Facts about Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin। Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.

When you have type 2 Diabetes, high levels of sugar build up in your blood. Normally, the sugar you take in is digested and broken down to a simple sugar, known as glucose. The glucose then circulates in your blood where it waits to enter cells to be used as fuel. Insulin helps move the glucose into cells. But, if you have diabetes, this process breaks down, and blood sugar levels become too high. This can lead to serious health complications. That is why controlling your blood sugar is key to managing diabetes. Keeping your blood sugar under control lowers your risk of complications later। High blood sugar can harm your organs and raise your risk of heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

There are 23.6 million children and adults in the United States, or 7.8% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 17.9 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, unfortunately, 5.7 million people (or nearly one quarter) are unaware that they have the disease.
In order to determine whether or not a patient has pre-diabetes or diabetes, health care providers conduct a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)। Either test can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends the FPG because it is easier, faster, and less expensive to perform.

With the FPG test, a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes। A person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes.

In the OGTT test, a person's blood glucose level is measured after a fast and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage. If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes.
Major Types of Diabetes

Type 1 diabetesResults from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them। It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 Diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes Results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency। Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 Diabetes.

Gestational diabetes Immediately after pregnancy, 5% to 10% of women with gestational diabetes are found to have diabetes, usually, type 2।

Pre-diabetes Pre-diabetes is a condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes। There are 57 million Americans who have pre-diabetes, in addition to the 23.6 million with diabetes.

Look For These Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes:

Frequent trips to the bathroom: Urination becomes more frequent when there is too much glucose in the blood।

Unquenchable Thirst: If your body is pulling extra water out of your blood and you're running to the bathroom more, you will become dehydrated and feel the need to drink more to replace the water that you are losing

Losing Weight Without Trying: This symptom is more noticeable with Type 1 Diabetes। In Type 1, the pancreas stops making insulin, possibly due to a viral attack on pancreas cells or because an autoimmune response makes the body attack the insulin producing cells. The body desperately looks for an energy source because the cells aren't getting glucose. It starts to break down muscle tissue and fat for energy.

Weakness and Fatigue: When the insulin isn't there or if the cells don't react to it anymore, then the glucose stays outside the cells in the bloodstream। The cells become energy starved and you feel tired and run down.

Tingling or Numbness in Your Hands, Legs or Feet: This symptom is called neuropathy। It occurs gradually over time as consistently high glucose in the blood damages the nervous system, particularly in the extremities.

Other Signs and Symptoms That Can Occur: Blurred vision, excessive hunger, skin that is dry or itchy, frequent infections or cuts and bruises that take a long time to heal are also signs that something is amiss. Again, when these signs are associated with diabetes, they are the result of high glucose levels in the body. If you notice any of the above signs, schedule an appointment with your doctor.

Find more information at:
www.nlm.nih.gov
http://www.diabetes.org/about-diabetes.jsp
http://www.diabetes.com