in Aboriginal Population: A Global Perspective. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 78(2), pp. 159-170.