Diabetes in australia Assignment PDF

Running head: DIABETES IN AUSTRALIA
DIABETES IN AUSTRALIA
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DIABETES IN AUSTRALIA
Diabetes:
Diabetes can be defined as the chronic condition, which occurs by the higher levels of
sugar in the blood. It is caused when the beta cells of the Langerhans of the pancreas stops
secreting insulin that helps in controlling the blood sugar level. The insulin hormone helps the
cells receptive of the glucose present in the blood for respiration and in this way controls the
blood sugar level of the body (Fenwick et al. 2018). When the individuals develop diabetes, the
insulin can no longer make the cells receptive to glucose and hence the cells can no longer take
any more glucose. The glucose concentration increases in the blood and this situation results in
various metabolic and physiological disorders. Various complications remain associated with
this disorder making the affected individuals suffer from poor quality life and many life-
threatening situations (Davis et al. 2017).
Extent of the problem:
The Australian Bureau of statistics 2014 to 2015 national health survey has stated that
more than one in every 20 Australian adults accounting for about 6.1% of 1.2 million people
suffers from diabetes. An estimated number of about 1 in every 5 Australian adults aged 75 and
more accounting for about 19% are seen to be suffering from diabetes in the year 2014-2015 in
comparison to that of 1.3 % of people belonging to the age cohort of 18 to 44. Diabetes was
found to be the underlying cause of around 4770 deaths in the year of 2016 (aihw.gov.au 2018).
It had led to about 16450 deaths that accounted for about 10% of all the types of death in the
nation. It has been seen that around the time between 2009 and 2014, the deaths due to type 1
diabetes had reduced by 20% but rose by 10% for people with type 2 diabetes.

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DIABETES IN AUSTRALIA
Risk factors and protective factors:
The risk factors for type 1 diabetes are extensively researched. The type 1 diabetes is
mainly seen to occur in individuals who have family members affected with the same disorder.
However, many other environmental factors and even different types of exposure to the some of
the viral infections have been found to be linked with the risk of developing the disorder
(Holmes et al. 2016). The different types of risk factors that are associated with type 2 diabetes
include family history of diabetes, being overweight, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity,
increasing age. The other risk factors include high blood pressure, ethnicity, history of
gestational diabetes, poor nutrition during pregnancy and impaired glucose tolerance. Having
low levels of HDL or good cholesterol and high levels of triglycerides can also be one of the
factors that contribute to development of diabetes.
The socio-cultural, socioeconomic and environmental determinants:
Lack of proper education and health literacy is one of the social determinants that lead
to diabetes. The individuals are seen to follow lifestyle interventions and food habits that make
them more prone to diabetes. Lack of health literacy makes them undertake wrong healthcare
choices. Moreover, they also do not have knowledge to identify their symptoms of diabetes and
they neither learn the importance of participating in screening sessions of diabetes (Craike et al.
2017). All these make them more prone to develop diabetes due to lack of health literacy and
their inability to take correct healthcare decisions and fail to manage their symptoms as well.
Lack of income as well as unemployment is indirectly associated with the occurrence
of diabetes. It has been found that poor income makes people more prone to live on fast foods or
take-away foods that are high on calorie. They cannot afford organic food, which are nutrient