1. Running head: DIABETES MELLITUS AND QUALITY OF LIFE 1
Diabetes Mellitus and Quality of Life
Trinh Diep
St. Cloud State University
Dr. Kuhlman
COUN 652

2. DIABETES MELLITUS AND QUALITY OF LIFE 2
Introduction
“Diabetes mellitus is a seven leading cause of death in the United States” (Center for
Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), 2014). Diabetes is not a curable disease, thus, people
with diabetes mellitus need to change their life styles and follow medication regimen to manage
their symptoms. One of many reasons why I am interested in learning about diabetes mellitus is
my grandmother has type two diabetes and she suffers from various complications of diabetes.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that progresses through individuals’ lives. According to
CDC (2014), “in 2012, there were 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3% of the population, had
diabetes” (p.1). The number of people who have diabetes has increased dramatically. It is
estimated that “1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year” (American
Diabetes Association, 2016). “Compared with other groups, non-Hispanic white children and
adolescents had the highest rate of new cases of type 1 diabetes” (CDC, 2014, p.3).
Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases that affects human body’s glucose metabolism. It
is characterized by high glucose level in the blood stream over a long period of time resulting
from problem with insulin production or insulin effectiveness. Insulin, which is a hormone
produced by our pancreas, helps balance human body’s blood glucose level. If insulin is not
produced or not working properly, glucose in the blood stream cannot get into human cells,
where it is metabolized to generate energy for human body. There are three common types of
diabetes include type one diabetes, type two diabetes, and gestational diabetes.
Type one diabetes mellitus results from human’s pancreas cannot produces insulin.
Individuals with type one diabetes need to depend on synthetic insulin injection or insulin pump
to help regulate their blood glucose level. Therefore, this type of diabetes is also called insulin

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dependent diabetes mellitus. Commonly, it is diagnosed at a younger age. “The peak age for
diagnosis is in the mid-teens” (CDC, 2014, p. 9).
Different from type one diabetes, type two diabetes results from insulin malfunction or
insulin resistant. With this type of diabetes, human pancreas still produces insulin, but human’s
muscle, liver, and fat cells do not use insulin properly, which results in insulin resistant (CDC,
2014). Type two diabetes is commonly diagnosed at an older age. Thus, it used to be called non-
insulin dependent diabetes mellitus or adult onset diabetes. Common risk factors include older
age, obesity, physical inactivity, family history of diabetes, gestational diabetes, races, and
ethnicities. People with type two diabetes can take oral medication or insulin injection to help
control their blood glucose level. Some may change their life styles by increasing daily activity
and eating healthy diet which can help reduce blood glucose level.
The third common type of diabetes is gestational diabetes. “Gestational diabetes is a form
of glucose intolerance diagnosed during the second or third trimester of pregnancy” (CDC, 2014,
p. 10). Risk factors for gestational diabetes is similar to risk factors for type two diabetes.
Increasing in blood glucose level increases health risks for the mother and the fetus during
pregnancy. Healthy diet and physical activity during pregnancy can help maintain optimal blood
glucose level and prevent future health complications, such as obesity or developing type two
diabetes.
Many people whom I know in my life normally overlook the complications of diabetes.
Uncontrolled diabetes can cause damages to our microvascular and macrovascular systems
which will result in macular degeneration, heart disease, kidneys disease, and nerves damage.
These damages can progress and cause more complications and disabilities. Due to severe
damages to the vascular systems and nerves, people with diabetes will have low blood

4. DIABETES MELLITUS AND QUALITY OF LIFE 4
circulation and lose sensation to their extremities. As a result, individuals with diabetes are prone
to injury, which may affect their life quality. Many of them have to have their lower extremities
amputated. According to CDC (2014), “In 2010, about 73,000 non-traumatic lower-limb
amputations were performed in adults aged 20 years or older with diagnosed diabetes” (p.6).
People with amputated extremities suffer significantly from phantom pain and depression which
can affect these individuals’ abilities to work and live a happy life. Along with amputation of
extremities, diabetes mellitus is also one of many leading cause for heart diseases, kidneys
disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular diseases. These complications of diabetes mellitus can
cause significant burden for the society due to long-term health care cost for disease treatment
and prevention.
Even though diabetes mellitus is not a visible disability, it can cause many life
threatening symptoms if the blood sugar level is not maintained in the normal range. Human
body’s fasting blood sugar level normally ranges from 70 to 100 mg/dl. Lower than 70 mg/dl or
higher than 100 mg/ dl can causes some sever symptoms that will affect individuals’ health and
quality of life. Blood sugar lower than the normal range will cause dizzy, excessive sweat,
excessive hunger, headache, shakiness, blurred vision, and more serious symptoms will be heart
palpitation and confusion. Blood sugar higher than the normal range can cause blurred vision,
headache, excessive third, dry mouth, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, and confusion.
Experiencing these symptoms of diabetes, individuals are prone to injury and their organs will be
effective by the abnormal level of blood sugar.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease which may progress rapidly if the blood sugar level
is not maintain within the normal range. People who well maintain their blood glucose level
within the normal blood sugar range generally will have optimal health condition. However,

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managing blood sugar level requires individuals to strictly follow medication regimen, healthy
diet, and change their life style which are not easy tasks. As rehabilitation counselors, we must
understand not only signs and symptoms, prognosis, and complications of this diseases, but also
clients’ life style, routine, feeling, and the challenges that prevent them from following the
treatment. Counselors need to be mindful about challenges which clients have overcome and do
not label clients as noncompliance when clients stop following their treatment. Besides physical
health, counselors also need to address clients’ psychosocial and emotional heath. In addition,
counselors may collaborate with different healthcare providers and social workers to help clients
manage their diseases, address any psychological problems, and obtain and maintain
employments or educations, and ultimately, increase their quality of life.
Although employment helps increase life quality of individuals with disability, a large
number of individuals with diabetes are unemployed. According to Sabo and Thornburg (2015),
individuals with diabetes are 2.5 times more likely to be rejected as a job applicant. Many
employers reject applicants with diabetes because these applicants may increase employers’
healthcare cost. Employees with diabetes may require flexible schedule so that they can take
their blood sugar level when needed and time for short break in order to have snack or small
meal to maintain blood sugar level. Therefore, rehabilitation counselors need to be aware of the
needs of individuals with diabetes, the prognosis of this conditions, and diabetes management.
Rehabilitation counselors need to connect individuals with diabetes with different vocational
services. Researches have shown that individuals with diabetes who have higher education, job
coaching, and job placement services tend to have secured employments and success in their
positions.

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References
American Diabetes Association. (2016). Statistics about diabetes. In Statistics. Retrieved from
http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). National diabetes statistics report. Retrieved
from http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/statsreport14/national-diabetes-report-web.pdf
Sabo, C. W. & Thornburg, C. (2015). Predicting vocational rehabilitation services that contribute
to successful outcomes for individuals with diabetes mellitus. Journal of Rehabilitation
(81), 1.