What are diabetes?
Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism— the way the body uses digested food for growth and energy. Most of the food public eat is broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body.After digestion, glucose passes into the bloodstream, everywhere it is used by cells for growth and energy. For glucose to get into cells, insulin must be present. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, a large gland behind the stomach.When public eat, the pancreas automatically produces the right amount of insulin to go glucose from blood into the cells. In public with diabetes, though, the pancreas either produces small or no insulin, or the cells do not respond appropriately to the insulin that is produced. Glucose builds up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body in the urine. Thus, the body loses its main source of fuel even though the blood contains large amounts of glucose.
What are diabetes types?
The three main types of diabetes are
- type 1 diabetes
- type 2 diabetes
- gestational diabetes
What are diabetes type 1
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease results when the body’s system for fi ghting infection—the immune system—turns against a part of the body. In diabetes, the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The pancreas then produces small or no insulin. A person who has type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily to live.
At present, scientists do not know exactly what causes the body’s immune system to attack the beta cells, but they believe that autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors, possibly viruses, are involved. Type 1 diabetes accounts for about 5 to 10 percent of diagnosed diabetes in the United States. It develops most often in children and young adults but can appear at any age.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes ordinarily renovate over a small period, although beta cell destruction can start years earlier. Symptoms may include augmented thirst and urination, continuous hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and extreme fatigue. If not diagnosed and treated with insulin, a person with type 1 diabetes can lapse into a life-threatening diabetic coma, also known as diabetic ketoacidosis.
What are diabetes type 2
The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. About 90 to 95 percent of public with diabetes have type 2. This form of diabetes is most often associated with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, previous history of gestational diabetes, physical inactivity, and certain ethnicities. About 80 percent of public with type 2 diabetes are overweight.
Type 2 diabetes is increasingly being diagnosed in children and adolescents, mainly among African American, Mexican American, and Pacific Islander youth.
When type 2 diabetes is diagnosed, the pancreas is ordinarily producing enough insulin, but for unknown reasons the body cannot use the insulin effectively, a condition called insulin resistance. After several years, insulin production decreases. The result is the same as for type 1 diabetes—glucose builds up in the blood and the body cannot make efficient use of its main source of fuel.
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes renovate gradually. Their onset is not as sudden as in type 1 diabetes. Symptoms may include fatigue, frequent urination, augmented thirst and hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and slow healing of wounds or sores. Some public have no symptoms.
What are diabetes gestational
Some women renovate gestational diabetes late in pregnancy. Although this form of diabetes ordinarily disappears after the birth of the baby, women who have had gestational diabetes have a 40 to 60 percent chance of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years. Maintaining a evenhanded body weight and being physically active may help prevent development of type 2 diabetes.
About 3 to 8 percent of pregnant women in the United States renovate gestational diabetes. As with type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes occurs more often in some ethnic groups and among women with a family history of diabetes. Gestational diabetes is caused by the hormones of pregnancy or a famine of insulin. Women with gestational diabetes may not experience any symptoms.
