Diabetes Flashcards
What are some features of vascular disease?
Pale discolouration
Loss of hair
Cool temperature
Absent pulses (begin on the foot and move distally)
Reduced cap refill time
Evidence of gangrene or infection
What 4 things are checked for in an annual diabetic screening?
General health
Glycemic control
Development of complications
Cardiovascular risk
What causes the development of complication in diabetes?
Prolonged/uncontrolled hyperglycaemia
What are some feature of neuropathy?
Clawing of toes, loss of plantar arch
Neuropathic ulcers
Joint deformity (Charcot’s joint)
Glove and stocking sensory loss (check w/ monofilament)
Loss of vibration sense, proprioception and pain
Loss of ankle jerk reflex
Which CN is most likely to be affected in DM?
Why?
What position would the eye be in if it is affected?
CNIII
Due to vasculitis
Down and out
What are the 5 main aims in physical examination of a diabetic pt?
Assess for diabetic emergencies
Establishing the presence of complications
Assessment of cardiovascular risk factors
Revealing signs of auto-immune disease
Assessment of injection sites
What is DM?
What is it characterised by?
A complex metabolic disorder
Characterised by chronic hyperglycaemia due to relative insulin deficiency, resistance or both
What is the global incidence of DM?
1 in 11
What are the 3 major categories of complications that happen in DM?
Metabolic disturbance
Macrovasuclar disease
Microvascular disease
What are the 3 macrovascular diseases that can occur in DM?
Stroke
Coronary artery disease
Peripheral vascular disease
What are the 3 microvascular diseases that can occur in DM?
retinopathy
nephropathy
neuropathy
A diagnosis of diabetes in a man or woman at the age of 55 years reduces life expectancy by how much?
5-6 years
Being diagnosed w/ diabetes what which age has a limited impact of life expectancy?
80 years of age
What is the most common cause of death (2/3) in ppl w/ DM age 65+?
Heart disease
Where is insulin synthesised?
β cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans
What circulation does insulin enter after it is secreted?
Portal circulation
What is the prime target organ of insulin?
What percentage of secreted insulin is extracted and degraded by this organ?
Which organ degrades the the rest?
Liver
50%
Kidneys
Why is C-peptide a good index of the rate of insulin secretion?
Bc its only partially extracted by the liver
What is the normal pattern of insulin circulation in a 24hr cycle?
A constant slow background rate secreted throughout the day
A rapid increase in circulating insulin upon eating, falling back down to baseline levels after 2 hrs
What is the principle organ of glucose homeostasis?
Liver
What does the liver do w/ glucose?
It absorbs and stores glucose as glycogen in the post-absorptive state
and
releases it into circulation between meals to match the rate of glucose utilisation by peripheral tissues
The liver combines three-carbon molecules derived from breakdown of fat (glycerol), muscle glycogen (lactate) and protein (e.g. alanine) into the six-carbon glucose molecule by the process of what?
gluconeogenesis
More than 90% of the approximately 200 g of glucose utilised daily is derived from what? (2)
Where does the remainder come from?
liver glycogen and hepatic gluconeogenesis
Renal gluconeogenesis
Which organ is the major consumer of glucose and is not dependent on insulin?
The brain
Tissues such as muscle and fat have what kind of glucose transporters?
Insulin-dependant
How is glucose used by the muscle?
Stored as glycogen
or
Metabolised into lactate/CO2/H2O
What happens to the glucose used by the brain?
Its oxidised into CO2 and H2O
How does fat use glucose?
Uses glucose as a substrate for triglyceride synthesis
What is C-peptide?
A biochemically inert peptide fragment of proinsulin that splits off in the secretory process
Equimolar quantities of insulin and C-peptide are released into the circulation via the ‘regulated pathway’. A small amount of insulin is secreted by the β cell directly via the ‘constitutive pathway’ , which bypasses the secretory granules.