What is Diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus, or simply 'diabetes,' is a disease where levels of sugar in the blood become dangerously high. When food is eaten, the body converts it into a form of sugar called glucose that can be used by cells in the body for energy. An organ called the pancreas secretes a hormone called insulin that acts like a key, 'unlocking' cell walls so that glucose can be absorbed and used. When something in this process goes wrong, and glucose builds up to dangerous levels, diabetes happens. There are a couple of different types of diabetes, depending on what is causing glucose levels to rise. Type 1 diabetes happens when the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Usually diagnosed in childhood, this type used to be called juvenile diabetes. It affects about 5% of all diabetics. We don't know what causes the pancreas to shut down, but it is thought that a virus might trigger an immune reaction, where the body attacks and destroys the pancreas by mistake. People who have relatives with type 1 diabetes are more likely to have it themselves. Type 2 diabetes happens when the cell walls do not recognize the insulin produced very well, called insulin resistance. The pancreas can still produce insulin, but it is not effective at lowering blood sugar levels. This type of diabetes is strongly linked to being overweight. However, not everyone who is overweight will get type 2 diabetes, and not everyone who has type 2 diabetes is overweight. Other risk factors include age, race, and a family history of diabetes. Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that happens in the last half of pregnancy. Women with gestational diabetes generally do not have diabetes before or after they are pregnant. The placenta produces hormones that block the action of insulin in the mother's body. For about 18% of women, their pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to keep up with the increased demands and they become diabetic while pregnant. High blood sugar levels can be dangerous to the developing fetus, causing complications such as high birth weight, low blood sugar and jaundice, so it is important to treat gestational diabetes even if it only lasts a few weeks. Many people currently living with diabetes do not know it yet, since mild diabetes has few or no symptoms. As blood sugar levels rise over time, symptoms begin to appear. Some include:- thirst
- fatigue
- frequent urination
- unexplained weight loss
- blurred vision
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