by Phillip Osborn

Created on: March 07, 2009

A Look at Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that results from the body's inability to produce, or utilize, insulin properly. Insulin is the hormone responsible for converting carbohydrates like sugars and starches into useable energy (glucose), and allowing it to enter body cells efficiently. If diabetes is not treated properly, the disease can lead to numerous negative health issues, including death. Diabetes affects over 23 million people in the United States, and has become the fifth leading cause of deaths; contributing to over 230,000 U.S. fatalities a year. As the statistics rise, they still do not take into account the many other undiagnosed Americans with this disease.

Types of Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is often referred to as juvenile-onset or insulin-dependent diabetes. It develops during childhood and in some young adults, and accounts for around 8% of the diabetic population. It is caused by the body's failure to manufacture the glucose-regulating hormone, insulin. There is currently no cure or method of prevention for Type 1 diabetes, but it can be treated with daily doses of insulin administered through injection or a pump. Warning signs for this type of diabetes include unusual thirst, frequent urination, extreme hunger and fatigue, abnormal irritability, and unexplained weight loss. As Type 1 diabetes may also be genetically inherited, further investigation into one's family history of this disease is suggested.

With Type 2 diabetes, the body is capable of producing insulin, but the cells cannot use it properly (insulin resistance). This correlates into an increased demand for insulin, resulting in the gradual decline of this hormone's production in the pancreas. People who have Type 2 diabetes may also experience blurred vision, reoccurring infections (e.g. skin, gums, bladder), prolonged healing time, or tingling/numbness in hands and feet. It is possible to have no major symptoms as well. Poor diet, obesity, physical inactivity, diabetic family history, older age, and race are factors that can influence the development of Type 2 diabetes. Although sometimes called adult-onset diabetes, its occurrence among children and adolescence is also starting to increase.

Gestational diabetes is an intolerance to glucose that develops during some pregnancies. This type of diabetic will usually require treatment during pregnancy to regulate her blood glucose levels, and reduce the risk of infancy complications. There is a slight chance that a mother may be diagnosed

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