Acute and chronic forms are recognized, but there is no essential difference, except that in the former the patients are younger, the course more rapid, and the emaciation more marked. Beyond the large quantity, the outstanding feature of the urine is the presence of sugar, varying from 2 per cent in mild cases to 10 per cent in severe cases.
The disease is due to disturbance in the carbohydrate metabolism, with the result that these carbohydrates are not properly assimilated, but passed as sugar in the urine. Much research has been undertaken to find what organ or organs of the body cause this defect in metabolism, and recent work in connection with the pancreas has established a definite relationship between cells in that organ and the disease.
In treatment the main consideration is to reduce the carbohydrates in the dietary, and many diets have been produced for this purpose.
Diabetic patients may take:—liquids: clear soups, lemonade, coffee, tea, cocoa (without sugar), soda-water, and such like waters or milk (in moderation); animal foods: fish of all sorts, fresh meat, poultry, game, eggs, butter, cream-cheese; vegetables: lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, radishes, asparagus, water-cress, cucumbers, chicory, mustard; fruits: lemons, oranges, and in moderation currants, plums, cherries, pears, apples (tart), melons, raspberries, strawberries, nuts: bread: gluten bread, almond or coco-nut biscuits. A substitute for bread is one of the greatest difficulties, as many gluten foods are very unpalatable.
Further, it is important to observe strict personal hygiene and to take moderate exercise, lead a regular, quiet life in an equable climate, and above all to avoid worries of any sort. In acute cases the disease may run a very rapid course, coma frequently supervening a few days before death, but chronic cases may live for ten to twenty years.
Diabetic Sugar. Sugar is present in normal urine in very small amount—so small that it cannot be detected by the ordinary tests. In diabetes the percentage of sugar in the urine may rise, in mild cases, to 1½ to 2 per cent, and in severe cases it may reach to 10 per cent.
Diablerets (dē-a˙b-lė-rā), Les, a mountain group of the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, between the cantons Vaud and Valais. The highest peak has a height of 10,620 feet.
Diachylon (dī-ak´i-lon), a substance prepared by heating together oxide of lead or litharge, olive-oil, and water, until the combination is complete, and replacing the water as it evaporates. It is used for curing ulcers, and is the basis of many plasters.
Di´adem (Gr. diadein, to bind round), an ancient ornament of royalty. It was originally a head-band or fillet made of silk, linen, or wool, worn round the temples and forehead, the ends being tied behind and let fall on the neck, as seen in old representations of the diadem of the Indian Bacchus. In later times it was usually set with pearls and other precious stones. The term is also used as equivalent to crown or coronet.