About Diabetes

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when one's blood sugar or blood glucose gets too high. Glucose is very important in providing energy to the body. This means that the body can make glucose, but it can also come from your food.

Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps glucose get to the cells to provide the body with energy. In individuals with diabetes, their body does not make enough insulin which leads to excess glucose in the blood.

Types of Diabetes

Prediabetes

Prediabetes does not always mean a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Though prediabetes is not a diagnosis of diabetes, it still puts patients at an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

Cells in individuals with prediabetes do not properly respond to insulin. Therefore your body keeps making more insulin to try to get your body to respond. Eventually, the pancreas cannot keep up which causes a rise in blood sugar levels.

Type 1 Diabetes

In individuals with type 1 diabetes, their pancreas makes too little insulin or none at all. Their body then begins to attack the islet cells in the pancreas that create insulin. Type 1 diabetes is typically known as juvenile diabetes because it is often diagnosed in young children, however, it can be diagnosed at any time in life. Individuals with type 1 diabetes must take insulin for the rest of their lives.

Type 2 Diabetes

The cells in individuals with type 2 diabetes do not properly respond to insulin. The pancreas is still making insulin, however, it is not enough to maintain blood glucose in the normal range of 70-100. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes, especially in individuals with risk factors such as obesity or family history.

Hispanic individuals are more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, this is because Hispanic individuals are genetically predisposed to insulin resistance

Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes

The signs and symptoms of diabetes include

increased urination
increased thrust
increased hunger
fatigue
blurred vision
numbness and/or tingling in the hands or feet
slow healing
unexplained weight loss

The signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes can develop quickly while the symptoms of type 2 diabetes can develop over time. Some individuals with type 2 diabetes have no symptoms until they develop disease-related health problems.