Characteristics and Management of Diabetes in Australia (Research Paper Sample)

Diabetes
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Introduction
Diabetes is a long-lasting health illness that impacts how the body converts food to vitality. Foods that individuals consume is reduced to sugar and then released into the blood vessels. When the blood sugar levels increase, it causes the pancreas to introduce insulin. Insulin is the agent that helps the sugars into the bloodstream, which are used as energy in the body (Rahman et al., 2021). When an individual has diabetes, it becomes a challenge for their bodies to make insulin or even use the insulin that the body makes efficiently to help the body as energy (American Diabetes Association, 2020). When insulin is not enough, too much sugar is forced to remain in the bloodstream. In due time, blood sugar can cause health-related diseases such as kidney disease or heart disease. There are diverse varieties of diabetes, such as Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. The more common are Type 1 and 2 diabetes. This paper will evaluate the characteristics of diabetes and how it is managed in Australia, considering the initiatives and agencies involved in the management. Additionally, it will give an overview of how it affects other countries, in particular the United States of America, as well as the nurses’ role in managing the chronic condition.
Characteristics of diabetes
Different types of diabetes have other characteristics. For starters, Type 1 diabetes is characterized by insulin production deficiency as the person who has this diabetes cannot produce insulin in their body. Therefore, type 1 diabetic people should have daily insulin administration as their bodies cannot make one. Some symptoms of type 1 diabetes are fatigue, vision difficulties, and hunger (Atkinson et al., 2014). The condition mainly affects kids and young adults.
On the other hand, type 2 diabetes arises when the body cannot yield sufficient insulin and retain standard blood sugar levels. Specifically, it is brought by an excessive increase in body weight and lack of exercise. Most people have type 2 diabetes (Chatterjee et al., 2017). Some of the indicators of type 2 diabetes are increased hunger and excretion of urine. The other type of diabetes is gestational diabetes which mainly occurs in pregnant women and later fades off after birth (Mack and Tomich, 2017). However, it is believed that women who experience gestational diabetes are likely to have type 2 diabetes late in life.
Management of diabetes in Australia
In Australia, diabetes is common, and it is considered a severe effect on the quality of life. The Australian government has played a substantial role in the management of diabetes in Australia, among other organizations. The Australian government has helped to fund and treat diabetes or any diabetes-related challenges in Australia (AGDH, 2021). The government, particularly the Department of Health of Australia, has helped fund various studies carried out to get to know more about the disease. Additionally, through the department of health, the government has been able to carry out and maintain national monitoring and surveillance of the condition. For starters, Australia has formulated the national diabetes strategy vision 2021 to 2030 that will help concentrate on the federal response to diabetes. The national diabetes strategy aims to have a national response that informs how people can use medical care and other resources to understand better the targeted levels of the government that can address diabetes. Regardless people have been living for a long time compared to the past, the prevalence in Australia is not declining. On the contrary, the status in Australia class for more and continues action to ensure that diabetes is managed. The strategy provides a collaborative effort and approach taken by the government and the community to reduce the morbidity and mortality rate of diabetes and its associated problems (AGDH, 2021). It is dedicated to developing, implementing, and evaluating the integrated approach to improve health outcomes by minimizing the economic and social effects of diabetes in Australia. The process of achieving their goals is seen through their awareness and early detection and management of diabetes.
The National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) also gives awareness to people living with diabetes and shows them how to manage their lives. NDSS also provides support services and products to these people. Some of the products they issue include syringes and needles, insulin pump consumables, and blood glucose test kits (AGDH, 2021). Diabetes Australia works as a national body that collaborates with patients, healthcare givers, and researchers to advocate and implement policies and campaigns to create awareness. They also offer support to people living with the types of diabetes mentioned earlier. They also promote and develop programs and policies that help in risk assessment for the disease, which allows them to have early detention, hence preventing it mainly in the high-risk populations in Australia, such as the aboriginals (RACGP, n.d). Generally, these programs and initiatives in Australia help encourage people through education, where they give them information on how they should change their lifestyles (Shepherd et al., 2017). For example, they should change their lifestyles by eating healthy foods that are lower in fats and calories, especially vegetables and fruits, and get involved in regular physical aerobic exercises that help them lose excess pounds, keeping the body healthy.
Comparison of management diabetes in Australia and USA
The management of diabetes in Australia is not very different internationally and in the United States of America. However, a comparison of Australia and the USA will help get more information on how the two countries manage diabetes. The comparison will also include how political and financial influences affect how diabetes is addressed in the two countries. In Australia, we have seen that diabetes is ranked at the top among the diseases causing deaths in the country. The government has introduced funding to several researchers and initiatives that have collaborated to ensure that they get more information about the disease to prevent and assist those living with diabetes (White et al., 2020). In the United States, diabetes is also considered in the top ten conditions that cause death in the country. People in poor communities in the US are mostly more exposed to getting diabetes due to their environments. The poor environments aggregate the prevention of the risk factors such as unhealthy diet, which increases the chances of people in the US getting diabetes (Tao et al., 2015). The underlying cause of many lifestyle risk factors in the US is discrimination and social-economic factors among indigenous people. The same case applies to Australia, even though they have a better healthcare system than the US. On Gross Domestic Product, the USA spends more on healthcare than Australia, yet there are still gaps in their healthcare system (Papanicolas et al., 2018). In the US, type 2 diabetes is a significant medical concern, the same as in Australia. Some of the interventions that the US has incorporated in ensuring that they prevent the rise of diabetic cases is by encouraging people to change their lifestyle behaviors and take medications that are said to delay the onset of diabetes (Konchak et al., 2016). The Affordable Care Act has helped the US in the prevention of diabetes. The two countries can decide to learn from each other to improve their initiatives to manage diabetes effectively.
Political and financial influences on management of diabetes
Political and financial factors have impacts on how diabetes is managed in Australia and also in the USA. Political and economic factors can be classified in the social determinants of health, wherein both are increasingly linked to diabetes (Fisher et al., 2016). Diabetes in the US has led to economic challenges due to the increased need to utilize health resources to carry out research and projects to learn more about the disease. For instance, in 2017, the estimated cost of diabetes diagnosis was approximately three hundred and twenty-seven billion, leading to less productivity (American Diabetes Association, 2018). When there are adjustments in the economic expenditures, it also increases the cost of treatment of diabetes which makes financial constraints appear in the health sector in the US.
Similarly, Australia also has economic challenges, which can be a problem in entirely preventing the disease. The cost of diabetes in Australia is approximately six billion dollars for individuals with type 2 diabetes and roughly five hundred and seventy million dollars for persons with type 1 diabetes. The financial challenges in Australia can also lead to slower implementation and funding of initiatives that help manage the disease (Samuel, 2019). Political factors such as the policies made by the government can help influence how diabetes is contained in both Australia and US. Therefore, the governments should make policies that encourage healthy lifestyles and impose taxes on items considered to make people get diabetes (Baker et al., 2017).
International organizations response to diabetes
The response to diabetes is not only done at the national level. Some organizations are internationally involved in responding to diabetes. They help different countries face a public health challenge to prevent and create awareness of the disease (Bommer et al., 2018). Among the international agencies that have helped to respond to diabetes is the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO organization has helped to support and enable countries to u...