A step-by-step breakdown of type 2 diabetes using a Girl Scout cookie analogy to explain insulin resistance and glucose delivery. The video covers how obesity and genetics trigger insulin resistance, the liver's role in adding more glucose to the bloodstream, and four chronic complications: retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy, and poor wound healing.
Hey there, friend. In this video, I'm gonna break down the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes for you step by step. So you do not need to stress about it anymore for nursing school. You will finally understand it after this video. So write love in the comments below and hit that like button to let me know that you love this video. And of course, do not forget to subscribe to this channel. Now let's dive in. So diabetes in a nutshell means that the cells aren't responding to insulin any. Now, we call this insulin resistance. And the pancreas doesn't make as much insulin anymore. Now, insulin is that little hormone that allows glucose to move into the body cells. It's the key that the glucose needs to get into the cell. So without it, the cells can't use glucose for energy and it just stays around in the blood and floats around outside of the cells. Now, I like to think about insulin as a girl Scout selling cookies. And you are the cell. So normally you're wanting your that yummy glucose. So the Girl Scout, the insulin comes around and gives you your cookies. But during diabetes, there are two problems here. The Girl Scout got sick and didn't show up to sell you your cookies, so there's not enough insulin and you're busy watching TV and wouldn't have heard the doorbell anyway, which is insulin resistance. Now, of course you know me and you know that I love breaking down these tough nursing school concepts for you into super, super simple steps for you to follow. So you won't these steps in your textbook or anywhere else. So don't go looking for them. I just made them up here to help learn all of this faster. So let's walk through the pathophysiology of diabetes step by step. So step number one of the pathophysiology of diabetes, there is a trigger that causes the cells to become insulin resistant or resistant to that insulin. Now, we're not exactly sure why this happens in the first place, but there are several factors that have been shown to increase the risk, like obesity and genetic factors. Now step number two is that the cells are resistant to insulin. So in step number one, there was a trigger that caused that, things like lifestyle and genetics. And now the cells are becoming more and more resistant to insulin and so the glucose can't get into the body cells. So in our example, this is like the Girl Scout coming over to your house, but you're watching TV and didn't hear the doorbell ring. You didn't buy her Girl Scout cookies. Now step number three, is a lack of insulin production. Now, the Girl Scout, that insulin gets sick and doesn't come to your house for a while. She's resting at home. So even though you may want some of those cookies, you can't get any because she didn't come over to your house. So there is a lack of insulin here. That is not enough insulin to give glucose to the cells. Now, step number four is hyperglycemia. So both of these factors that insulin resistance and the lack of insulin production lead to hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia just means that there's all of this extra glucose that's hanging around in the blood. It can't get into the cell, so it's just hanging out outside the cells. Now here's where things get a little more sticky. The liver sees that the cells don't have the glucose that they need, so it breaks down. It's stored up glucose. It's glycogen stores to give some extra to the cells. It like you calling the Girl Scout cookie manufacturer and asking them to send you more cookies. So they do, but then the Girl Scout is still sick in bed and she can't bring them to you. Now, in this example, Amazon and UPS don't exist. So there's all of these extra cookies floating around in the world because that poor little Girl Scout isn't able to do her job. Now, it's the same thing here. There's a hormone called glucagon that tells the liver to make some glucose. So the liver is going to break down its extra glycogen stores into glucose for the cells to use. But there's still not enough insulin to give that glucose to the cells. So this just adds to all that extra glucose that's floating around in the blood, and the blood sugar level keeps rising and rising. Now, step number five of the pathophysiology of diabetes is possible. Complications. There are a lot of complications that can happen with type 2 diabetes. Things like blurry vision because all of that extra glucose clogs up and scratches the tiny blood vessels in the eyes, infections that won't heal, neuropathy and damage to the kidneys. Now, overall, these complications are caused by that excessive amount of glucose in the bloodstream because all of that glucose just can't get into the cells to be used for energy. Now, I hope this breakdown of the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes was super duper helpful for you. Be sure to check out the other med surg videos we have as well as the videos on diabetic ketoacidosis to help you understand how diabetes and diabetic ketoacidosis really relate to each other. And write love in the comments below and hit that like button if this video helped you out for nursing school, my friend. And of course, do not forget to subscribe to this channel and click the little bell icon and I will see you in the next video.
