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What is diabetes?
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Christopher Green, R.N. B. A. is president of AnestaWeb, Inc. Christopher has been a registered nurse for over ten years and currently works in the intensive care unit. His passion for writing about credible information regarding medicine and health as well as many other global topics is evident as he intertwines his life with AnestaWeb.com. As a global dot com company AnestaWeb strives to offer real people, real information with the ultimate goal of improving quality of life.
imply put, diabetes means the body is unable to utilize its main source of fuel (sugar), and without fuel your body can’t function properly. Diabetes is a condition in which the pancreas, a small organ near the stomach that produces insulin (a hormone), isn’t making enough insulin or the body is unable to use the insulin properly.
Let’s imagine that insulin is a car and its only mission is to drive glucose (sugar) into our cells.
So insulin is like a car and the glucose (sugar) we eat makes its way into this “insulin car” which helps drive the sugar we eat into every cell in our body. This is the only way sugar enters the cell!
With diabetes, there just aren’t enough cars (insulin) to drive the sugar into the billions of cells that make up our bodies. This sugar builds up in our blood stream instead of being used for energy in our cells. So that is why diabetics have to give themselves shots. Diabetics are injecting themselves with a measured amount of insulin or “cars” to drive the excess sugar into their cells!
Diabetes is a serious and growing problem. An estimated 18 million Americans have diabetes, but only approximately 12 million cases are diagnosed. About nine million women have diabetes, and about a third of these don't even know they have it! It is the 5th leading cause of death in women.
Diabetes can lead to serious, even life-threatening complications and serious damage to many parts of the body: the heart, eyes, kidneys, blood vessels, nerves, gums and teeth, feet and legs. Unfortunately, many people first become aware that they have diabetes when they develop one of these problems:
Urinating often (especially at night)
Feeling very tired
Losing weight without trying
Slow healing sores
Very dry, itchy skin
Tingling or numbness in the feet or hands
Sudden vision changes
Nausea, vomiting, or stomach pain (might come with the sudden development of juvenile diabetes)
The three main types of diabetes are:
1. Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile-onset or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM)
2. Type 2 diabetes, also known as adult-onset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM)
3. Gestational diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes
usually occurs in children and young adults and is considered an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease results when the body's system for fighting infection (the immune system) turns against a part of the body. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and destroys them. The pancreas then produces little or no insulin, thereby preventing cells from taking up sugar from blood. Someone with type 1 diabetes needs daily injections of insulin to live. She also needs to follow a strict diet and monitor her blood sugar levels.
Symptoms include increased thirst and urination, constant hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and extreme tiredness. If not diagnosed and treated with insulin, a person can lapse into a life-threatening coma.
Type 2 diabetes
is the most common form of diabetes. About 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. This form of diabetes usually develops in adults over the age of 40 and is most common among adults over age 55. About 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight.
In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas usually produces insulin, but for some reason, the body cannot use the insulin effectively. The end result is the same as for type 1 diabetes, an unhealthy buildup of glucose in the blood and an inability of the body to make efficient use of its main source of fuel.
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes develop gradually and are not as noticeable as in type 1 diabetes. Symptoms include feeling tired or ill, frequent urination (especially at night), unusual thirst, weight loss, blurred vision, frequent infections, and slow healing of sores.
Gestational diabetes develops or is discovered during pregnancy. This type usually disappears when the pregnancy is over, but women who have had gestational diabetes have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in their lives. Gestational diabetes occurs in 2 to 5 percent of pregnancies and at higher rates among African Americans, Hispanic Americans/Latinos, and Native Americans/Alaska Natives.
Cells
Insulin "Drives" the sugar into your cells! Like a Car!
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