DIETARY FIBRE AND DIABETES Available to Purchase

Diabetes mellitus is a disease with a long recorded history. There are surviving medical texts which show that for centuries physicians have noted the characteristic sweetness of the urine passed by some of their patients. We now know that the disease reflects a failure of the pancreas to secrete adequate amounts of insulin, the hormone which normally maintains the concentration of glucose in the blood within fine limits. In diabetes, the excessive level of sugar in the bloodstream can give rise to metabolic disorders, abnormal losses of sugar and fluid in the urine, and chronic complications caused by damage to the blood vessels. The primary aim in the treatment of the disease is to assist, or even take over the role of the patient's malfunctioning pancreas, and thus hold the concentration of blood glucose as close as possible to the normal range. This can be achieved in mild diabetes by means of a carefully controlled diet, but in many cases this measure has to be coupled with the use of drugs, or with regular injections of insulin.