Diabetic Care: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Observations

This article discusses the prevalence and risk factors of diabetes in Australia, along with anticipated observations. It covers the associated statistics, risk factors, and symptoms of type 1 diabetes. The observations of a patient with high WBCS count, high blood glucose level, and presence of ketone bodies are also discussed. The article includes references for further reading.

Running head: DIABETIC CARE
Diabetic Care
Name of the student
University name
Author’s note

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DIABETIC CARE
Table of Contents
Prevalence and associated statistics of diabetes in Australia.....................................................2
Risk factors of diabetes..............................................................................................................2
Identification of anticipated observations..................................................................................3
References..................................................................................................................................4

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Prevalence and associated statistics of diabetes in Australia
There is high prevalence of type 1 diabetes in Australia with almost 280 Australians
developing type 1 diabetes every day. Reports have shown that at least 1.7 million
Australians have diabetes, out of which up to 500,000 goes undiagnosed (Huxley et al. 2015).
The total annual cost of diabetes on Australian healthcare is estimated at $14.6 million
(Guariguata et al. 2014). Additionally, it could lead to a lot of health complications such as
blindness and amputations. From surveys conducted it has been estimated that between 25-
35% Australians are affected with diabetic retinopathy every year which leads to macular
degeneration in due course of time (Guariguata et al. 2014). More than 4,400 amputations
occur as a result of diabetes every year (Huxley et al. 2015).
Risk factors of diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the liver produces little or no insulin.
The disease could be identified through a number of symptoms such as – increased thirst,
frequent urination, weight loss, fatigue, irritability, weakness etc. The causes for the type 1
diabetes are either genetic or caused by viruses (Martín-Timón et al. 2014).
Some of the risk factors of diabetes could be discussed over here such as the
development of a condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which leads to a serious
condition known as diabetic coma (Huxley et al. 2015). In the absence of glucose the body
metabolises the excess fat producing ketone bodies, which makes the blood more acidic. In
this respect, some of the signs of the patient could be tested for the presence of DKA such as
dry mouth, high blood glucose level, high levels of ketone in the urine, frequent need to
urinate. The urine analysis of James showed positive for the presence of ketone bodies.
Hence , DKA cannot completely rule out in the patient.

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Identification of anticipated observations
Form the oberservations of the clinical conditions of James; it was found that the
patient has high WBCS count of 18*109/L, whereas the normal range should be between 4.5
to 11.0 × 109/L. The normal blood glucose level in the patient should be between 7.8-11.1
mmol/L, where as the patient recorded blood glucose level at 25.0 mmol/L. The urine showed
presence of ketone bodies along with creatinine content of 123.7 μ mol/L ,whereas the
normal limits are within 106.1 μ mol/L. A number of complex symptoms were expressed by
the patient such as mild fever, cough along with crackles in the right lower chest. Since the
patient was suffering from type 1 diabetes, it reduces the immunity making one prone to
development of fluid in the lungs or chest cavity resulting in the crackles in the lower chest.
Additionally, the high creatinine content also present risks of kidney damage in the patient.

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References
Guariguata, L., Whiting, D.R., Hambleton, I., Beagley, J., Linnenkamp, U. and Shaw, J.E.
2014, ‘Global estimates of diabetes prevalence for 2013 and projections for 2035’, Diabetes
research and clinical practice, vol. 103, no. 2, pp.137-149.
Huxley, R.R., Peters, S.A., Mishra, G.D. and Woodward, M. 2015, ‘Risk of all-cause
mortality and vascular events in women versus men with type 1 diabetes: a systematic review
and meta-analysis’,The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, vol. 3, no. 3, pp.198-206.
Martín-Timón, I., Sevillano-Collantes, C., Segura-Galindo, A. and del Cañizo-Gómez, F.J.
2014, ‘Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease: have all risk factors the same strength?’,
World journal of diabetes, vol. 5, no. 4, p.444.