NSG 4055 Week 1 Project – Identifying a Group

Diabetes occurs when the body is not able to produce sufficient insulin or cannot respond to insulin appropriately (Abler & Vezina, 2018). I selected diabetes as a topic for chronic diseases. Being a nurse working with an endocrinologist, I chose this topic to discuss. It is a critical disease that people should be aware of. However, I find individuals with diabetes do not consider it as a serious problem. They are unaware of the various complications that uncontrolled blood sugar levels can cause. In order to have an enhanced understanding of the significance of diabetes knowledge, it is important to understand what the illness actually is.

Literature Review

In a body, the hormone insulin is produced by the pancreas. It is necessary for all the body cells to absorb and utilize sugar or glucose (Xu & Xue, 2016). In some individuals, the pancreas cannot produce sufficient insulin. In other cases, it can make insulin, but the body does not know how to handle it. This can lead to increased blood sugar, which consecutively leads to diabetes.

Diabetes has three different types. The most typical type is diabetes mellitus or type 2 diabetes. It occurs when the pancreas cannot produce sufficient insulin, and the individual becomes resistant to the insulin it produces. The other type is diabetes insipidus or type 1 diabetes (Lal, 2016). It occurs when a person becomes independent of insulin as the pancreas does not produce insulin. Gestational diabetes is the third type of diabetes, which occurs during the course of pregnancy. Screening during pregnancy is significant as it may result in long-term health complications for mothers and children