The long term prospects for a person with diabetes are not set in stone. In many cases, they are a matter of choice.

In order to head off problems, you must understand the possible complications that accompany diabetes and its treatments.

Those taking insulin can experience a low glucose level. Hypoglycemia can lead to several ill effects. In extreme cases, coma is possible. At milder levels, muscle weakness or headache are common.

Missing an insulin dose or having an infection can cause diabetic acidosis-a life threatening condition. Type 1 diabetics are more prone to diabetic acidosis than Type 2 diabetics are.

Insulin helps regulate blood glucose levels, but it also plays a role in burning body fat. When the insulin level drops drastically, the body starts burning fat, producing a characteristic ketone smell from the breath. The body tries to reduce the condition by inducing rapid breathing. But that strategy can only succeed to a certain degree.

Another complication from diabetes is diabetic retinopathy in which the retina degenerates because of damaged blood vessels. Diabetes often also leads to kidney malfunction, as the glomeruli are slowly destroyed.

Fortunately, these complications can be avoided.

The possible long term effects of diabetes are very well known and there have been developed a number of strategies for dealing with them.

The main tactic is patient self-management. You can keep your insulin and glucose at proper levels with the proper techniques and you can keep yourself fit so that your body can withstand the strain of diabetes. You can also keep your blood pressure regulated so that high blood pressure does not contribute to your health problems.

Methods are being developed which go beyond self-care. These methods target the two primary malfunctions of diabetes: insufficient insulin production (Type 1) and inadequate insulin use (Type 2). While there are other types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2 account for 95% of long-term cases. These new methods include organ transplant and gene therapy.

Organ transplant for a diabetic means replacing the malfunctioning pancreas of a Type 1 diabetic with another pancreas. The surgery is done only if other methods of treatment have failed. In the past thirty years, transplant methods have greatly improved. New drugs now can keep the immune system from rejecting the organ. Gene therapy may soon be used to eliminate the need for autoimmune suppression medications.

Beyond being an adjunct in aiding immune system suppression, gene therapy can have a more direct role. Research is being conducted to correct autoimmune disorders, one type of which causes Type 1 diabetes. Even Type 2 diabetes sufferers have hope as well, though.

Type 2 patients will benefit if gene therapy can improve the efficiency of the body’s use of insulin. It may be possible to manipulate the gene that regulates the making of insulin beta cells.

New research is continually progressing. In the future, this research may lead to better treatments for diabetes or perhaps a cure.