Diabetes is a set of diseases that involve insulin problems. Normally, to help the body store and use sugar and fat from food, the pancreas (the organ in the back of the stomach) releases insulin. Diabetes occurs when one of the following occurs:
- The pancreas produces no or little insulin;
- The body does not respond properly to insulin, a condition called “insulin resistance.
- The body does not respond properly to insulin.
Diabetes is a lifelong condition.
Diabetes is a lifelong disease that affects about 18.2 million Americans, and nearly 1 in 3 (about 5.2 million) people with diabetes do not know they have the disease. Another 41 million people are pre-diabetic. To date, there is no complete cure for diabetes. To stay healthy, people with diabetes need to manage and control their disease.
The role of insulin in diabetes
To understand why insulin is important in diabetes, it helps to learn more about how the body uses food for energy. The body is made up of millions of cells, and in order to produce energy, these cells need simple forms of food. When you eat and drink, most of the food you eat is broken down into a simple sugar called “glucose”. Glucose is then transported through the bloodstream to the body’s cells, where it can be used to provide the energy needed for the body’s daily activities.
The amount of glucose in the bloodstream is strictly regulated by insulin. Insulin is released by the pancreas, and when the amount of glucose in the blood rises to a certain level, the pancreas will release more insulin, and in order to push more glucose into the cells, this lowers the glucose level in the blood (blood glucose level).
To prevent blood glucose levels from becoming too low (hypoglycemia or low blood sugar), the body signals to eat and releases some glucose in the liver.
People with diabetes either do not produce insulin or the body’s cells become resistant to insulin, causing high levels of sugar to circulate in the bloodstream, referred to as hyperglycemia. Diabetes is defined as a patient with symptoms who has a blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher after an overnight fast (without eating anything) or a random blood glucose of more than 200 mg/dl; if asymptomatic, another retest on a different day is required.
So what are the types of diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes occurs when the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin (called beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. people with type 1 diabetes do not produce insulin, so they must take insulin injections to control their blood sugar.
Type 1 diabetes is common in people younger than 20 years old, but it can occur at any age.
Type 2 diabetes
Unlike people with type 1 diabetes, people with type 2 diabetes can produce insulin. However, their pancreas either does not produce enough insulin or their body becomes resistant to insulin. When there is not enough insulin or when insulin is not used properly, glucose cannot enter the body cells.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes, affecting nearly 18 million Americans. Although most of these cases are preventable, for adults it remains the leading cause of diabetes-related complications such as blindness, non-traumatic amputations, and chronic kidney failure requiring dialysis.
Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in overweight people over the age of 40, but it can also occur in people of normal weight. As obesity rates rise in young people, type 2 diabetes, sometimes called “adult-onset diabetes,” is starting to appear more often in children.
Some people can manage their type 2 diabetes by controlling their weight, watching their diet, and exercising regularly; others may need other medications to help their bodies use insulin better, or insulin injections.
Usually, doctors are able to detect the possibility of type 2 diabetes before it actually occurs. Prediabetes usually occurs when someone has higher than normal blood sugar levels, but not enough to make a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes is triggered by pregnancy. Hormonal changes during pregnancy may affect the ability of insulin to function properly. The condition occurs in about 4% of pregnancies.
Pregnant women at increased risk for gestational diabetes are those who are 25 years of age or older, who were above normal weight before pregnancy, who have a family history of diabetes, or who are Hispanic, black, Native American, or Asian.
Gestational diabetes screening is performed during pregnancy. If left untreated, gestational diabetes increases the risk of complications for the mother and unborn baby.
Usually, blood glucose levels return to normal within 6 weeks after delivery. However, women with gestational diabetes will have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.