A Definition of Diabetes
The word diabetes is common enough. Nearly everyone has heard it and may know someone who has it. But how many know what it is?
Chronic high blood glucose levels characterize the medical condition called diabetes. Diabetes occurs when the cells resist utilizing insulin to absorb glucose or when the system does not produce sufficient insulin.
When too little insulin is produced, Type 1 diabetes occurs. When the cells resist insulin Type 2 diabetes occurs. Type 2 is the most prevalent, happening in 90 % of all cases of diabetes. Type 1 is occurs in approximately 7 % of the cases. Diabetes afflicts some 7% of Americans, the majority of whom are 60 or over.
There are other types, such as gestational diabetes that sometimes afflicts pregnant women, and others. But they are much less common and, in some cases, temporary.
Typical symptoms for either type are abnormally frequent urination, produced by the body’s attempt to clear excess glucose by elimination. As a result, unusual thirst is common, compensated for by drinking higher than average amounts.
Type 1 has historically been known as juvenile onset diabetes, since it affected mostly younger people. Similarly, Type 2 was called adult onset diabetes, since it was found mostly in older adults. In Type 1 diabetes, it’s believed that one of the primary factors causing the disease is an autoimmune system malfunction that affects the pancreas. Type 2 may be caused or worsened by obesity and other factors.
Both Type 1 and Type 2 have genetic factors. Regardless of what initiates the condition, all forms of diabetes are the result of a failure by the body to clear glucose from the blood due to insufficient insulin or malfunctioning insulin use.
Insulin is a hormone. It primarily regulates the blood glucose level. Carbohydrates are used by the body to produce glucose. Glucose is used for energy which fuels muscle movement, cell repair, and numerous other functions. Glucose enters the cells with the help of insulin.
When insulin is produced in too low an amount, or the body’s cells resist the intake of glucose by interfering with insulin’s function, diabetes is the result. Since the pancreas produces the overwhelming majority of the body’s insulin, when some condition causes it to malfunction, diabetes can result.
Whether diabetes is Type 1 or Type 2, it is generally chronic. However, much can now be done to reduce the bad effects of diabetes. Either type of diabetes can be managed with appropriate nutrition and fairly easy treatments. Diabetes also varies in its degree of malfunction. Sometimes the insulin used or made is just slightly insufficient; in other instances, the cells are strongly resistance to insulin or the pancreas makes virtually no insulin.
Since excess glucose left in the bloodstream can lead to a range of complications, diabetes can have a number of follow up effects. But how severe those effects are depends on the severity of the insulin deprivation or resistance.
Related posts:
- Diabetes - An Introduction to Diabetes All forms of diabetes are characterized by a long-term excess...
- Type I Diabetes: No U Turn Many people with type 2 diabetes have to take insulin...
- Diabetes - Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms - By: Ricky Waugh An in-depth report on the...
- Diabetic Diets: Is It Alright To Have Sugar? Once people find out that they have been diagnosed with...
- A Common Gestational Diabetes Symptom Diabetes if basically of three types:type1 diabetes,type2 diabetes and gestational...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
