Medical Treatment Of Diabetes Mellitus

7. Medical Treatment Of Diabetes Mellitus

According to the Merck Manual, “The primary objective is to achieve the patient’s optimal health and nutrition.” If this truly were their primary objective, physicians would discontinue looking to drugs for palliatives and begin to search for the underlying cause behind this “disease.” If they were to discover that depressed function of the pancreas of insulin secretion is really only a symptom of general toxicosis, they would begin to teach their patients how to live so as not to create these conditions that result in ill health.

Merck Manual further states, “Whether treatment of asymptomatic hyperglycemia decreases morbidity and mortality is unknown, and there is significant risk of hypoglycemia in elderly patients given oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin therapy.” It is known that drugs and insulin can harm and whether they do any good is questioned even by the physician. People with improperly-diagnosed diabetes have been placed on insulin. Because of the presence of this insulin in the blood, the pancreas ceased to secrete normal insulin, atrophied and eventually ceased to work even when needed. Thus, diabetes was created where it was not formerly present.

Scientists have come up with a new form of insulin that is supposed to simulate functions of the pancreas in that it supplies insulin constantly at low doses. It is called an insulin pump and is worn on the belt. It constantly infuses a low dose of rapid-acting insulin subcutaneously or intravenously with additional boluses of insulin pumped in immediately prior to meals.

It is hoped that these attempts to emulate normal pancreatic function may be associated with a clearly demonstrable improvement in the morbidity and mortality from the vascular and neural manifestations of diabetes. However, this cannot be possible with this approach. The physicians are looking at the situation too narrowly. The entire person must be considered and not only the pancreas. Palliating one symptom of ill health does not procure overall health.

According to the physician, the objectives of symptom control are twofold: (1) to avoid ketoacidosis, and (2) to control symptoms resulting from hyperglycemia and glucosuria. Symptom control involves constant monitoring of urine glucose levels and plasma glucose levels by laboratory determination. As stated, symptom control does not procure health.