Case Study of Type 2 Diabetes

Running head: CASE STUDY OF TYPE 2 DIABETES
CASE STUDY OF TYPE 2 DIABETES
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CASE STUDY OF DIABETES
Part A:
Background:
Diabetes can be described as the chronic disorder which had presently taken the shape of
an epidemic in the nation. The sugar levels in the blood are mainly controlled by insulin which is
actually a hormone that is released from the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans from the
pancreas. Insulin helps the cells of the body to become responsive to the presence of glucose in
the blood and thereby absorbs the glucose from the blood to contribute to the respiration process
(DeFronzo et al. 2015). There are a plethora of risk factors for onset and progression of diabetes.
Although some factors are heritable, rest is preventable. Obesity is the chief risk factor, with
millions of individuals facing obesity across the globe, which increases their likelihood of
suffering from the metabolic syndrome. Sedentary lifestyle and lack of sufficient exercise also
damages the health. In addition, consumption of a western diet, with a dependence on poor
quality fats, processed foods, and less fiber content is a chief contributor (Rawshani et al. 2018).
Hence, the glucose level of the blood increases making the patient suffers from various
complications. It has become one of the most concerning chronic health disorders in the nation
affecting for about 85% of the people in the nation.
Key issues:
Around 1.7 million people in the nation are currently suffering from diabetes with
100000 people being affected by it in the past year (Diabetes Australia 2018). Diabetes can
result to huge number of complications which in turn increases the suffering of the patients. One
of them is the cardiovascular disorders along with nerve kidney damage called neuropathy.
Studies have found increased association between kidney damage of nephropathy and eye

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CASE STUDY OF DIABETES
damage of (retonipathy) (American Diabetes Association 2018). It would also result in causing
food damage. Nerve damage in the feet as well as poor blood flow to the feet can increase the
risk if various types of foot complications (Sullivan and Ghushchyan 2016). When left untreated,
cuts and blisters can help in developing serious infections which would not heal properly. These
infections might ultimately require toe, foot as well as leg amputation (Iglay et al. 2016).
Diabetes also increases the risk of an individual to develop skin problems like that of
bacterial and fungal infections. Many of the studies have even stated that that diabetes had
resulted in hearing impairment; even depression symptoms have been found to be associated
with diabetes (Chiang et al. 2015). The total annual cost of the impact of diabetes in the nation is
estimated to be around $14.6 billion. About 280 people in the nation are being affected everyday
in the nation counting to about one person every five minutes (Diabetes Australia 2018).
Recommendation:
Nursing professionals should be focusing more on preventive measures for treatment of
diabetes than on curative measures. It has become one of the health burdens in the nation and in
order to reduce the prevalence of the disorder as well as the expenditure of healthcare resources
because of diabetes, undertaking preventive care strategies is important. Nursing professionals
should arrange for screening sessions that will determine the BMI of the population, thus
facilitating identification of obese individuals, who are at a high-risk for diabetes
(Diabetesaustralia.com.au 2016). This would help the nurse to identify the vulnerable individuals
as well as the already affected individuals and accordingly help them to develop knowledge
about how to manage the disorders successfully.

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CASE STUDY OF DIABETES
In addition, nursing professionals are also required to encourage the patients to take care of their
skin, eye, foot and oral health for preventing further complications. Dietary modification,
undertaking exercises and physical activities and overcoming sedentary lifestyle are important to
overcome the symptoms of diabetes (Diabetesaustralia.com.au 2016). Australian National
Diabetes Strategy 2016-2020 has also put forward 7 important goals that need to be met by the
governmental and non-governmental organizations to overcome the present health crisis. These
are preventing people from developing diabetes, promoting awareness, reducing occurrences of
diabetes related complications, reducing impacts of pre-existing diabetes, reducing impact of
priority groups, strengthening prevention and care and others (Diabetes Australia 2018). In
addition, the policy also considers contemporary strategies to diabetes services; role of
governments, role of stakeholders, evaluates alignment of current efforts with recognized needs,
maximizes the well-organized use of accessible resources, and articulates visualization
for detecting preventing, and managing diabetes. In addition, the policy has also gained support
from Primary Health Care Advisory Group, Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce, and
National Strategic Framework for Chronic Conditions that work towards providing better care to
people, aligning evidence with services, and developing partnership with stakeholders and
jurisdictions, respectively (Department of Health 2015).
Conclusion:
From the above discussion, it can be seen that diabetes has become one of the most
concerning chronic health disorder in the nation of Australia becoming a health burden on the
national economy. It is very important for nursing professionals to reduce the prevalence of
diabetes in the nation and therefore they should take up preventive measures. Developing health
promotion and health education to make people aware of the disorder can help vulnerable